Pet Insurance

[DustyRusty]

Do you have pet insurance, and if so, would you recommend the company that is providing coverage for your pet? Today, the cost of a visit to a veterinarian can break the bank quickly. Even my veterinarian (retired) has suggested that I get pet insurance for the new dog. Until he sold his practice and retired, I never had paid a veterinary or boarding bill since were were very close friends. After he retired, the veterinarian that I was using was very reasonable, and now he has retired. The hospital has been sold to one of the national clinic operators who look into your wallet as you walk in the door. Some won't even let you into the building, and have a vet tec come out to get the dog and tell you to wait in the car. Then the veterinarian will call your cell phone and give you an update on the dog's (cat's) illness, etc. It has gotten very impersonal since COVID-19.

 

[Fordtech86]

I hang out at the parking lot of the vet clinic and catch them on their way out and ask em if they do any side work

 

[GrizBota]

No help with a carrier recommendation. Here you can’t get a veterinary appointment sooner than about 3 months out. But if you’re willing to pay an extra $150, they miraculously can fit you in next week. Funny how that works. God forbid you don’t want buy the medication from them and want a hard copy prescription to get it at a lessor escalated price. That’s the same as stealing from them. This is at the locally owned veterinary clinic. They were much better pre-Covid. Now they are certain they can abuse their customers and a lot of them will still come back. There are others that have been assimilated into the Borg and they are worse.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Personally, I am against it. Unless you can find one that (in writing) says the policy does not exclude congenital and/ or breed specific illnesses.
Case in point: I had a Husky that ran down onto a frozen lake. I'm sure he had no idea that it was frozen and thought it was water. Anyway, as funny as it was to see his bewilderment, when he went all sideways on the ice and started yelping, I was concerned for the guy. I carried his 90 pound furry ass back the 1.5 miles home. A day or two went by and he didn't even want to get up to go to the bathroom. So I made a vet appointment. I don't recall what the exact diag was, but he needed hip surgery. The insurance said " sorry, Huskies are known to have hip problems and that is excluded from coverage". Yes, I looked it up and it was. So we're a host of other things. Pugs with breathing problems, Danes and heart issues, etc.
Last 2 pups were all out of pocket. No biggie. We always have a slush fund. It sucks sometimes but they are our responsibility.
Choose wisely. The insurance companies are not there to insure your pet. They are there to male money. Paying out does not fit their business model.

 

[RCW]

We’ve never looked into pet insurance.

We think of pet medical expenses like groceries and pet food; an O&M expense of the household.

Not to sound cruel, but we would not entertain huge pet medical expenses beyond our own means.

Know folks that have spent 10’s of thousands for pet-care. Don’t think we’d go down that road.

 

[fried1765]

Personally, I am against it. Unless you can find one that (in writing) says the policy does not exclude congenital and/ or breed specific illnesses.
Case in point: I had a Husky that ran down onto a frozen lake. I'm sure he had no idea that it was frozen and thought it was water. Anyway, as funny as it was to see his bewilderment, when he went all sideways on the ice and started yelping, I was concerned for the guy. I carried his 90 pound furry ass back the 1.5 miles home. A day or two went by and he didn't even want to get up to go to the bathroom. So I made a vet appointment. I don't recall what the exact diag was, but he needed hip surgery. The insurance said " sorry, Huskies are known to have hip problems and that is excluded from coverage". Yes, I looked it up and it was. So we're a host of other things. Pugs with breathing problems, Danes and heart issues, etc.
Last 2 pups were all out of pocket. No biggie. We always have a slush fund. It sucks sometimes but they are our responsibility.
Choose wisely. The insurance companies are not there to insure your pet. They are there to male money. Paying out does not fit their business model.

"Paying out does not fit their business model"
By definition, THAT is the "business model" of ALL insurance companies!

 

[Seane1987]

We had the premium plan from nationwide on both of our pugs up until they were 5. My wife used the heck out of it and we definitely made out well with it, but it rises exponentially after 5 and she changed to another one. I'm not sure which one we have now, we mostly just have it for accidental injury now. They are both 8 now.

 

[D2Cat]

I hang out at the parking lot of the vet clinic and catch them on their way out and ask em if they do any side work

I think this is a repeat.......

 

[imnukensc]

No pet insurance and I don't take my pets in for yearly "well pet" visits. I know when, and if, my pets need a vet. I get their yearly shots at any of the numerous mobile pet vaccine providers. I also don't get my pet meds, dog or cat, from the vet. I've ordered them on line for the last 15 years or so. Exact same meds/brand names/generics you need a script for here in the states at a much lower cost without the script. Takes a week or two to get them, but I order 6 months worth at a time. https://www.petshed.com

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

No pet insurance and I don't take my pets in for yearly "well pet" visits. I know when, and if, my pets need a vet. I get their yearly shots at any of the numerous mobile pet vaccine providers. I also don't get my pet meds, dog or cat, from the vet. I've ordered them on line for the last 15 years or so. Exact same meds/brand names/generics you need a script for here in the states at a much lower cost without the script. Takes a week or two to get them, but I order 6 months worth at a time. https://www.petshed.com

I almost accidently deleted you as a spammer!

FYI: All of the products that web site sells do not require a prescription, they are all over the counter.
A lot of people don't realize that almost all of those companies offer OTC and prescription versions of the same product names, yet the ingredients are not the same.
I'm not saying don't use them, but look on other places like Amazon for deals.

 

[jyoutz]

No help with a carrier recommendation. Here you can’t get a veterinary appointment sooner than about 3 months out. But if you’re willing to pay an extra $150, they miraculously can fit you in next week. Funny how that works. God forbid you don’t want buy the medication from them and want a hard copy prescription to get it at a lessor escalated price. That’s the same as stealing from them. This is at the locally owned veterinary clinic. They were much better pre-Covid. Now they are certain they can abuse their customers and a lot of them will still come back. There are others that have been assimilated into the Borg and they are worse.

I always ask my vet for a written prescription and get it filled at Costco. I believe they have to do this if requested.

 

[GrizBota]

I always ask my vet for a written prescription and get it filled at Costco. I believe they have to do this if requested.

They do. I get mine at Costco as well. I may or may not have a more than a passing familiarity with the (legal) pharmaceutical industry. The vet came unhinged. Something about assuming I’d buy Chinese knockoffs from “Chewy”. It was pretty comical.

I asked to speak with the vet after my pet was seen. The staff advised me the vet was too busy to talk to me. But the moment I declined to purchase the medication from the vet and asked for a hard copy of the prescription, well then the staff had time to get the vet, while three of the staff watched her melt down over my request for a good five minutes. The vet, realizing that her theatrics had no effect, ended up calming herself and told me I could purchase the meds from Costco. I told her that was a good idea. It was comical. I did leave with the hard copy prescriptions.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

True Story:

I was sitting in the vets waiting room once, and there is this old guy next to me with a disgruntled look on his face and a "yapping ankle biter" tugging on a leash and yapping away.....

He looked at me and said...." You know what used to happen to sick dogs when I was a kid?"

I said "Nope"

He said 'They died.......thats what happend....none of this Veterinarian bullsh!t"

Hahahah.....

 

[The Evil Twin]

True Story:

I was sitting in the vets waiting room once, and there is this old guy next to me with a disgruntled look on his face and a "yapping ankle biter" tugging on a leash and yapping away.....

He looked at me and said...." You know what used to happen to sick dogs when I was a kid?"

I said "Nope"

He said 'They died.......thats what happend....none of this Veterinarian bullsh!t"

Hahahah.....

He probably yells at kids to het off his lawn.

 

[Biker1mike]

We never had insurance on the pets. They were part of the family BUT, at the end of the day they were pets.

 

[Vince1230]

One of the benefits at work was pet insurance. When reviewed decided against it due to cost. We have had dogs all my life. Sometimes we needed to make decision if cost of treatment was worth it. Hard decision but it is a pet not human. We take pets to clinic at tractor supply for shots. Our vet stopped taking new dogs without a new pet fee of $100 even after being a customer for years.

 

[fried1765]

One of the benefits at work was pet insurance. When reviewed decided against it due to cost. We have had dogs all my life. Sometimes we needed to make decision if cost of treatment was worth it. Hard decision but it is a pet not human. We take pets to clinic at tractor supply for shots. Our vet stopped taking new dogs without a new pet fee of $100 even after being a customer for years.

Our two vets (one North, one South) will not see our dog, without a $$$$"wellness exam".

 

[GeoHorn]

Check out the veterinarian’s parking lot before taking your pet there.

Customers drive the market in a truly “free enterprise” system. I don’t know about “in the big city”…but out here in rural areas…. a vet who specializes in “pets of the rich” ….. doesn’t last that long.

There’s a gated community or two out here by the lakes. There are some vets that cater to those folks. They also have fancy clinics, constructed by architects, and Lexus and Tesla ”automobiles” in the parking lots and no outside corrals or run-pens.

You do not see pickups with mud on the tires there.

 

[jaxs]

True Story:

I was sitting in the vets waiting room once, and there is this old guy next to me with a disgruntled look on his face and a "yapping ankle biter" tugging on a leash and yapping away.....

He looked at me and said...." You know what used to happen to sick dogs when I was a kid?"

I said "Nope"

He said 'They died.......thats what happend....none of this Veterinarian bullsh!t"

Hahahah.....

I remember those days. Perfectly healthy dogs met the same fate if found sucking eggs, chasing cattle,killing barnyard fowl and other misdeeds.
The most disturbing for me was pointing dogs shot for breaking point or eating dead birds.

 

[jyoutz]

Also

Check out the veterinarian’s parking lot before taking your pet there.

Customers drive the market in a truly “free enterprise” system. I don’t know about “in the big city”…but out here in rural areas…. a vet who specializes in “pets of the rich” ….. doesn’t last that long.

There’s a gated community or two out here by the lakes. There are some vets that cater to those folks. They also have fancy clinics, constructed by architects, and Lexus and Tesla ”automobiles” in the parking lots and no outside corrals or run-pens.

You do not see pickups with mud on the tires there.

Also, my vet has barn facilities for horses and other large animals. These are the types that cater to rural dog and other owners.