It could go either way as far as being worth it. I know a woman that has a cat with cancer. She's paying for steroid shots and cancer treatments. It wasn't using the cat box, so cleaning the carpet to get rid of the smell. All that added up. The insurance costs about $1000 a year. She's had the cat for 12 years. There's no way she's going to get her $12k back...but she doesn't keep money on hand...so she otherwise wouldn't have been able to keep him alive. (I think the cat is living a terrible life. The steroids make it hungry. She won't feed it more. It's skin n' bones. There's no cure.) I would have "let the cat go". Extending it's life for another 6 months is just making it live through....what....misery.

Now....if the cat had been hit by a car and needed multiple surgeries and rehab, you might get your money back.

It's a gamble; like any insurance they don't price it such that they expect to lose money. I spent nearly $10,000 on my dog in his first year of life so it could definitely have been worth it for me. The benefits vary greatly so be sure to educate yourself on the differences before you decide which plan makes the most sense to you.

Ask your vets which plans they accept, then research co-pays and coverage.

Even reading the fine print can be extremely tricky. We've never had it but all 3 of my kids had policies on their dogs. It worked out fairly well for two of them but my third wasn't happy.

He bought the policy when his dog was a puppy and never had an issue with coverage. But he moved from PA to NJ and when he sent in his change of address they notified him of a price increase - it quadrupled. The company was charging him as if he was a new customer - even though it was the same dog, same owner and same company. But the new rate was based on the fact that he was now insuring an 11 year old dog which of course meant greater health issues.

He's an attorney and used to reading the fine print but he double checked his policy and change of address wasn't mentioned as a factor. When he challenged them they claimed it was standard practice.

I think it depends on several factors. When I looked into it, I found it cost prohibitive, but we always have multiple cats (currently 5). I figured it would have been less expensive overall had I earmarked an equivalent premium amount for vet expenses and pay them out of pocket. If a pet lasts into its senior years, it's quite common to need teeth extracted and lumps removed, or could have more extensive needs as you found out. I think it's really important to have a pet seen by a vet at least once a year (with blood work) and have regular dentals to catch anything that might become an expensive situation down the road. I take my senior cats to the vet twice yearly and get blood work done at least once a year so that I can hopefully get ahead of anything that might crop up. I also don't plan to every do cancer treatments like chemotherapy on a 15 year old cat, should one of my cats have cancer - I wouldn't want to put them through the stress and discomfort. If you are someone who might want to treat cancer no matter what, I'd probably get the insurance. Also, the more "risks" you take, the more I'd be inclined to get the insurance. Risks like going to the dog park where you have more exposure to potentially sick or aggressive dogs. Or maybe if your dog is a runner and darts out the door every chance it gets - that dog is possibly more likely to get hit by a car, and in that case, I'd probably have insurance.

If you're a Costco member, they now offer pet insurance.

Thanks I think I'll just pay out of pocket.

It's cheapest when the pet is young, a puppy or a kitten. If you're buying coverage for adult pets it goes up a lot.

Of course everyone hopes not to spend 10's of thousands of vet bills, so it in that case, insurance might work.

I prefer to have a separate savings account.

I have used Trupanion for over 10 years for all of my cats and I'll never be without it. I spent over 10k trying to save my cat Monkey a few years back and they covered it all. I have another cat in heart failure and they pay for the expensive cardiologist appointments, ekg's, xrays and all the medications. I pay $35 a month for my premium and have gotten back far more than I've paid. It's a great feeling not having to consider finances when making hard choices.

You have to get it early though as they are strict about pre-existing conditions.

Chi I did a search for your ins--28.00 a month!!

i have pet insurance on my 2 great danes with Nationwide. it isn't terribly expensive but i don't have coverage for wellness exams, routine vaccinations, things like that but i do have coverage on catastrophic illness/injury.

about a month ago, my male came up lame. the ER diagnosed bilateral acl tears (knees). as it turned out, the vet was totally mistaken, it was a simple muscle pull that he recovered from within just a few days. however, had it been acl tears, it would have cost $10,000 minimum to have both of them repaired. my deductible is $250 which is easily met when dealing with giant breed dogs!