im not sure if my dog has insurance, it may be good incease something happens..

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I had insurance for my Border Collie, Jessie, she developed arthritis and was prescribed Rymadil. At the renewal date they wouldn't cover her any more for the condition. So I cancelled the insurance, now she has Lymphoma and I would have paid the £250 a week for eight weeks of chemo but why put her through it at 13 years 9 months? I think you need to be very careful with pet insurance as I thought it covered everything to the end of her life when I took it out. The monthly premium escalated from £14 with a £200 excess to £40, so it wasn't covering the Rimadyl anyway. I say goodbye to her tomorrow.

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thanksss...
Kabin

Konteyner

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Has anyone ever heard about euthanasia? It's cheaper than insurance. There are plenty of dogs and cats in rescue shelters that need good homes.
I love my dog, he's really loveable, obedient, great wiff the kids, but personally, I haven't that kinda change in my pocket for a major surgery for 'ole yellar'. They live life in the fast lane and they leave many years before us, I've had three dogs in 50 years.
If we can put Terri Shiavo to death against her will, then we can euthanize our animals against theirs. Besides, look how many Jack Kevorkian killed

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Pet insurance is a fantastic idea. It's too bad it has to be unaffordable for so many.

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I got the well known insurance mentioned in this article for my oldest dog when she turned 3, w/optional cancer rider (which keeps that rider at same cost regardless of her age as long as I've kept the plan active), but not routine care (not worth it for us additional premium costs the same as what the return would be). I got it so when she has a critical condition it will allow me to make the best choice based on her quality of life, and not exclusively on cost of care since I have limited income. She's now 7, has had almost no health issues, and yet the plan HAS made up for a large portion of the annual cost whenever a random injury happened (abscess, eye trauma).

I temporarily gave up insurance on my 3 yr old dog and don't have for my 2 cats, don't now have the income to cover them and still get my own health insurance! However, you can get multi pet discounts.

As a dog trainer, I take active interest in educating myself on holistic health care and prevention. Regarding SHELTER pets, as a former SPCA employee I don't think shelter animals are any MORE likely to have long term health issues than those from breeders, BOTH types are appropriate candidates for good insurance if you can afford it. I'm grateful to report that both my dogs are from shelters (one Chicago, one rural Virginia) and with good diet, off leash exercise and otherwise fulfilling lifestyle (eg. cuddle time, games, Delta Society Pet Partners Team volunteering) have no significant health problems yet

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Out of curiousity: our 11 year old lab-chow already had her hips replaced when she was a puppy due to hip dysplasia. This winter she has started to limp (more when we've taken trips over the holidays due to stiffness from her arthritis) which has been relieved with an aspirin and glucosamine-chondrotin regimine.

(part of the reason we moved to the east coast 2.5 years ago was to stop having her sedated for cross-country plane trips)

Would insurance make sense at this point? Due to her age, it is highly unlikely that we would even allow invasive surgery (she was given a clean bill of health after some expensive bloodwork this summer; my guess is that the bloodwork would have been considered elective, and not covered). We have Care Credit, which does cover the vets in our area.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Lars - I think that's a bit unfair. Advancements in science/medicine aren't free, and if there isn't money to be made on them, the money is going to go elsewhere.

We purchased pet insurance for our 1 yr old dog... after 3 trips to the vet (she'll eat pretty much any object she can get her mouth on). It's been 6 months now and no trips to the vet, so I think the insurance is working ;)

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I have pet insurance for my dog and one cat (I can't afford to insure my other two cats, who are still quite young and healthy. ) My beloved Cody was also insured. It saved me a lot of money during the first year of his life, but since I had him on a raw food diet, he never needed a vet again, until he developed cancer when he was almost 9 years old. Unfortunately the insurance didn't cover cancer treatment. I was going to let him have cancer treatment, if it would give him a chance, but unfortunately he had the wrong type of cancer, which couldn't be cured... The new insurance (for my other dog) does cover cancer treatment and that is why I chose it. I could choose between various insurance companies, but I went with the one that did offer cancer treatment. You never know... I want Rui to have the same chance as Cody did.
I would not have a cat go through cancer treatment, as my cats panic so much when they have to visit the vet. I wouldn't want them to go through that. I do hope it is not necessary.

Here in the Netherlands, most (if not all) pet insurances have small print which is really necessary to read: they do not cover treatment for hereditary diseases, like hip dysplasia or other bone diseases.
If you are unfortunate enough to have a dog with such a disease, you end up paying for treatment yourself...

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People shouldn't have to insure their pets. If the pet doctors really cared as much as they pretend to, then they should be very able to afford to care for our pets at decent rates, what we really can afford. Too bad, all care of anything in the U.S. is Big Business for "Caregivers"...

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