Pet Insurance?

[smilingcat]

well, insurance is a form of gambling really. It amortizes the cost of major medical bills to everyone. So chances are you probably don't need it. But if you do, all the others who have paid into it will effectively pay for your major medical bill. Its a group effort if you really think about it.

So yes there is a possibility of needing major surgery for your dog/cat/bird after only a month or two. And you won't have the money saved up.

On the flip side, you may not need it untill your baby is old. 8, 9, 10 maybe even 14 years of age.

Insurance underwriters are the middlemen for distributing the risk to the whole group. And they take a percentage for their service.

So what Suze Orman and others are saying is, you might be better off saving the money yourself and get rid of the middleman. And in case of pets. 20-30 or even $40/month isn't that hard. Its more of a matter of do you want to risk it yourself?

As a matter of principle, I have a special saving for rainy days. i.e. washer broke down, fridge, car, my cats and me. I try to have about $1,000 in my rainy day account. And I keep it separate from my day to day saving and checking.

And right now I have about a year worth of income saved up in case I lose my job. And this too is separate from my rainy day account and my day to day saving and checking.

Shawn

[MomOnBike]

I've talked semi-seriously about insurance for my pets for most of my life, but have never really looked into it.

I fear that of the situations I find myself in regarding pets, an insurance policy wouldn't do much good anyway. OK, with the cat AND the dog with cancers it would have come in handy.

For the tiny stray kitten, half of whose body weight was parasites, internal and ex-, um, I don't think so. I'd bet there isn't an insurance policy that covers random strays.

That cat, BTW, is named Small - for Small Domestic Crisis. DH & I almost had a divorce over that cat. The vet did get a new car out of the deal, I'm certain. Small is turning into an old cat, reasonable healthy and living with my daughter in Minnesota. I'm proud of that, she was one sick kitty.

....and then I did it again with another kitten. I just don't learn.

[Aggie_Ama]

I doubt my dogs would qualify and I really regret not getting it when they were younger. There have been numerous ailments that depleted a lot of savings and times when plastic was better than not being able to do anything.

[LBTC]

I'm like Mom on Bike....

We've had one furkid go through thousands of dollars in cancer treatments, one cat who is now on several medications for heart and thyroid conditions and the two dogs each have had minor treatments in the past month.

I don't have insurance for them. The few policies that I have looked into covered for accidents but not illnesses unless I spent the extra $$ for the premium plan....and, well, with four fur-babies that really adds up! And, so far, *all* of the treatments they have required would not be considered accidents.

I am also like Smiley Cat, sort off, although she seems to be better disciplined and have more socked away than we do. What I have is what I call my "insurance" account. It's a separate account into which I put a monthly amount that I calculate yearly to cover the house insurance, car insurance, and various other yearly or quarterly expenses, including an estimate for vet expenses. If I were more diligent I would recalculate it more frequently, but, as it is, it seems to work well for us.

Also, if the requirement of the insurance company is that my pets have annual shots, noen of my pets would be insured anyway. I believe in giving the shots when they are needed. Each year when they all have their annual exam, one of them gets their titers tested which, I'm sorry to say, actually costs more than the shot. However, by doing this first, I know whether they need it or not, and feel better about their well being and health that I'm not injecting a live virus that, for some dogs and cats, can have serious health risks. I would be the insurance company would not like my argument and would refuse coverage.

That's my two cents.

Good luck!
Hugs & Butterflies,
~T~