Guest AimeeBee Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I have Healthy Paws, so far *knock on wood* I have not had to use it (haven't met the deductible yet). I personally think it's worth it. It's just me and I'm currently working my way back from an ugly separation/life uprooting, I'd rather be out the $40-whatever each month instead of having to choose between losing George and a vet bill I could never pay. I'm fine with it not covering "routine" expenses -- I can at least budget for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walliered Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I have Trupanion for both of the Greyhounds and Healthy Paws for the Galgo. I would NEVER go without pet insurance…$21,000 in back surgeries..they paid 90% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_the4pack Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 whatever you do, do NOT get VPI. It's hard enough to deal with the death of a dog, but now I have to fight to get just the cremation reimbursement that they said I could get. REALLY. I don't want to have to fight over this since my girl is gone. Thank goodness I have HP for the other twol You know what's interesting, VPI really wasn't that bad before Nationwide bought them out. So.....makes me wonder if I should never take Nationwide as an insurance for anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 whatever you do, do NOT get VPI. It's hard enough to deal with the death of a dog, but now I have to fight to get just the cremation reimbursement that they said I could get. REALLY. I don't want to have to fight over this since my girl is gone. Thank goodness I have HP for the other twol You know what's interesting, VPI really wasn't that bad before Nationwide bought them out. So.....makes me wonder if I should never take Nationwide as an insurance for anything else. That's interesting. Does that explain the 30% rate increase I had this year? I was so pissed and planned to switch but at 10 years old with pre-existing conditions I am stuck with Zuri. Thankfully I got the girls on Healthy Paws. Anyway, I was going to say that I actually found them very compassionate when I lost Neyla. They clearly explained whta I would be reimbursed and got it out to me promptly, no arguments. I'm so sorry they're making it difficult for you. That's despicable. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I'm in the UK and initially insured my 5yo grey for a cost of £32 per month (I think that's nearly $50). I got frustrated because of exclusions they put on the policy based on information I wasn't sure about. With a retired racer I had absolutely no medical history to give them. They asked me if he had all of his teeth, I said 'I don't know how many he should have' and they said 'due to his existing dental condition we can't cover dental care' which made no sense to me. My sister recently had her insurance company wriggle out of a horse vet bill and be out of pocket by lots of money. I'm not sure if it's complicated with a 5 year old dog when you don't know their history, making it difficult to get cover but I did some looking back at all of the dogs we've ever had as a family (lots and lots) and maybe we got lucky or maybe it's because we're in a very rural area there's not the same spectrum of treatments available but we decided to open a savings account and put the money we'd have spent on the insurance into that account. This wasn't a decision I took lightly and I'd sell my soul to keep my dogs healthy, my concern was that the insurance wouldn't cover us if we needed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_the4pack Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 When I grew up with a dog there were not a lot of treatments. So vet care really wasn't expensive. But nowadays everything has a specialist. And that is what is so costly. Also doesn't sound like you have a good insurance company. Are there any others you can chose from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawthorn Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 but we decided to open a savings account and put the money we'd have spent on the insurance into that account. I made the same decision when my two were 6 years old when their insurance premium went up to £1000 per year per dog, but I have to say that I regretted it very quickly. Only three months later, one of them became very ill, required emergency hospitalisation twice at a specialist centre and months of treatment, costing us £6000 in total, and now he is pretty much uninsurable. Admittedly, we were extremely unlucky, but I will never have another uninsured dog, much as I dislike insurance companies. My other dog is now insured. Quote When a relationship of love is disrupted, the relationship does not cease. The love continues; therefore, the relationship continues. The work of grief is to reconcile and redeem life to a different love relationship. ~ W Scott Lineberry Always Greyhounds Home Boarding and Greyhounds With Love House Sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mmmberry Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I used to have pet insurance provided at a discount through my job, but I decided to drop it. The reason I dropped it was because I was expecting it would be similar to human health insurance. I was getting deducted from my paycheck just like my own health and dental and eye coverage. However, once I took my dog to the vet for his annual, and gave the information to my vet, I found out that I did not just have to make a co-pay, I had to pay 100% of his annual exam and shots. Now, don't flame me! I admit that I did not review any information before signing up (what can I say, I was young) but the way is was presented was misleading to say the least. I went home and reviewed the policy and did some calculations. Regular checkups not covered. Shots not covered. Flea treatment not covered. Dental not covered. So I dropped my coverage. When that dog died, we had medical bills equivalent to two years worth of premiums we would have paid to the insurance provider. So if he had been covered, I would have been out even more money because of the exclusions. He was 15 years old and the vet told me that even with treatment he would not have a good quality of life and would most likely end up dying in about 6 months to a year. I live in an urban area with lots of treatment options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Obviously every dog is going to be different. If everyone saved money having pet insurance, the companies wouldn't make any money. The value of having insurance, imo, is that I don't have to worry about withholding medical care IF my dog gets very sick. Putting the money you'd pay for a premium simply will never add up to what you could easily spend on a single serious illness. So I do put aside money monthly to cover routine care and I don't expect insurance to cover that. I've also chosen a slightly higher deductible and lower reimbursement rate that I think would still allow me to treat my dogs without worry, but also lowers my premiums a bit. In the end, it's a crapshoot. Skye, my smaller mixed breed will probably live until she's twenty and never incur much in the way of medical expenses (or so I hope!) and I'll have paid all of that money for "nothing". Violet on the other hand is not yet 5 and has already paid for her insurance 4 times over. Bottom line, I have peace of mind I don't have to deny my dogs care because of cost. Edited March 5, 2015 by NeylasMom Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45MPHK9 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 My worst nightmare is maxing out my credit cards or emptying out my saving account to deal with a medical emergency. I happily pay for pet insurance every month. Quote Tricia with Kyle, our senior mutt dog Always missing Murray Maldives, Bee Wiseman, River, Hopper, Kaia, and Holly Oaks Holly“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.“ -Bob Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracegirl Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Bottom line, I have peace of mind I don't have to deny my dogs care because of cost. Yes, this is my feeling on the subject entirely. Quote Poppy the lurcher 11/24/23 Gabby the Airedale 7/1/18 Forever missing Grace (RT's Grace), Fenway (not registered, def a greyhound), Jackson (airedale terrier, honorary greyhound), and Tessie (PK's Cat Island) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philospher77 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 My first grey died of osteo. I have't ever actually added up the exact amount I spent on her, but between that and lumbar-sacral stenosis, it was well over 10K, maybe even over 20K. It's harder to track when it's lots of little recurring 100 visits, instead of one super expensive one. So, my second grey I got pet insurance, and went with Healthy Paws because they are one of the few that cover bilateral issues, and Katie had already been diagnosed with pannus in the right eye, but not the left. I debated about putting Pixie on it, because what are the odds that she comes down with something as devastating as osteo, being a non-grey? But I decided it wasn't fair to only cover one dog, so I got her some too. And wouldn't you know it, after waiting out the exclusion time (they delay when the coverage starts, so you can't just sign up right before surgery), I take Pixie to the vet with some concerns about how she's walking, and get told that she needs bilateral knee surgery. At a cost of 3-4K, per leg. I crossed my fingers when I sent that to HP for review to see if they would cover it or not, since I was struggling with seeing how I could cover both legs. One leg... that would be rough, but doable. Both legs? That would start hitting my emergency funds, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that. But HP came back, said it wasn't pre-existing, and yes, they would cover both. I figured once that, with something like a 4% increase per year in premiums, it will be 13 years before they get the money back that they paid out for Pixie's surgeries. Add in the emergency visits because she WILL eat things she shouldn't when the regular vet is closed, and the months we spent trying to clear up an eyelid infection, only to find out she had the dog version of MRSA and apparently also has an autoimmune issue going on, and she is winding up to be an expensive pet! But they have been really good about paying what they say that they will, no questions or roadblocks. Just submitted my latest bill today, since she had a skin growth removed that suddenly decided to start getting bigger and changing size. Katie, on the other hand, hasn't ever met her deductible. I'm ok with that, too! Quote My blog about helping Katie learn to be a more normal dog: http://katies-journey-philospher77.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I think that this is a very sensible discussion and people are making informed decisions based on previous experiences. I do get a bit saddened by the 'you'd get insurance if you really cared about your dog' rhetoric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I think that this is a very sensible discussion and people are making informed decisions based on previous experiences. I do get a bit saddened by the 'you'd get insurance if you really cared about your dog' rhetoric. I don't see where anyone has said anything like that. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Oh not here thank goodness. Mainly fb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Oh not here thank goodness. Mainly fb. Ah, okay. Thanks. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Yeah sorry didn't mean that to sound negative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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