Pet Insurance..?!?

[Kikiwhoa21]

Hey Everyone! Question.. Pet Insurance?
My little girl is sick.. she's always had skin problems (like most bullies) and when we lived in Arizona we had it under control. 6 months ago we moved to Texas. Her skin problems got worst. My poor baby was bald && soo itchy even the vet didnt know what EXACTLY the reason was so the vet said to see a specialist dermatologist because he could not help her. We went last week to see a dermatologist and out bill was $300! We go back again next week and i'm sure it's going to be an on going thing until we figure out exactly whats going on. Someone mentioned I get pet insurance.. Does anyone recommend any? suggestions? I know NOTHING about pet insurance so some insight would be very helpful. Thank You!

 

[RiiSi]

I'm sorry you have to go thru this. One thing for sure at least in Finland is that insurance don't cover anything that is allready diagnosed. A lot of bullies skin problems are due to food. What are you feeding her?

 

[Angelgirl]

There aren't any insurances here in the US either that will cover a preexisting condition that I know of either since they've already seen it as a problem. It could be allergies to something either environmental or in the food. Is it on her sides, or all over? My girl was losing hair like crazy with bald patches everywhere and our vet was no help. I've had her on a multi vitamin for dogs for the last few months and her hair has all grown back except for the worst spots on one side that are getting peach fuzz back now.Hope the specialist can figure out the problem ..soon!

 

[AndyDamon]

There aren't any insurances here in the US either that will cover a preexisting condition that I know of either since they've already seen it as a problem. It could be allergies to something either environmental or in the food. Is it on her sides, or all over? My girl was losing hair like crazy with bald patches everywhere and our vet was no help. I've had her on a multi vitamin for dogs for the last few months and her hair has all grown back except for the worst spots on one side that are getting peach fuzz back now.Hope the specialist can figure out the problem ..soon!

Definitely agree with this .. I haven't found any insurance companies who will cover Bruce's hip dysplasia. You just have to suck it in and chalk it up to one of the many sacrifices it takes to own one of these little rascals
I just have a dedicated savings account, where I try to put about 20 bucks every week or two, and it usually helps pay for most vet bills that he racks up each year.
I also have a membership with Pet Assure, which basically knocks 25% off the bill when we take him to the vet. They are similar to other discount programs (as opposed to pet insurance) in that they don't care about preexisting conditions, and they also pay at the time of service; instead of me paying and having to chase them and file for reimbursement..
I know there are other programs like this out there, I've heard of United Pet Care too .. it might be something worth looking into.

 

[cali~jenn]

No help on the insurance but food is a big answer to the skin allergies for sure. What are you feeding? I would start with that, most vets wont help or dont know to help in the food dept and with bullies food is even more important than other less sensitive pups.

 

[Tobs31]

I agree with Andy! A bulldog savings account would probably be more beneficial because the insurance companies will not cover pre-existing and will only reimburse you a percentage of what you pay out. With my man Hank, he has already been treated for his skin issues so that right there is going to be pre-existing.

 

[Tobs31]

Oh and I was reading reviews on all the pet health insurance companies, and I know everyone has different experiences, and saw a lot of people having issues with the denial of claims and increases in premiums...

 

[Kikiwhoa21]

Oh Man.. Uhm. So it's even a preexisting condition even tho no one has diagnoised her or can figure exactly whats going on? lol I don't think it's her food.. she's currently on Fromm Pork & applesauce. We've tried several different foods, even had her on a bean and rice diet the vet suggested to see if its a food allergie. She gets little red spots at first. then they grow bigger and start scabing, bleeding, her hair starts falling off. Poor baby gets sooo ichty. i've tried everything I could think of.. :/
But would you guys recomend insurance tho? Maybe they won't cover this, but I was thinking of maybe still purchasing it. I had no idea about these discounted programs Andy! Thank you! i'll deff look into it!

 

[LynnA]

I purchased pet insurance via PetPlan and if anything I have peace of mind. I just had a accident with Otis over the weekend for emergency services - the bill actually came in under my deductible by about $7.00 but what if it hadnt?! I would have had that to fall back on, what I had to pay ($193.00) was manageable but I was lucky.

Also look into Care Credit - it's a no interest credit card that you can pay for your visits with and make payments instead of paying "johnny on the spot"

Best of luck to you and your baby girl.

 

[Tobs31]

That credit care sounds like a great idea!

 

[LynnA]

That credit care sounds like a great idea!

I've heard great things about it, but if you get it and work out a payment plan you HAVE to make the payment of you incur late fee's and so on....

I plan to check it out myself.

 

[AdventuresWithOliver]

Preexisting conditions will be hard to cover but as far as insurance goes, I can give you a personal experience. With our first bulldog, we used VPI, which is a well-known plan. They never once covered ANYTHING. There was always a loophole. On what turned out to be the last day of her life, an endoscopy was planned and they weren't going to cover it. We had decided to pay out of pocket. Right before the endoscopy, the doctor decided to do routine scans of her entire body since she was 12 1/2. They found cancer in her lung and couldn't go forward with the endoscopy. (She was put down that day) I know so many people use VPI mainly because they are one of the pet insurances you hear the most about. Throughout Winnie's life, the only thing they ever covered was the $150 to put her down.

With Oliver, who is now 1 year and 7 months old, we went through the American Kennel Club and we could NOT be HAPPIER. Once you meet your deductible per term, there isn't ANY issue (naturally, what is covered depends on which plan you choose). The best part is they process their claims so quickly. For our first claim, we received our check from them within 2 weeks. Oliver had TTA surgery on 5/21 and the bill was just under $2,700. We haven't received anything back yet but they said this claim might take longer to process. We love them so far.

 

[ccurran]

I have been very curious about health insurance as well. My husband and I are going to go with Healthy Paws since they got the best ratings out of any of the health insurances out there. Our puppy will be 12 weeks old when we get him and we are going to sign him up immediately in order to avoid the whole pre-existing conditions thing. Having pet insurance gives us peace of mind in case anything happens and there is a major surgery. I agree with the whole savings account for any vet bills, but what happens if you are only putting away $20 every other week and something major happens in the first 6 months? Definitely won't have enough saved up by then.

Thoughts anybody about Healthy Paws and purchasing it immediately when the puppy is little?

 

[Tobs31]

Healthy paws for Hank was $61.23 with a 90% reimbursement and a $100 deductible. I think that would be ok but their list of exclusions on their sample policy was too long for me. This was one of the better quotes I got. Healthy paws also Had pretty good reviews.

 

[BullDogGunner]

In the past I thought about Pet insurance, but didn't get around to it. When I bought my BullDog, I read so many stories of surgeries and such. Basically it wasn't if they had surgery, it was when and I was concerned. I choose PetPlan because I checked out 5 others and I found that Pet Plan was reachable by phone for my crazy zany questions and I could adjust the deductible and such. I have a little bit of peace of mind with this plan and hopefully it's a waste of 700 a year, but to be safe wouldn't own a bully without it.