Quote: Duane Hull

Michelle, with the number of animals you have owned and the treatments you have had covered, your insurance has probably paid for itself. Some people that own one or two dogs and don't have chronic issues may not spend as much on vet care as they do on premiums. With the one root canal and regular vetting over six years, and no major incidents with my previous dogs, I have still spent significantly less than I would have on insurance premiums over that same time period. I believe that is why some people with smaller pet loads advise saving the money as opposed to paying premiums. As you stated, what the insurance covers can also affect its value.

If I had a dog with a chronic issue, I would consider insurance. If I find a cancer insurance for dogs that is reasonable, I'd definitely consider that. However, being a one-dog man who has fortunately avoided chronic issues, insurance would be a losing proposition.

JMO

I agree with you 100%, Duane

IMHO, most owners with just 1 or 2 basically healthy pets will typically spend much less money that they have saved in a personal ear-marked "Vet Acct" than they ever would on Pet INSURANCE Premiums.

The one problem is that unless you have the insurance BEFORE something comes up, the insurance doesn't pay.It's not like you can say, oh,my dog has diabetes just diagnosed, i better go get insurance. Too late. I certainly didn't plan to have the medical issues we've had to deal with. Mixed breeds and pitbulls I know for sure are only $35-$40/month with a $200 deductible. To each his own.

I spend about $250 a month on meds for my older GSD who was diagnosed with EPI 3+ yrs ago.

He'll be on them till the day he dies but he's every bit worth it.

I though about "what if" on the insurance thing when it happened but then the charts Mike accessed in his post tell me it only covers dog up to 9 yrs old.

EPI being 78% a GSD thing then who knows what my premiums would be IF I did it when he was young.

My "younger" GSD is going on n in less then two months so I loose.

I've owned about 20 personal dogs in my lifetime and can only think of one other time insurance would have truly benefited me.

http://www.pet-insurance-university.com/guide_to_pet_insurance.html

A good, up to date link for comparing pet insurance in the US.

I have insurance through Embrace. It covers accidents, diseases, prescriptions, rehab, cancer - pretty much everything that is not a preexisting condition when your dog is first insured. They have an maximum age that you can initially insure at, but continue to cover dogs that are insured before that age.

Basic cancer treatments will cost $5000 at the minimum. Diagnostic work will also add up quickly. Especially with the leaps and bounds being made in veterinary medicine.

I did the saving account thing for years with 2-3 dogs and always came out ahead. Then one dog with cancer wiped out my savings account. No biggie, that's what it was there for. But I didn't want to take the chance of not having money to treat something that came up while I was rebuilding my account.

I have a $800 deductible. Pretty much anything I spend on accidents or illness is 90% covered after that. Haven't used it yet. But, for me, knowing that if something comes up I don't need to worry about how to pay for it is worth it.

If I had a bigger income where I could rebuild a savings account faster then I might not have gotten it. But it's gonna take a while to do that.

Excellent link, Mara! I've just skimmed it for now but plan to read it in more detail when I have the time.

Just to add my own experience to the discussion, I currently have two dogs of a breed known for having a number of health issues. I have never had pet health insurance for any of my previous dogs, but my experiences with these two are making me seriously consider it for the next dog(s) I own.

With past dogs, over their lifetime, any vet bills that have come up would have been far less than the cost of insurance premiums, I'm sure. But with my current two, I have spent many thousands of dollars, sometimes in small increments, sometimes in the form of a single huge bill. I'm sure a big part of the increase in costs to me is the simple fact that the cost of veterinary care, like everything else in our lives, has gone up considerably.

I know I could not get coverage on these two dogs now, at ages eight and nine, with all of their preexisting conditions, but I will be seriously looking into the possibility of insurance for any future dogs I may own.

Our OP is from Australia, so I'm not sure if any of the companies in Mara's link offer plans there, but there is still a lot of valuable information, in general, to help one decide.

the companies in the link are not here. But it does give a comparison enough, that when you think policy A is best payer, you lose in another aspect.
Ive decided to save the premiums, and go careful with new pup till fully grown.