Pet Insurance Plans: Helping Dog Owners Choose the Right Plan

The animals in our lives bring fulfillment and joy to our lives. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of our pets in our lives, even if they do cause us the occasional bit of frustration (think of those chewed pairs of shoes). In fact, when something does happen to our pets, ensuring that the care your pet needs will be available, and affordable, should be the last thing on your mind. Use these tips to help you choose the best pet insurance plan before your bet actually needs them.

First, find a company that offers a plan that is right for you. Some companies specialize in cat or dog insurance, like ASPCApetinsurance.com, while other companies will cover nearly any animal you call a pet, Petinsurance.com. Your needs will be defined, obviously, by the type of pet you own. Other factors to keep in mind are your locality, breed or animal specific issues, like cherry-eye in cocker spaniels, and the reliability of the company you choose.

Second, identify how much you are willing to spend per month on premiums. It is important to include the budgetary impact of the additional cost as you try to find the right plan for your needs. Some plans will cover 90% or more of all medical costs related to your pet's veterinarian expenses, while other plans will cover 50% or less of accrued costs. This is where the lifestyle of the pet and owner come in to play.

Active dogs that frequently are allowed to wander the streets without a leash, which is quite common in rural areas, tend to have more injuries or other medical issues that require specialized treatment, as in the case of a snake bite. Dogs that are only allowed outside while on a leash, or are kept indoors all day, usually will have less serious injuries, but tend to have more preventative health costs.

As a case study, use the following example of a dog owner of two cocker spaniels who lives in the southeastern U.S. The dogs are allowed in the backyard of their suburban home through a dog door, but they are never allowed to leave the property without a leash and collar. They are current on all shots, and are given anti-flea medication as well as routinely checked for ticks.

Given several web sites, there are numerous options to choose from. In this case study, the most common cost is the preventative medical costs. Semi-annual visits to the veterinarian, the occasional anal gland clearing, shots and other medical costs. The cost per dog averages about $1,500.00 a year, per dog, not including non-medical costs such as grooming and food. The idea is that, regardless of which plan I choose, the costs must be less than $1,500 a year per dog. Some insurance plans offer medical care, but the routine visits are not covered without the additional optional package.

These packages can make a great insurance deal into a poor choice. For example, company A offers a insurance plan that pays 90% of allowable costs for just $20 a month. That would be great for the case study, except the plan does not cover any preventative costs. On top of that, it only has "allowable costs" of $200. In this case, should the dog need a $300 treatment, the company would only pay 90% of the allowable costs, or $180.00. Additionally, to cover the routine vet bills, the optional package may cost as much as $20 per month (doubling the total monthly cost of the insurance premium), and may or may not have annual limits on routine bills.

In this example, pet insurance can save a fair amount of money. The $1,500 annual vet bill was reduced to about $1,250 per year, per dog, but there was an automatic $480 cost, per dog,($40 a month for 12 months) right at the very beginning, before the example dog owner ever set foot in the vet's office. Not all costs were covered, but annual total costs were lower than if all bills had been paid with cash.

The one thing to remember when it comes to pet insurance is to make sure that research guides you to the right choice. Some math is involved, but the overall experience can save pet owners hundreds of dollars a year. In the example, we showed how one owner saved $250 over the course of year, but keep in mind that this is one example. Not all families will have the same result, and not all owners have the same financial footing to qualify for all available insurance options. Your personal results may vary from the example.