pet insurance??

[Ralfy]

Hey guys just was curious if any of you have pet insurance? my lab/pit mix is getting bigger and after a parvo scare and he recently broke one of his back teeth, im thinking maybe i need to get him some insurance! he is gonna be a big dog and i got a quote through VPI for 30.00 a month with a 250.00 deductible. just looking for some info if you guys have any thanks!!

[JBlack151]

I had VPI for our English Bulldog since we first got her at 10 weeks old with almost the same plan as you are looking at. We knew this breed has lots of issues so we wanted to be prepared.

 

Immediately after we first got her home she had cherry eye within the first month and required surgery which wasn't too expensive. When I submitted the invoices for remibursement I was under the impression I would get about 80-90% back depending on the vet charges after reviewed by VPI. I got about 50-60% back and I called VPI to ask why. They explained the charges by my vet were more than average. So I called a few other vets to see what their charges would be only to find them close to what I paid.

 

When I called back VPI they reviewed everything further and said it's most likely due to the area we live in and most things are more expensive then other areas in the country.

 

I kept the policy for another year or so just in case there were any further issues. Then during a yearly check up with my vet I told him about my experience and he gave me some good advice. Instead of paying some company every month for years and years take that $20-$30 and save it in a safe place or an account for when you need it. If you don't have any major expenses to spend on your dog then the money is still yours and you can keep saving it or whatever you wish.

 

So I canceled my policy and every month I stash the cash for an emergency.

[ChargerMatt]

Man at the hospital I worked for (before I had my Cooper - a black lab/pitbull mix), they offered pet insurance for $2 a month! It was foolish not to get it if you had a pet.

 

Nowadays it's all going to be out of pocket for me. He's had his shots, been neutered, and he goes for a routine checkup every 8 months or so. If you can take your dog to the vet every so often, insurance isn't worth it for them.

[Marylander]

Instead of paying some company every month for years and years take that $20-$30 and save it in a safe place or an account for when you need it. If you don't have any major expenses to spend on your dog then the money is still yours and you can keep saving it or whatever you wish.

 

So I canceled my policy and every month I stash the cash for an emergency.

 

This is what I would do, too.

[Z71_Denali]

we had a Banfield vet membership that we paid monthly for a couple years on both our dogs when we were in college. i think it was about $25 or $30 per month and thats all we paid, any major operations had like a $100 deductible i think. so when it came down to the 1st year, we were paying them $360 a year just for semi-annual check ups and shots that would've cost maybe $250-300 out of pocket. it was good piece of mind in the event something did happen to them, but we opted to cancel it and "self-insure" them because they were pretty healthy pups.

 

in fact, last month we had a run in with both dogs having gastroenteritis (vet called it "angry colon") and the vet bill was about $500 per dog for everything because they had to stay there to be monitored over a weekend we had to leave town (bad timing on our part, and would of been much less if we didn't have to leave them there). but we didn't even bat an eye at it. each month we put ALL our extra money we have left over into our emergency fund for when life throws us a curveball.

[Ralfy]

yeah im going to have to do some digging around and make more phone calls. he may need to get the tooth pulled, but being only 5 months old im hoping that it was a baby tooth, its one of his bigger molars in the back so its hard to tell if its a baby tooth or one of his permanent teeth. and i dont want to wait to long because i dont want it to get infected then im paying for meds and more. Damn it decisions decisions. just gotta monitor it. thanks for your experiences and info guys!