Thinking About Getting Pet Insurance? Here’s Why Your Pet Might Need It

Pet health care is pretty expensive. If you have ever been shocked by the amount of money a vet charged you, then you are not a stranger to this. We love our pets, but sometimes healthcare costs can be intimidating and even terrifying. The last thing anyone wants is for their pet to suffer.

Pet healthcare insurance might be the answer for you. The average cost of a routine visit for a cat or dog is around $50-$400. Emergency visits can easily cost up to $2K. Pet healthcare might mean you never have to worry about choosing between your best friend or your rent for the month. That is a nightmare that nobody wants to be in.

A Few Facts About Pet Healthcare

The cost of a monthly health insurance premium has many variables: breed, age of the pet, underlying health issues, and the tier you choose are the biggies for most companies. The average among most major health plans for dogs costs around $23 monthly; for cats, it is about $15 monthly (according to a leading consumer watchdog magazine).

Any pet that isn’t a cat or dog falls into the “exotic” category, limiting your choices of companies a little bit. Some companies cover other small pets, of course. Insurance for birds might be as low as $5 monthly, so just because the pet is not a cat or dog does not mean the insurance will be more money. Horses have health insurance plans, as well. On average, insurance coverage for a horse valued at around $5K costs about $200-$250 per year.

Most plans, just like “people” plans, have a deductible you have to meet out of pocket before the insurance kicks in. Deductibles, unfortunately, can widely vary: from no deductible up to a couple of thousand dollars. Make sure you check into your deductible will as one of the primary questions you ask a company as you shop around for insurance. A higher-deductible plan usually gets a bigger percentage of your money back.

You are probably used to copays; however, with pet insurance, most companies reimburse you after you pay the vet the total amount at the time of care. You will, of course, have to submit a claim, then wait to be reimbursed. You stand to get back anywhere from 20%-100% back from most insurance companies.

Pros Of Having Insurance

You almost always get to choose your vet instead of being given one, like a PPO. There is no such thing as an “out-of-network vet.”

Premiums for pets might be a lot lower than you expect. Especially if you have a young, healthy pet, it might cost you less than a daily trip to Starbucks to have insurance for your beloved pet. Where your insurance might be intimidatingly complex, pet insurance companies make their policies very easy to understand. Getting a zero commitment quote from a pet insurance company in half an hour is very easy to get.

Deductibles, as well, can be pretty low in a lot of cases. If you compare your standard deductible to the cost of an emergency weekend visit to a vet, the deductible might seem incredibly low.

Sometimes you are forced to bite your nails while your pet might be ill because you fear that you can’t afford to take them to a vet for a check-up that week (or month). Pet insurance eliminates the ugly reality of being a pet owner who isn’t a millionaire.

You will hopefully never, ever, get backed into having “economic euthanasia” performed on a pet that you love more than life, as opposed to watching them suffer or becoming homeless to save your pet’s life. These kinds of decisions are terrible, and they feel unfair. Insurance might make sure that kind of scenario will not happen to you or your pet.

Start looking for pet insurance today, with companies like pumpkin pet insurance. There are a lot of reasons to protect your pet’s health and your peace of mind.