I had pet insurance on a chihuahua once & kept track of all claims + expenses etc. Turned out I would've been better off just putting the money in the bank. The most expensive thing - knee surgery for luxating patella wasn't covered because it was breed specific or something. That dog was pretty much an inside pampered pooch though but I think I'd seriously think about it for a bigger more adventurous dog travelling Oz. With tick paralysis, snake & insect bites etc. Make sure you compare policies & check the fine print though. I'd think the RSPCA should be OK.
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The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page.
I'm with dundreamin. I researched pet insurance and decided it wasn't good value for money. We decided to have a bank account specifically for that purpose. I found that if a second cruciate ligament needed repair it wasn't covered and the list went on. The most worrying one was that payout had an end by date and if I remember correctly it was at 8 years. That of course is the time most things would begin to occur. Our dog is small and should live to about 16 so there would have been a possible 8 years with no cover. She's just had her teeth cleaned and it came out of her account.
We have two Shih Tzu's and the lowest quote we got for both was $96 per month 4 years ago and as Di posted, there are a lot of flaws (not paws) in what is covered and to what age.
So to date we have been putting $30 a fortnight into an account which pays for their annual needles and check up, and being young dogs the account is growing for when they age.
We have Pet Plan insurance for our Boxer, Labrador and our cat. I can honestly say that it has been well worth it. A snake bit one of our Boxers a couple of years ago - $7000 + of vet bills were all covered. Heart disease for the last 2 years of her life would have cost over $3000. The younger (living) Boxer has an allergic condition, needing $50 of medication a month - covered.
You can be lucky and your pet may not need medical attention, but when something happens (like the snake bite) then you don't have to make otherwise heartbreaking decisions. We were with RSPCA but had a massive argument with them when they refused to accept a highly qualified and experienced Vet's opinion that a diagnosed cancer was not related to a previous cancer event which the dog had before we took out insurance.
My thoughts and experience.......
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Peter A
Travelling by road is the only way to travel. Australia and USA.
We have two large dogs, wolfhound cross and pointer cross. Used to have insurance for both for about two years. During that time we had so much trouble making claims for injuries they sustained whilst playing. Not large amounts. $200 here, $300 there. Overall well below the annual insurance amount. In the end the insurance company became stroppy and it was like running an endurance test to continue making claims. Other insurance companies appeared to be underwritten by the same insurer. The breed exclusions are all the same. So not much point in changing companies and ditched it altogether. We put the money aside ourselves and cover all their medicals from that.
Did you know that RSPCA insurance trades on the name? We have it for our small dog and have just become aware that the RSPCA only gets 10% of the first 12 months of a policy, the insurance company gets everything thereafter! The claims are very restricted ----
Not worth the money But can't afford not to have it now. Our boy is 11/12 (not sure - rescue). If my dog was young I would invest in a separate account and keep adding to it each month.
That is exactly what we have done. My research showed that none were really worthwhile, all in their favour. We have a savings account for our dog who is 4 years old. So far everything she has had done has been well and truly covered. Our previous dog cost us a lot at the end as she has adenocarcinoma and needed, weekly support, but even then insurance would not have helped. Would not have changed a thing for her.
