Pet Insurance Plans: How Much Are They?

I once had a girlfriend about 10 years ago that had a black cat that she adopted from the animal shelter. His name was Merlin and was a sweet cat. He was a little older I think so he didn't cause much mischief. He developed a kidney infection and needed medication and trips to the vet; she had no animal health insurance. I didn't know much about animals and taking them to vets because we didn't have them growing up. She told me the medication for him was around $200.00 and that didn't include the vet visit. I thought that was expensive. She told me that vets want the money upfront . She knew he had a little problem but was unable to take him to get check ups or preventive care.

As the months went by he needed more trips to the vet and more medication. I asked her if there was pet plans for insurance. She said there was but she wasn't going to get it. The bills began to pile up. She was able to pay for it but it was a lot of money out of pocket. Eventually Merlin passed away.

A year later I saw on the news where someone had a dog that needed hip surgery and the total cost was around 12 grand? I couldn't believe it and decided well I won't be getting any pets. Especially if I have children because they will be upset if the animal dies so you have to do your best to keep them alive and then you are broke.

Shopping For The Best Pet Insurance

Pet insurance gives a good option to plan for the future. Instead of putting the animal down because you can't afford a 3500.00 surgery your insurance will cover for the animal. Also, you can have check ups done to extend the life of your animal.

I came across a couple of pet insurance companies that look pretty good:

Pet Insurance.com: This site offers Dog Insurance, Cat insurance, Exotic bird insurance. They have customer reviews and quotes. What is also nice about this is they have several different plans within each category. Plans look to range from $21.00- $40.00

Pet Insurance Review.com: This is a pretty big site with a list of U.S. and Canadian pet insurers. There are tons of customer reviews and ratings. It offers information on shopping for insurance, top things to know about pet insurance if you have never looked for it before. Offers information on pre-existing condition coverage. Seems like nothing and nobody is gonna cover a pre-existing condition huh? Human or animal. There is even a small section for UK animal coverage. They were feature in WSJ, Kip linger, and Smart Money for Animal Liability Insurance. Here again you will have to get a quote to get pricing.

Trupanion.com: I like this site because it was easy to read and follow. Ease of use is always important to me. They have a pet insurance comparison chart and a Pet Health Issues Section. If you aren't sure what is going on with your animal and like to do research and a little bit of self diagnoses which is something I like to do this site is very good for that. The problem look up section is only for dogs and cats and you can look up the breeds via drop down menu then look up the health problem via drop down menu. You have to get a quote here but they offer one simple plan and 90% Coverage.

So there is a lot out there for pet insurance and animal care if you need it. You just have to shop around for the best service that fits your needs. A few dollars a month will save you thousands in the long run.