Pet Insurance – Why it is a good idea
All of our kittens go to their new homes with a 30-day prepaid pet insurance policy, courtesy Trupanion. After 30 days, our pet buyers are invited to turn the complimentary policy into a permanent one with a yearly renewal at an average cost of about $35/month ($420 annually).
We highly encourage our buyers to take advantage of not only very competitive premiums, but also not having to face any “pre-existing” conditions nor a waiting period before their pet’s policy is fully activated. It’s a win-win situation for the buyer as much as the kitten.
But why exactly should you have an insurance policy for your pet? Great question!
A Pet Insurance Story
Let us tell you the story of “Trouble”. One of our kittens became very ill in his new home. The understandably distraught family rushed him to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with peritonitis. Peritonitis is a bacterial infection of the peritoneum (not to be confused with FIP, an autoimmune-mediated and 100% fatal disease).
Money was no longer an issue. He was in intensive care at one of the most regarded veterinary schools in the country for a week. He then was transferred back to the 24-hour veterinary facility that initially diagnosed him to complete his treatment. He went home 1.5 weeks after he initially fell ill and has since made a complete recovery.
Without pet insurance, the total cost for his care would have exceeded $4,000. With pet insurance, his human family paid a mere fraction thereof – just $625.
The Moral of the Story
This particular example made us change our policy, and we now require any buyer to maintain an insurance policy to get our full, lifetime guarantee against genetic defects.
We insure our homes, cars, health, mortgage, and even our credit cards. It makes perfect sense also to insure your pet’s health.
Sure, you might pay $35/month for 12 years, and nothing ever happens. You would have spent $5,040 on insurance premiums. Let’s go back to the example we described above. One incident can get you into the vicinity or even exceed this amount.
It should be noted that many veterinarians will work with Trupanion and all you ever have to do is pay your deductible, and that’s it.
The peace of mind this buys you is beyond measure. Imagine having to rush your pet to the emergency room and not having to worry about whether you’ll be able to afford the care. You ARE able to afford it with pet insurance (particularly Trupanion – we are a bit biased).
There are all sorts of reasons to get pet insurance for your cat. A big one, as you saw from the story, is that it can provide peace of mind in knowing that you’ll be able to afford to provide your pet with necessary care if he or she becomes ill or injured. Vet bills can add up quickly, and without pet insurance, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars.
Forest Hunter Pixie Bobs does not get a kickback for any policy one of our pet parents takes out. We get nothing other than knowing that our kittens will never have to face a decision that nobody wants to make – euthanasia because the treatment is too expensive.
We hope you’ve found this information helpful. You can get a quote for your cat from Trupanion by clicking here. We highly recommend it!