Pet Insurance?

T

tjchung

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Dec 23, 2005
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I brought back 5 cats from Korea that I rescued to the US, and now that I'm paying 80$ per vet visit in NYC, as compared to 5$ in Seoul, Korea, I think I need pet insurance.

The cats are all mutts, and they range in age from 4 to 10. They're all healthy now, but any pet owner knows that could change in an instant. I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations. A relative recommends the ASPCA pet insurance, but another friend had some bad experiences with them, plus they're expensive.

Any recommendations would be welcome.
 
I tried it with two dogs.
The premium was over 500 a year.
The mutts are quite healthy, their vet bills run a little under 400 a year.

Did not seem like a good deal to me. It may be worth it if the dogs have problems, but the only vet bills I have had in 30 years have been for annual checkups and vaccinations as well as the unmentionable last visit.

(Did not include Parvo treatment of one as a pup which was quite expensive, but the parvo came from the pound where I adopted him, so I doubt if it would have been covered.)

I would make a few calls and see what the premium was before I decided. The place I checked was a "benefit" through my workplace so in my case I considered it a ripoff as much as a benefit.
 
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I'm sure if you had a dog or cat with a lot of problems, they'd find a way to cancel you.
I would be way in the hole with my dogs, as they seem to not require hardly any expensive veterinarian care. They are country dogs and I keep them up on all their shots (give my own) keep them on heart-worm prevention and feed premium food and they thrive.
 
kamkazmoto said:
Wait till Mongo comes along. If anyone will know the answer it'll be him.
Click to expand...

Dammit... I was gonna stay outa this one, until I was called out. Here is a mix of both my personal and professional advice: I think it's OK if you are getting a KNOWN problem BREED like a Cocker Spaniel, German Shephard, English Bulldog to name a few. I have nothing against these breeds, in fact I am grateful from a business sense that they exist. It is well known that there are representatives from these breeds and many others, that are fraught with problems. IF you get insurance from the beginning, it just may pay off for these. But... as Gus said, the premiums could run you more annually than your actual Vet bills. It is more for the dog with the prediliction for problems. The trick is you must get in before the dreaded "pre-existing problems" clause rears it's ugly head. That is the problem with EVERY kind of insurance... they try to find a way to screw you out of them paying.

Bottom line, do your homework. If you are a English BullDog fan... you already should know what you potentially are in for. If you buy one from a pet shop... good fricken' luck! Your own damn fault for not doing your homework. There are problems with EVERY breed, yes... every breed. A pet should NEVER be an "impulse buy". Sadly, too often they are.
 
I wish I'd got pet insurance as it is just so easy to run up a huge bill before you know it.

Owing over $4,000 is no joy but the Vet is allowing me (I'm on a medical pension) to pay it off fortnightly.

I'd suggest the insurance 'just in case' of the worse happening.
 
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