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Pet Insurance
Pet insurance is a key component of responsible pet care.
Pets, like people, are at risk of suffering medical problems; The injury could be a broken bone or a serious illness, but the resulting veterinary bill can be staggering. Caught financially unprepared, some pet owners find themselves forced to choose between their pocketbooks and their pets. What is pet insurance? Pet insurance, like medical insurance for people, can help reduce that risk of caring for a pet and lessen the frequency of "financial euthanasia," the decision to put a pet to sleep rather than incur a large debt attempting to heal.
Responsible pet ownership means visiting your veterinarian on a regular basis for routine treatments, vaccinations and examinations. However, statistics show that pets will require unexpected treatments from time to time throughout their lifetimes. Your veterinarian is a highly skilled expert who has the latest medical techniques that may be required to return your pet to good health. Insuring your pet will assist you in managing the costs associated with good quality veterinary medicine Some policies pay for all types of veterinary care, including annual checkups and immunizations. Others only cover accidents and illnesses. Some have pre-set annual or incident limits and some have deductibles. Premiums vary depending on the plan and can run from $99 a year for a simple discount plan up to $500 for a select breed indemnity plan. Each plan has its pros and cons, and each must be carefully examined (especially the fine print) so that you can select a plan that's best for your pet. A carefully chosen plan can give you peace of mind that your pet will be able to get the best medical care regardless of cost. The company I reccomend to my clients is Pet Care..Click Here for Pet Care Pet Insurance. Who should consider pet insurance? Pet owners should ask themselves, "Do I want ‘a’ pet, or do I want ‘this’ pet?" A bad candidate for pet insurance is a pet owner who wants "a dog" but put him to sleep instead of spending large amounts of money to save him if that dog gets sick or injured. If you are the type of dog owner who would devote an unlimited amount of time and money into healing your dog, then you are a good candidate for pet insurance, because it will probably save you money in a bad situation. Unfortunately, many pet owners put a dollar value on their pets' lives. When the bills start to add up, some pet owners consider euthanasia at around $250. Pet insurance is still very rare. Four Great Reasons to Buy Pet Insurance Today 1. Peace of Mind Out of sight, out of mind? It's human nature to avoid thinking about the things that could happen to your pet. Pet insurance is based upon that idea, but is in fact more proactive. By paying your monthly premium, you allow yourself to feel prepared, free of the worry that you won’t be able to care for your pet, when and if it comes to that. 2. Avoiding the Decision
Putting off buying pet insurance till you can ‘afford it’? For less than the cost of going to a movie for two each month, you can protect your pet’s health. What you can’t afford is the unexpected veterinary fees associated with an illness or injury. When you think you can’t afford pet insurance, you actually need it most. 3. Financing Your Pet’s Health Pet insurance is actually a way of controlling and budgeting the cost of keeping your pet healthy. To own a pet, you should be able to feed it, provide shelter and love, and also be able to care for it in the event of an emergency. Pet Insurance helps you do just that. You always know what your monthly costs will be, freeing you up to provide your pet with your focus and attention in times of need. 4. Protection from the Unexpected When people choose their dog or cat, they often plan for how compatible that species or breed will be with their lifestyle. However, few people budget for the common illnesses and medical problems associated with their pet’s type or breed, or for the additional accidents or mishaps that occur over the course of an average pet’s life; things like ear infections, fights with other pets and swallowing foreign objects, to name a few. Pet insurance is your way of preparing for the costs of these unexpected occurrences, so you can go on with your life as quickly and painlessly as possible. The Earlier, the Better The best time to insure your pet is when you first bring them home. When they are young they have no current medical problems and so they can be covered for any illness or accident you may encounter along the way. If you adopt a grown or mature pet, insure them as soon as you can. Many people consider insurance when it is too late, their pet has been just diagnosed with an illness and they face a terrible decision about whether they can afford a procedure to save their pet. These situations are heartbreaking, don’t let it happen to you. Insurance industry studies indicate that consumers have a 10% chance of claiming on their house insurance and only 20% on their car insurance. However the likelihood that you will claim on your pet insurance is much higher, at 40%. And this chance increases to 80% for dogs over the age of 10 Myths About Pet Health Insurance Myth: Pet insurance works just like human health insurance.
Fact: Even though no pet parent thinks of their pet as property the same way they would about their house or car, pet insurance is actually considered Property and Casualty Insurance. Human health insurance and pet insurance differ in that pet insurance covers all unexpected health costs for your pet, while our Government covers all basic care needs and our insurance only covers extended benefits. Myth: Pet insurance is much more expensive than my health insurance. Fact: Pet insurance is actually much less expensive than human health insurance. In the United States, any one with private health insurance is aware of this. In Canada where we have the Government paing for our health insurance, we are unfortunately unaware of the true costs. Myth: I should wait until my pet is older to purchase pet insurance. Fact: Young pets are like babies and toddlers - they lack full coordination, so they are more likely to experience injuries, or get into trouble. They lack the perception and judgment that comes from experience, and they are so small they don't know when they're underfoot. It's always better to enrol them when they're young, especially before pre-existing conditions develop, or accidents and illnesses occur. Myth: An indoor pet won't have many health problems. Fact: When we generally think of the unexpected, we instantly think of accidents. However far more unexpected illnesses are claimed for each day by pet owners than accidents. Over 75% of all claims in fact are for illnesses and not accidents. Research shows that an indoor pet is not any less susceptible to these illnesses. Myth: Instead of pet insurance, I can just start saving now for a pet illness or accident. Fact: The intention is right, but if an emergency occurs in the next few months and you've only saved a few dollars, you won't have the money needed for treatments or surgery. Most people aren’t prepared for the actual cost of veterinary emergency care, or adequately prepared to put aside that much money at one time.
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