How much would you spend on pet medical bills?

[morgin]

Originally Posted by fotze

That's what made me never get it for me. You think telus has some serious fine print to fata you over, just think what a pet insurance company can do.

In my case, I actually read the whole policy prior to signing up and while this is just my own opinion, the list of exclusions in my own policy was fairly reasonable. YMMV I guess. If you get it, you should read the fine print (it's not that bad, really!) to understand what is and isn't covered.

Here's the PC one as an example: http://www.pcinsurance.ca/media/pdf/...y-wordings.pdf

[morgin]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I'm OK with them giving people options, but vets are certainly getting a commission for selling it as well. Like fotze, I am also a little cynical when the person performing the work is the same one that is promoting (and benefiting from the sale of) the insurance.

Must depend on the vet. I called ours to ask specifically if there was one they promoted or dealt with more regularily, and they said nope they have clients with almost all of the big plans and although there are sometimes disputes over pre-existing conditions, most the time payouts happen no problem. I then asked them to recommend one to me and they wouldn't do it saying I should research them and figure out what is best for us.

So, while I'm sure there are scammy vets, ours (Cambrian) was pretty much on the straight and narrow with pet insurance.

[CaptainYooh]

We have two small dogs. As a person who paid almost $1,400 to the dog dentist last week, I am afraid to say, that was close to "let's just leave it as is". On the other hand, this was a two for one deal, kinda, so I am not overly bitter about the amount now.

[Coach]

Just came back from the vet. About $300 between two visits today for eating the chocolate. Apparently threw up a good litre of liquid chocolate. I also go to Cambrian and they are very good there, or so it seems anyways, I don't have a lot of reference.

But seriously, $42 for a bottle of charcoal? Can I just shove one of my drawing charcoals down his throat?

[vegasbound]

I just have mortality on my two horses (I think they are both insured for $15k each) and I am tempted to put major medical on them. Gives me a peace of mind that I can replace one of them if something were to happen. I've never carried insurance on my dog but I'm tempted to now. A $300 vet bill would be like seeing gold to me! I don't think I have had a vet bill that has been under $400 in the past two years (dog or horse).

[sec304]

My dog (about 14 years old or so) has started screaming out in pain randomly, took him to the vet last week for a couple of visits, did blood work on tuesday (found nothing), X-rays on thursday, $600 later we found out the poor guy has a crushed disc in his vertebrae.

Anyone been through this? He's too old for surgery.

I've had people recommend dog chiropractic, dog massage or hydrotherapy, any one with experience in any of those?

I'm not sure what would help him.

thanks

[ae118]

I realize Trupanion and vet-recommended insurance was criticized up thread, but we got a Trupanion policy based on the recommendation of a vet I know personally and trust. He's seen it impact some major choices people have had to make for their pets. I suppose it could still be a rip-off, but I think like any insurance it's a matter of thinking through scenarios, coverage, and what works for you. The policy is about $35 monthly with I think a $250 deductible. I think saving the money monthly might also be a good choice though. We got the policy just last year and our pet is already "middle aged" so our premiums are a bit higher.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I have never heard of someone assuming that a visit to the vet would be covered by anything other than their own wallet. People may be surprised at how high a vet bill can be, but nobody actually assumes that vets are subsidized by anything, do they?

I haven't been to the vet much, but I've seen some dumb dumb people while I was there. "I have to pay for that?"

[snowshoe]

My cat was diagnosed as diabetic and the vet at the time encouraged me to have her put down because of the commitment and his opinion that it wasn't worth the effort. I'm glad that I didn't listen to him. Finding a new vet and learning how to deal with the disease gave us 9 more happy years together. I'm sure over that time, the costs would add up to that ballpark but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I think the big shock about the story is the $40K all at once, that'd be hard to do without insurance
.