Pet Health Insurance

[frontierrots]

I have been looking at the different types of pet insurance out there and have been pleased with none of them. All of them have various restrictions on what they will and won't cover and they all cost about $25 - $40 a month per pet, plus you still have to pay the vet in the majority of cases and submit receipts to get reimbursed

What I decided to do instead is to set up a dog health savings account and deposit money in it each month just like I was paying for insurance. The account is accessible via an ATM card so if I need the money in a hurry I can get to it. I can also directly transfer funds from it to my checking acct online if I wish.

I thought I'd pass my findings and idea along to you all, in case it is useful to any of you

[Denise L.]

This is very helpful! I was looking into the insurance also through Petco.

I made sure I saved extra $$$ before I adopted Cyrus just in case. I like the idea of a dedicated account just for him!

[Patty1231]

This probably isn't the best of all solutions but I don't have a lot of extra money out of my paycheck to put away at this point in time (with everything costing more lately) so I have a specific, low-interest credit card that I use only for the pets. So far, I've been able to keep it at a zero balance from one visit to the next but I know it's there for big emergencies.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by Patty1231

This probably isn't the best of all solutions but I don't have a lot of extra money out of my paycheck to put away at this point in time (with everything costing more lately) so I have a specific, low-interest credit card that I use only for the pets. So far, I've been able to keep it at a zero balance from one visit to the next but I know it's there for big emergencies.

That's a good idea too. But for a one or two dog owner, $25-$50 per month is the same that the insurance companies charge and most people can put that amount into the bank

[zeus vonkircher]

I will never go without pet insurance again! when we lost zeus a couple of months ago after everything was all said and done we spent 7,500 dollars If we would have had the insurance at the time 80% of that would have been covered. Not that money was the issue and the credit cards had there max on them I would have spent all the money in the world to help our little guy. VPI pet insurance which I have now is 21.57 a month everyone should have it! One other thing if something did come up wth your pet and they needed medical help and you did not have enough saved at least you know you have pet insurance.
michelle

[carolynnl4]

Also, a lot of pet hospitals now a days work with a company called (I *think*) CareCredit, and if your dog needs something done, it's 0 interest for a year. It's basically a credit loan. They offered it to me when Athena had her (second) $2,000 surgery, but I ended up using student loan money.