Your Pet Insurance Guide

Top 10 Most Expensive Pet Health Conditions

I received this information in an e-mail today. I appreciate the fact that pet insurance companies have a database of information that allows them to search for statistics such as this. This information can be helpful to pet owners who are contemplating whether to get pet insurance. Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Reveals Most Common $1,000+ Claims Brea, Calif. (June 28, 2011) — Few pet owners imagine they will ever have to spend more than $1,000 for treatment of a single pet health incident or condition. Unfortunately, data from Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of... Read more →

PetPlan Claims Experience

By Desiree Nascimento, June 2011 My Kerry Blue Terrier, Kieran, was a healthy dog all her life so when I enrolled her with PetPlan in October 2009. I wondered if it would be worth it. At the time Kieran was seven years old and her last physical gave her a clean bill of health. Three months later in January 2010, Kieran started intermittent vomiting. I thought perhaps her food was the problem so I gradually changed her kibble, but the vomiting persisted. Around the same time Kieran began having seizures. They were short, lasting only a few seconds and afterwards... Read more →

A Dog Day Afternoon - Pursuing Pet Insurance

I am so grateful that a reader of this blog has agreed to write a couple of guest posts about her experiences in selecting a pet insurance company and policy for her pet. I hope that it will be an encouragement to everyone else who reads it. By Desiree Nascimento In October 2009 I took on the task of purchasing pet insurance for my seven year old Kerry Blue Terrier. As I conducted research over a two month period I found the variables of pet insurance vast, the comparisons between companies confusing, and the task daunting. Yet I tackled it... Read more →

Pet Insurance Company Statistics Can Serve As Helpful Reminders To Pet Owners

I've been posting lately several articles that are very informative that arose out of statistical analysis of pet insurance claims. Today's article has to do with claims for foreign body ingestion. It is amazing what pets can and will swallow. There have actually been contests in veterinary journals where veterinarians send in x-rays of some unbelievable things that pets have ingested. This should serve as a reminder and warning to do your part to prevent your pet from swallowing something that could cause you to make a costly visit to your veterinarian or local emergency clinic. Even then, accidents can... Read more →

Reassurance For Superstitious Pet Owners

When I saw this article, I was reminded of something that happened my senior year in vet school when I was on the large animal rotation. Isn't it weird how you never forget some things? Anyway, the large animal clinician took several of us out to a farm in Alabama on a call to castrate a pig. When we arrived and informed the farmer why we were there, his reply was, "You'll have to come back some other time; it's a full moon." Really? VPI analyzed their claims records and came up with the 10 most dangerous days for a... Read more →

Pet Owner's Opinions About Pet Insurance

I really hesitated to even bring this article and all the comments that follow it up for you to read or discuss, but it runs the gamut of pet owner's opinions about pet insurance. Since I visit pet forums frequently, I've seen all this before, but it might be interesting reading for some of you. Some pet owners point out in the comments what I will say below, but you'll find that some people think that all insurance is a scam, especially pet insurance. Granted, the customer service by this company left a lot to be desired, but as is... Read more →