INSURANCE
Someone asked me about pet insurances, and my thoughts on the subject: this is a very good question, but unfortunately, I don't have all the answers, though I will share my thoughts with you all…
I myself have six dogs, which makes it almost impossible to be able to buy insurance for each of them as you must have by now realized, because of the cost… So, I am taking my chances, but I can handle emergencies when they arise. In the meantime, I make sure that my dogs are well cared for with a healthy balanced diet and that they have a happy and active physical life. This is what I do, but this is not necessarily what I recommend as most of you only have one or two dogs, and problems can arise.
Now what you must ask yourself is: can you and should you take insurance, when you're dealing only with one or two dogs? You will have to make that decision when you get a new puppy. I will hand you an AKC folder full of advertisements… You might find in there something that you like from the AKC, from TRUPANION or others…
My advice is if you take insurance, it is to cover the very expensive medical expenses, not for the little things unless you want to pay huge monthly payments.
The little things are:
- vaccines and for your information, most vets have one day in the week where they charge less for vaccines.
- Check-up exams.
- Fecal tests
- an occasional trip to the vet for eye scratch, minor infections, diarrhea from eating junk…
- Teeth cleaning: they should be cleaned, but if you maintain good oral hygiene for your dog and do a once-a-year clean-up like humans, it should not be extreme. I clean briefly my dog teeth once a day, not using a toothbrush, but rubbing gel toothpaste; I also give my dogs chew toys that I cover with toothpaste, and once a year I do a clean-up. I don't put them under at the vet; this is very expensive and traumatic, in my opinion not needed unless problems-- my vet will charge about 3 hundred dollars for that, the other Big Bear vet will charge between $400 to $1000 ( VCA vet are very pricey). It is much less invasive to take your vet to a pet shop where they schedule a dentist to come in once a month. It cost about $80 to $120 and they simply wrap your dog in a towel and clean their teeth as they are awake like humans—back when I lived in Los Angeles, I was able to schedule a dog teeth cleaner to come to my house once a year (twice when older).
So to make a long story short, it is my advice for you to not use insurance for these minor costs, but if you can afford it, get one that covers big expensive health problems like operations, expensive tests, heart problems, surgeries, MRIs, expensive medications… That's when I would be very happy to have insurance for the big expenses if I could.
One of my puppies' family swears by the insurance PETS BEST Their vet recommended them. So far it is good for them. They sent their first bill and it took about 10 days for them to reimburse them. You can also sign up for them to sent direct payment to your vet. They have different levels of coverage depending on what you want and the budget. Obviously, they took a coverage where they handle small bills too, it's a matter of choice. They pay $800 a year. https://www.petsbest.com/
I know another family that recommended great insurance that has been used by other of their family members with pets, and it's called NATIONWIDE. They have different plans, but for them, they always reimburse really fast and it is completely worth it. https://www.petinsurance.com/
Basically, there are many options, some cheaper or better than others, read between the fine lines ;-)
I hope this answered some of your questions: BEST OF LUCK!