Pet insurance..

Wolvenmoon

So, I have a service dog in training that is costing me bodily limbs in vet bills as he explores the world. Last night was a handful of pistachios, and in the time it took me to get my shoes he had stolen a steak from the counter, much to my dad's chagrin. ( We decided at the vet's office he wasn't 'dumb' for eating pistachios, but refined for eating pistachios and ribeye! )

Last time it was a mushroom he picked up and ran up to me. It looked like a dog toy. So that was another vet bill.

Then it was an ear infection.

And since I'm a college student and on THAT type of budget, it's starting to really cut into my money.

So what I did when we were up at the emergency vet's clinic at 8:30 last night was ask about pet health insurance, I got a recommendation to VPI.

http://www.petinsurance.com/

However, the breeder recommended http://www.akcpethealthcare.com/

and yet another vet recommended: http://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/

VPI is the cheapest at 46 a month and appears to offer comprehensive coverage, but has a 50 dollar per incident deductable as well as maximum per-item benefits.

The others are a bit mroe confusing.

Has anyone had any experience with any of these?

WillyG

I have VPI and have been quite happy with it. However, there are a lot of things that they do not cover. My dog has luxating patella (not covered) and most likely hip dysplasia (not covered). I was reimbursed $1200 toward surgery to removed a rope toy knot from his small intestines. The whole bill was $2000 -- so I still ended up paying quite a bit. From my research, Trupanion seems to be a better company. Trupanion would have covered both of these problems -- however, now that they are pre-existing conditions, they won't. I've decided to stay with VPI because I like the well-care coverage they have and the fact that I can pay monthly. Trupanion requires the entire premium to be paid upfront.

oliwa

I just signed up for Trupanion and I only had the monthly option available.