Our beloved pets are like people in many ways. They can suffer from cancer, arthritis, heart disease, orthopedic injury, dental disorders, and viral infections, just for starters. In addition, they can get hit by cars, accidentally poisoned, or attacked by other animals.
All of these and many more serious illnesses, injuries, and maladies can get quite expensive. Treatments may involve emergency care, surgery, costly medications, physical rehab, and the services of specialists. This can add up to thousands of dollars in ongoing medical care. Pet insurance can help offset some of these costs.
Just for a single example of how these costs can stack up, consider that a pet MRI alone can cost as much as $5,000. That’s just a diagnostic tool to determine what’s wrong with your pet. In other words, it’s merely the treatment starting point! Your medical bills will grow from that point forward.
But let’s start with the basics.
What is Pet Insurance?
Consider any type of insurance that you carry on yourself or your loved ones. Pet insurance works the same way. The point is to pay a smaller sum to safeguard against the need for much higher expenses later if something goes wrong.
Our pets don’t have the ability to tell us when they feel a disorder coming on. For that reason, you often can’t tell anything is wrong until they limp, whine, lose their appetite, grow lethargic, or otherwise show symptoms.
At that point, their injury or illness might be quite advanced. You likely won’t have time to save for future medical costs. You must take action now. That might mean an expensive midnight run to an animal hospital when your pet’s condition grows serious enough for you to notice that something has gone wrong.
How Much is Pet Insurance?
Pet insurance is generally not very expensive. Your insurance agent can help you find coverage that averages somewhere between $30 and $50 a month for dogs and $15 to $30 for cats. Not only will this offer your pet protection, but it will provide you with peace of mind.
How to Contain the Cost of Pet Insurance
Your pet insurance not only covers an annual wellness visit with your pet’s veterinarian, it also helps with routine procedures such as dental cleaning and with the cost of some regular medications, such as flea/tick and heartworm preventative.
The main benefit, however, is for more serious treatments you’d have a hard time paying for out of pocket.
Your strategy should be to set your deductible at a high enough level that your premium is lower, but not so high that you can’t afford your pet’s medical care when an emergency arises.
The deductible is the amount of money that you agree to pay for a covered condition before your insurer pays the rest of the bills. The higher your deductible, the lower your premiums will be.
Your independent insurance agent can explain additional strategies for keeping the cost of pet insurance as low as possible. For instance, you might be able to take advantage of discounted rates if you have coverage for more than one pet.
Also, see if the insurers who carry your auto insurance , homeowners, or other policies also offer pet insurance. If so, you could earn additional discounts on this new form of coverage by bundling your policies.
What you’ll end up with is confidence that you’ve done all you can to extend the life of your pet and to keep it safe, happy, and secure.
Find Affordable Pet Insurance for Your Furry Family Member Today
Your independent Freeway Insurance agent can tell you why pet insurance is so important, and help you shop for the most appropriate and low-cost coverage.
Just call us at (800) 777-5620. You can also get a quick pet insurance quote online or visit a Freeway Insurance office near you.
