Most Americans treat their pets as members of the family. No matter if someone has a fluffy four-legged creature or a slithery reptilian companion, they will demand similar services for their pets as they do for themselves " and for an every growing number of people, that includes pet insurance.
According to recent polls, pet health care spending has risen over 40% in the last two years to roughly $10 billion dollars. According to the founder of Pet's Best Insurance, Jack Stephens, over $2 million of that was spent on pet insurance. By all accounts, that number is expected to top $1 billion by 2011 which makes pet health insurance one of the fastest growing insurance products on the market today.
Pet health insurance is a health insurance policy for your pet. This could be almost any animal, but most often is a dog or cat. Much like human insurance, you can choose a policy as simple or elaborate as you need.
The hope is that you never need your coverage. But, even with a pedigreed animal there is always the chance they will need emergency care or surgery. These pet bills often spiral into the thousands and can catch you unaware.
In recent months, the ASPCA has noticed a significant increase in the number of people calling it who simply cannot afford the routine vet care that their animal requires.
Generally, pet care plans cover bills due to injuries and illnesses. They also cover preventative care and vaccinations. Some plans will also cover a portion of obedience training costs and flea/tick medications.
These plans also cover micro chipping to help locate a lost pet and some will even cover the cost of advertising and rewards to help locate your lost pet. Some even offer travel reimbursement if a trip is cut short due to a pet related cancellation.
This makes it important not to shop on price alone. How would you feel denying your pet a life saving procedure knowing that it saved you $1 a month?
Pet health insurance is becoming more common every day. It's a great feeling knowing that your pet will be taken care of no matter what sort of emergency comes up.
Making the life altering choice between euthanasia and an expensive medical treatment is never easy. According to Wallace Sife, who has counseled hundreds of guilt filled pet owners as founder of the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement, "There is no right answer."
There is no hard and fast advice on what to do when a pet needs sudden care. It does appear, however, that pet insurance is the financial cure, though it may end up making the emotional decision a little easier.
Hopefully, this article has helped you with the basics of this issue. It's still important that you do some research when getting a plan so you know what will be covered and what it will cost. A simple search should yield a very wide range of insurance providers, and you can use their websites to compare the plans that will give you the best deal. Please don't automatically go for the cheapest price; your first concern should be the well being of your pet. You ultimately want to be prepared to care for them should anything go wrong with their health.
Sherry Timmerson, who has been a vet for 2 decades, offers free information and advice on veterinarian pet insurance on his website. It's available free for all pet owners at her pet care plus blog.
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