A Biscuit a Day Keeps the Vet Away (or does it)?

Shelton is a town of pet lovers. Many of us have furry canine or feline residents in our homes and in our hearts. We feed them, walk them (well, the dogs, anyway), play with them and love them. We take them to the vet for their shots and when they are not well. Speaking of vet visits, how many of us cringe when the front desk staff tell us how much we owe at the end of our visit? And how many of us have had to make hard decisions when faced with a very ill pet that needs expensive medical intervention to improve his quality of life . . . or even to save his life?

If this hasn’t happened to you yet, the tough choices could be just around the corner. In fact, statistics show that one in two pets will have a significant health emergency in their lifetime. Additionally, every six seconds, a pet owner in the U.S. is faced with a $1,000 or higher vet bill.

You may ask, “Is there anything I can do to help keep my pet healthy or to mitigate the economic consequences of catastrophic health emergencies for my pets?” Well, you have several options, all of which require proactive action on your part.

First, you there are several steps you can take that will help you to minimize the potential for health issues with your pets:

• Don’t skimp on the quality of your pet’s food. Many of the popular commercial brands of pet food are made with low quality ingredients and contain non-nutrient fillers, dyes and additives.  Some of the additives found in low quality pet foods are banned from human foods, due to their links to cancer, and other serious health issues. There are several excellent websites that provide ingredient list explanations and quality comparisons. Check out your pet’s food online.  Alternatively, visit Shelton’s own independent pet store, , and speak with their knowledgeable staff about your pet’s food.
• Keep cats as indoor pets only. Cats that have access to the outdoors live an average of five to seven years, while indoor-only cats live more than twice as long. The reason that outdoor cats have much shorter lifespans is that they are exposed to health risks that indoor cats are not, including serious health risks from car accidents and feline AIDS and Leukemia, to name a few.
• If considering a new dog, you have several options to increase your chances of a healthy canine:

• Adopt a mixed breed. They are less prone to the hereditary and genetic diseases that plague many purebreds. In fact, the cost of pet health insurance for mixed breeds is 30 to 35 percent lower than for purebreds for this very reason.

• If considering a purebred, ensure you purchase a puppy from a reputable breeder, not a pet store or backyard breeder. Reputable breeders carefully consider before breeding, and will test the potential parents for hereditary and genetic conditions common to the breed before deciding whether or not they will make suitable parents.

Second, consider purchasing pet health insurance for your pet. Despite our best efforts, one in two of our animal companions will experience a major health issue in their lifetimes. Having health insurance for your pet can provide peace of mind, and in the event of a pet health emergency, will make the decisions regarding care easier on both your emotions and your pocketbook.

By now, most of us have heard of pet health insurance, even if we’re not quite sure how it works or whether or not it’s worth purchasing. While, for each of us, the decision whether or not to purchase pet insurance will be a personal one, and will depend on many factors, there are some things you should consider before making a decision.

First, let me tell you a story of two of my dogs. In 2007, I lost both of them within three months of each other. Our poodle, Maggie, was 18 years old and she had many health-related issues that led to our eventual decision to have her put to sleep in April of that year. For Maggie, there was no one incident, and no major health expense outlays, other than checkups and some pain medication, before her time came. However, in June 2007, while we were still grieving Maggie’s loss, our other dog, Shelly, a 7-year-old Chinese Crested, started throwing up. After trying the usual upset tummy routines, which did not work, we took her to the vet the next day, thinking maybe she had a stomach bug. Our vet did an exam and took an x-ray and immediately referred us to the local animal hospital for specialist care. He suspected either an intestinal blockage or liver disease. After a heart-breaking three days of specialists, tests, surgery, hope, then despair, we lost Shelly. Each step of the way, we did what the vets recommended, as there was a good chance of success. We spent over $ 7,000 on her care, and although we lost her anyway, I would not change our decisions. At the time, we did not have pet insurance, and I can honestly say that made the choices harder and the worry greater, as we considered what we could afford, versus her medical needs.

After a lot of research, I learned that pet insurance can be a real benefit to pet owners, with some significant caveats. The bottom line is that I now have all four of my current ‘canine kids’ covered.  However, I had to wade through a lot of information to make an informed decision. I hope to save you some time and provide you some resources, so you can determine the right choice for you.

Here are some things to consider before making your decision:

• Dogs are more likely to have a significant health emergency than cats.
• Pets with unsupervised outside access are more likely to suffer serious injuries or accidents than those kept inside, with only supervised outside trips (yard, walks, etc).
• Puppies and older dogs both suffer more medical emergencies than dogs in their middle years.
• Purebred dogs can suffer from hereditary or genetic conditions common to their breeds.
• The later in your pet’s life you wait to purchase insurance, the more costly it will be. In fact, some insurers will not accept new pet clients over the age of nine.
• Advances in veterinary medicine have made successful treatment an option for many more illnesses and injuries than in years past. Hand in hand with this goes the increasing cost of such care. The cost for treatment of even minor injuries and illnesses is increasing each year.
• How far would you go? The time to ask yourself how far you would go, and how much you can or will pay, to provide necessary medical care to improve or save your pet’s life is before a health emergency occurs, not when he or she is at the vet and you are faced with hard choices.

Having considered all of the above, if you have decided that you might wish to consider pet insurance for your pet, here are some general guidelines of what to look for . . . and what to watch out for.

• There are pet insurance plans to fit all needs and pocketbooks. Without making it sound too much like car insurance, the same types of things do apply: you can choose from differing deductibles and levels of coverage, as well as coverage limits. 
• There are important differences between plans! Read the small print. Unlike car insurance, there are important differences between plans offered by different companies – and even those offered by the same company!
• One important difference concerns coverage for hereditary or genetic conditions. Many insurers exclude coverage for these conditions . . . and coverage for any illness arising from such conditions! For example, if your pet suffers from hip dysplasia (a hereditary condition) which causes him to suffer from arthritis or painful nerve damage in his rear legs, neither of these two illnesses would be covered, as they most likely arose from his underlying hereditary condition (hip dysplasia).

• There are several good companies that specifically INCLUDE coverage for hereditary or genetic conditions. The coverage does not cost substantially more than comparable coverage from another insurer that excludes these conditions.

• There are several other companies that will offer a rider to their basic plan, so you can add coverage for these conditions.

• Just like with human health insurance, most plans will not cover pre-existing conditions. This is one of the most important reasons to consider obtaining coverage sooner, rather than later.
• Another thing to consider is the health care cost reimbursement method offered:

• Most plans are ‘pre-payment’, which means you incur and pay for the expense first, then apply to the company for reimbursement.

• Some plans will pay participating vets directly. The key to this is to ensure your vet is a participating provider.

• Finally, consider the type of payment plan offered: some companies require payment of premiums in one lump sum for the year, while others will allow you to pay quarterly or even monthly.

I hope the above information helps you both to take a proactive role in your pet’s health by doing what you can to minimize the risk of serious health emergencies and to make a decision concerning pet insurance that is right for both you and your furry family members.

Some resources:

• Find a comparison of the coverage provided by all of the main pet insurance providers, as well as information and FAQS, at:  www.petinsurancereview.com.
• Some of the main companies providing coverage to pets in Shelton are:

• Pet Plan – www.petplaninsurance.com

• ASPCA – www.aspcapetinsurance.com

• VPI – www.petinsurance.com

Research sources:

• www.aspcai.org
• www.gopetplan.org
• www.insure.com
• www.petfinder.com
• www.petinsurancereview.com
• www.thetruthaboutpetfood.com