# Things to know about pet insurance?



## SaffronTea (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm considering getting pet insurance, but have heard that to truly benefit from it, I should take them to the vet for a full screening, and dental check up prior to the start of the plan... is this true?

I am considering going with PetPlan, and want to plan my finances wisely if my Lakoda needs a full screening.


----------



## TigervTeMar (Jan 4, 2014)

don't know about the check-up but my guy has insurance and I ended up needing it last week when he swallowed a chicken bone lying in the middle of the street! he threw it up but they covered a lot of the various x-rays and whatnot. good for you for getting it


----------



## SaffronTea (Nov 12, 2013)

TigervTeMar, that's exactly the sort of thing I am worried about... my cat just had a $900 vet appointment because of megacolon, and I barely was able to afford it, with my Mom's help.

I just want to know if there is anything I should do before I get it.


----------



## owens91 (Mar 19, 2014)

I wanna kno this as well and what pet companies are out there that most vets take. I'm deff gonna need it for my ares


----------



## TigervTeMar (Jan 4, 2014)

my guy is covered by Trupanion. my vet says they have their own underwriters so that helps in some way


----------



## SaffronTea (Nov 12, 2013)

Can you tell me more about them? Such as what they do and do not cover? I want to hear personal experiences, if possible. I can look up specifics on their site, but I want to hear your opinion on them.


----------



## Soundguy (Feb 20, 2013)

Do a search here on 'pet insurance'. It's a topic that gets discussed over and over and there are a number of threads with good information and opinions. There was just one started last last week. I think you'll find a lot of good information.


----------



## SaffronTea (Nov 12, 2013)

Yes, I did do a search, it's how I decided on PetPlan, but I keep seeing posts saying they lucked out by seeing a dentist before being covered, or they did a blood test prior to coverage, which made PetPlan cover certain issues they otherwise would not, and I want to learn more about that, if possible.


----------



## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

SaffronTea said:


> Yes, I did do a search, it's how I decided on PetPlan, but I keep seeing posts saying they lucked out by seeing a dentist before being covered, or they did a blood test prior to coverage, which made PetPlan cover certain issues they otherwise would not, and I want to learn more about that, if possible.


 If I remember correctly they require any prior medical records when you sign up. I would call them and find out. I have Petplan also but Nikki was signed up at six weeks old so there were no pre-existing conditions I had to worry about. 

*kr16* has a lot of good posts on health insurance if you want to do a search.


----------



## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

I do not have pet insurance but did great research on them when I was considering a plan for Titan. 

My own advice would honestly be to not have a prior screening unless you know of a pre-existing health issue with your dog. If you do that screening and something new comes of it, the insurance will not cover any of the costs because that is considered a pre-existing condition since you screened for it and found it prior to getting the insurance. Does that make sense?

Well for me I decided against insurance because Titan is fairly healthy. Instead I went with applying for a high limit credit card, like $10,000. I weighed the costs of the monhly payment if I never used the actual insurace, to the monthly payments of the card if I used it. It seemed better for me to pay the monthly payments of the credit card when actually used than a monthly payment that may actually never use.


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I have Trupanion for Lakota. My vet did what ever paperwork they required and I didn't need to bring her in. What I like about this plan is I do not need to do any annual vaccines of course any vaccine related illness will not be covered.
Pet Insurance - Trupanion


----------



## SaffronTea (Nov 12, 2013)

Wyoung, that makes sense, that's what I wanted to know. 

I wanted to just get care credit, or a high limit credit card, but my own personal medical bills have utterly destroyed my credit...


----------



## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

SaffronTea said:


> Wyoung, that makes sense, that's what I wanted to know.
> 
> I wanted to just get care credit, or a high limit credit card, but my own personal medical bills have utterly destroyed my credit...


Totally understand that one. I wasn't able to do that until very very recently. For me personally it just made sense. If Titan seemed to have many issues, or even was in a sport that might cause problems down the road, I may have considered it more. 

My mom actually suggested this one for me what I couldn't get a CC.. Put the same amount of money into a separate account that you would pay monthly for an insurance. So for me it would have been about $45 a month for his insurance. I started just putting that away into a "Titan account" and saving it that way. If I could afford more one month, then great but it was always the minimum. I ended up with a nice cushion after a while.


----------

