# Dog Insurance ?



## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

I'm looking into getting dog insurance for Chloe (she's 7 months old) and my new puppy that I'll be getting in March. I was looking at PetPlan {gold membership, $200 deductible, and 100% reimbursement}. Does PetPlan cover regular check ups such as getting shots, and getting tested for heartworms and so on? What do you personally think about PetPlan? If you have petinsurance, what company do you use? And what do you think of them? Thanks for reading.


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

I have the PetPlan Bronze policy. I got it when Bear was 3 months old and unfortunately I needed to use it shortly after I got it, but thankfully I did!
Anytime I have submitted a claim they have been great!


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I have petplan and I just submitted a claim. I don't think there are any plans out there that cover routine stuff. If their out there, I bet it costs alot more. I see it as emergency only. And, it has paid for itself in my case already.


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

eddie1976E said:


> I have petplan and I just submitted a claim. I don't think there are any plans out there that cover routine stuff. If their out there, I bet it costs alot more. I see it as emergency only. And, it has paid for itself in my case already.


VPI states that they cover spay/neuter & shots (regular vet visits) which PetPlan does not, and they are a tad less expensive than PetPlan, but I did hear some bad reviews for VPI.


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## lauren43 (Jun 14, 2014)

I heard the ones that cover the little things (reg vet visits, spays/neuters) and more difficult when it comes to claiming the emergencies. Whether or not that is true I don't know.


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

I have Petplan for Nikki and they have been great but they don't cover routine care. There are a lot of threads on the subject already that may help you make a decision.

Welcome to the official home of the German Shepherd Dog, a dog respected and admired throughout the world for its versatility, loyalty and intelligence. - Search Results for health insurance


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## Waffle Iron (Apr 3, 2012)

PetPlan seems to be a favorite of a lot of people here. What about Healthy Paws? They seem to be pretty good on their face. Anyone deal with them?


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Crossing my fingers and knocking on wood, none of my 3 dogs has ever required a procedure costing more than about $1000. Once I took Kopper to the e-vet for a very upset stomach. They wanted to do exploratory surgery. I said to wait a bit and it turned out just to be really bad gas. 

I keep an emergency fund in the bank (3-6 months of expenses) to cover any emergencies I or my dogs have. I feel like using the money to set up an emergency fund is a better plan because if you're fortunate like I have been, you save that money and when you don't need to use it it's still yours. If you pay it to an insurance company it's gone forever.


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## lauren43 (Jun 14, 2014)

I have healthy paws but I haven't had to use it yet..knock on wood.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

OP, please use the search function to find the past threads on PetPlan -- there's EXCELLENT information in those threads from kr16, who analyzed the contract language in Pet Plan as well as several others.

Bottom line: the point of insurance is not to pay for little stuff (like routine care, which is not expensive); the point is to insure against major illness or injuries (e.g., cancer treatment, major surgery, etc. -- very expensive stuff). So get a policy that has the fewest exclusions for major events. From a consumer's perspective, it wouldn't make sense to get a policy that has lots of exclusions for major events (like VPI does), in order to get minor coverage for shots and annual visits costing $100 or so (selling those "backwards" policies that cover little stuff but exclude big stuff makes a ton of sense from an insurance profit perspective though...).


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Emoore said:


> Crossing my fingers and knocking on wood, none of my 3 dogs has ever required a procedure costing more than about $1000. Once I took Kopper to the e-vet for a very upset stomach. They wanted to do exploratory surgery. I said to wait a bit and it turned out just to be really bad gas.
> 
> I keep an emergency fund in the bank (3-6 months of expenses) to cover any emergencies I or my dogs have. I feel like using the money to set up an emergency fund is a better plan because if you're fortunate like I have been, you save that money and when you don't need to use it it's still yours. If you pay it to an insurance company it's gone forever.



Either way you face it, your taking a gamble. The insurance company is losing with me on both my dogs. Me on the other hand, same situation, I did all the tests not caring about anything except my dog. Exploratory surgery for a upset tummy, I would have lost my cool on that vet. Must have needed some money for his car payment.

I never want to have to think about money as a factor to give my dogs tests or procedures.

If you follow Dave Ramsey with the emergency fund. Dave Ramsey is 100% wrong on pet insurance with the emergency fund if that is what you are following. I speak to his office all the time and lecture them on this. Cant get him on the phone yet, but its coming soon I hope.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I have a good experience with Healthy Paws. They have saved me big bucks and pay out quickly.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

kr16 said:


> Either way you face it, your taking a gamble. The insurance company is losing with me on both my dogs. Me on the other hand, same situation, I did all the tests not caring about anything except my dog. Exploratory surgery for a upset tummy, I would have lost my cool on that vet. Must have needed some money for his car payment.
> 
> I never want to have to think about money as a factor to give my dogs tests or procedures.
> 
> If you follow Dave Ramsey with the emergency fund. Dave Ramsey is 100% wrong on pet insurance with the emergency fund if that is what you are following. I speak to his office all the time and lecture them on this. Cant get him on the phone yet, but its coming soon I hope.



I do follow Dave Ramsey but I disagree with him on pet insurance. I feel like if you don't have the money to cover a major medical event (Which I do in my emergency fund. Never heard of a procedure costing more than 6 months of living expenses.) you should pay for pet insurance.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Emoore said:


> I do follow Dave Ramsey but I disagree with him on pet insurance. I feel like if you don't have the money to cover a major medical event (Which I do in my emergency fund. Never heard of a procedure costing more than 6 months of living expenses.) you should pay for pet insurance.


One of these days I will get him on the phone. His FPU teachings needs to be modified on the insurance end. Especially since Obamacare. I am one of his ELP's.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

kr16 said:


> One of these days I will get him on the phone. His FPU teachings needs to be modified on the insurance end. *Especially since Obamacare.* I am one of his ELP's.


Heh. I'm 33, slim, healthy, nonsmoker paying almost $300 a month for catastrophic coverage and a $6500 deductible. But we won't get into that.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Emoore said:


> Heh. I'm 33, slim, healthy, nonsmoker paying almost $300 a month for catastrophic coverage and a $6500 deductible. But we won't get into that.


Yep the UCA is a great deal.


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## Waffle Iron (Apr 3, 2012)

wolfy dog said:


> I have a good experience with Healthy Paws. They have saved me big bucks and pay out quickly.


Good to know


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## MaureenBland (Jan 8, 2014)

*Dog Insurance*

I have Embrace. When I got Joe at 6 months my vet told me to get it. I researched different insurances. Embrace covers everything - breed specific included. Many insurances did not cover things such as hips for GSD. I have been thrilled with them. I have four dogs. It's costly - but gives you such peace of mind knowing you have it, and although I would go broke to fix my dogs if need be, I don't have to. The people are very friendly and helpful and claims have a quick turn around.


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

MaureenBland said:


> I have Embrace. When I got Joe at 6 months my vet told me to get it. I researched different insurances. Embrace covers everything - breed specific included. Many insurances did not cover things such as hips for GSD. I have been thrilled with them. I have four dogs. It's costly - but gives you such peace of mind knowing you have it, and although I would go broke to fix my dogs if need be, I don't have to. The people are very friendly and helpful and claims have a quick turn around.


which plan did you pick?


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

We have Trupanion. We've had it for Roxy, our Pittie, since we adopted her in 2009. It's a bit pricey, but the coverage is excellent. We have always gotten really quick payouts, and their customer service is amazing. They are always really nice and extremely helpful on the rare occasion we have to call about something. We've unfortunately had to make a lot of claims, as Roxy has mast cell tumors/cancer. She had 5 tumor removal surgeries, and has been on some very expensive medication, and we have not had any problems with Trupanion. Her cancer treatments so far would have cost us around $10,000 without insurance, but with Trupanion, we only paid 10% of that. We just added our new little guy to our policy. Hopefully we never have to use it for him, but after our experience with Roxy, we will always have insurance, and as long as Trupanion is in business, we're going to stick with them.


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