Any pet lovers out there? Which pet insurance did you go with and why? Any hacks on pet insurance?
There are so many pet insurance now and I noticed that cat insurance is cheaper than dogs. Took in a stray cat in my yard last year. Will most likely get a cat-friendly dog for him to hang out with.
We use pets best: What Does Pet Insurance Cover and Exclude | Pets Best
Overall, it’s saved us a good deal of money but we have an English Bulldog so vet visits are practically monthly and everything under the sun is a problem.
The only general advice I have is to get insurance before you even go the first vet visit. Their mucking around with “pre-existing” conditions is a nightmare. If a word rhymes with each other they’ll try to deny you coverage > but I imagine that’s the norm with insurances in general.
Cannot recommend 24 hour petwatch (effectively a PPO) enough, had them for both prior Labradors, paid for all regular meds (flea & tick) and 80% of medical. One dog had a $10k emergency surgery, they covered 80%. IIRC it covered dental too.
Prior to 24 Petwatch, both of those dogs had Banfield (effectively an HMO) and went there, and the current Lab is a Banfield dog. Great for routine stuff (2x year checkups, labs, and anything you can schedule there), clinics and vets I’ve seen are excellent, it doesn’t cover anything elsewhere. A couple weeks ago, she was accidentally (not while playing) bit by another dog at doggy daycare, and I picked her up 5 mins after Banfield closed. Spent 5 hours at the doggy ER and knew I was paying the whole bill, I just didn’t know until checkout the order of magnitude (less than half of what I expected).
I will not have another dog that doesn’t have insurance- all my spreadsheets say over the lifetime it more than paid for itself, even the years with no issues it still broke even. For a healthy puppy something more HMO-like is good, by midlife I’d still consider the PPO-like insurance.
As someone that has spent over $10k in two separate dog surgeries in just a couple years (didn’t learn after the first), I’m doing a deep dive into pet insurance for our two dogs right now as well. Helpful thread.
We had aspca insurance bc they didn’t have a preexisting clause. They paid a ton when my pit tore his mcl. Def was worth it. Not sure if they closed that loophole yet.
I used Nationwide when we got our puppy and opted for a more comprehensive plan that had reimbursement for preventative care in addition to the routine stuff. They were perfectly fine, quick to issue checks and had all the coverage I could ask for.
For anyone considering a puppy or has one, I can’t recommend insurance enough. Unless your vet is very cheap, just the first year of shots, checkups and otherwise (seems like we were there every month) far exceeded the premium on the plan so we saved money in the long run. We did a year without the insurance but the “what if” seems to get worse as he gets older so I decided to get it again. If you can afford even basic insurance, its well worth it considering most emergencies run well into the thousands to treat.
…any of them (did not try the mentioned one). I tried couple of times, but they screw you any way they can to not pay anything. You get a pup, he eats something and you take him to a vet. His diarrhea is on record. Now, insurance counts it as pre-existing stomach condition and will not cover any future issues. God forbid you adopt a dog and your vet puts some other issues on the record.
Can’t speak for adoptions but yea, first thing with a new pup is get insurance before you do any vet work (online, real quick) so they can’t hit you for that. I spent a few weeks fighting them on one to no avail.
The thing is that require info from your vet first, I think. But this what really happened. I got a pup and took him for his first vet check up.
We use Trupanion. My dog tore his ACL less than a year ago. Surgery cost about 9k. I paid the 1k deductible, which I chose, and they have covered everything since. He has PT and Hydrotherapy 1-2 times a week and they cover 90% of that as well. Highly recommend
Yeah, may work for accidents, I guess. Hard to to say some pre-existing condition caused it, but who knows. I wonder how they handle cancer. Can probably blame some pre-existing condition.
Those 2 breeds are a must insure!
Labrador number one had something like that where he had seen the vet multiple times for G.I. issues. 24 pet watch excluded G.I. issues as a pre-existing condition for six months if I remember right — not more than a year, and not forever. had claims they covered after that. One also had hotspots multiple times, and they paid for treatment every single time — it was not like after the first incident they excluded it.
Do you know if it covers neutering? I have a 3 year old lab that may be getting neutered very soon.
Exactly. Guess we naively thought we’d be one of the lucky few 
The Banfield puppy plan does (up to a year), not sure about 24PW. Both my chocolate boys were fixed before they came to me (1yr/2yr), I had my black lab spayed right around 6 months, covered by Banfield. Often the local SPCA also have spay/neuter clinics, I know during pandemic I was scouring for distilled water to donate to them for those.
this. Get insurance before you ever go to the vet for anything (and think theres a 2-3 week cool off period too after you first get insurance). Our pup had an itch we got checked out and now they won’t cover ear infections because they’re skin related…
We’ve tried Embrace and Nationwide. Nationwide is a bit better.
I think Embrace has the same thing, if you have no issues for 6 or 12 months, the pre-existing condition “goes away” and things are covered again. Just can’t see the vet for anything related (skin/fur/ears and GI/stomach seem to be the main ones they connect everything to.
I was very happy to see this thread as I’m incredibly passionate about our pet insurance (I recognize that sounds ridiculous). We have Healthy Paws and they’ve been amazing. They do not cover dental and they don’t cover routine stuff but I find them to be very inexpensive and they cover everything when your pet is actually sick. I do a $200 deductible and then they cover 90% and I think I pay like 30 bucks a month (very high cost of living area)?
I’ve had two dogs with them and they’ve been fantastic no matter what the issue. We’ve been in for obstructions, had a dog that got hit by a car, all sorts of issues and they’ve never denied a single thing. They even call pretty regularly to check up on your pet, every single person and I spoken to over there is clearly a pet owner and lover.
It works very well for me because I know to expect routine visits and can budget for them, what I don’t want is to be faced with is someone telling me that I need to make a decision between spending 20 grand and my dog’s life.
Is there an EV credit for pet insurance? 
Just posting so I can track this thread. Recently lost our dog to a heart condition where treatment was questionable and very expensive.
Thought we were done with dogs but found ourselves back at the shelter and this time rescued a puppy. Work has pet coverage but will see what it is and the cost.
