Pet Insurance

Pet Insurance, What is the best one?? What does it cost?
The answer to this question is that it really depends on many factors such as breed, budget and desired inclusions.  Pet insurance provides your pet with veterinary care they need in the event of accident or illness. Some insurance plans also have coverage for regular wellness care such as dentistry, vaccinations, blood testing and preventative medications. We've created the following article to help ease some of the confusion surrounding pet insurance.

We should start the discussion stating that insurance for pets is meant to be a safety net in the event that one must face large veterinary bills for an unforeseen accident or illness. It is therefore very important that if you are considering pet insurance, that you sign your pet up as soon as you acquire them to eliminate the chance of any pre-existing conditions. We recommend starting with a free trial of insurance so that your pet is covered immediately! The trials give you some much needed time to do your own research and pick the plan that suits your needs while resting assured that your pet has coverage. Trials are available immediately after any veterinary exam for pets who are no currently covered by an insurance plan and who are 8 weeks and older (max age depends on the trial chosen).

We highly recommend obtaining either a plan or a free trial for puppies and kittens as they are the ones most at risk for issues such as accidental ingestions, foreign bodies, toxicities, fractures, escaping from the house and congenital conditions (which have not yet been made apparent). 

Next you may be wondering if pet insurance is right for you? We recommend you do your homework and see which breeds are at risk for congenital and acquired illnesses. Certain dog breeds such as Bull dogs,Great Danes, Daschunds, Miniature schnauzers,  Boxers, Sharpeis, Labradors and Golden Retrievers (among many others) carry a higher rate of conditions requiring veterinary treatment and thus we wouldn't recommend owning these breeds without it! Similarly certain breeds of cats can be predisposed to heart disease, diabetes, asthma, behavioural conditions, dental disease and cancer and male cats can be more prone to urinary blockages. Most of these conditions also require expensive medication to sustain them in the long term. 

In contrast to home, car and life insurance (which we all have! and rarely need to use), pet insurance is often used at some stage in most pets life and avoids you having to make medical decisions based on your current financial situation. A very common quote we often hear after a pet as an accident or an illness is "I wish I had pet insurance" at which time it is too late to sign up for that particular condition (but not for others!). Most companies also have a waiting period by which even if your pet has a pre-existing condition, it can be re-evaluated and re-included after a time has passed without making claims for that particular illness/injury (typically 6 months to 2 years).  We have insurance for ourselves....so why not for our pets?

So why not just put money aside in a bank account instead of investing it into an insurance plan? Although this is also a good method, most individuals are not disciplined enough to routinely put money aside for their pets care. In addition, and more importantly, the money will accumulate much slower and may take several years to acquire enough funds that may be required in the event of an expensive emergency.  

Many companies listed below have great websites with quick free quotes to get you started!