Whether you’re a new pet owner or you’ve been living with your cat or dog for years, you might be starting to think about the costs and benefits of pet insurance and whether it is the best financial choice for you. Maybe you’re asking:
When compared to pet medical costs, pet insurance is relatively inexpensive. On average, insurance for cats is 19-dollars per month, and insurance for dogs is 29-dollars per month. However, this cost does vary according to provider and the kind of cover you decide to take out.
Factors Affecting Pet Insurance Cost:
For example, if your pet is over a certain age–over 8 is often considered ”˜old age’ for a cat or dog–you will pay higher premiums on your pet insurance. Cost will also vary depending on whether you own a breed of dog that is more susceptible to specific health conditions. For instance, the breeding history of Great Danes means they are more likely to develop conditions such as cancer and heart disease. When there is a greater chance of your dog getting ill, the pet insurance cost will be higher. However when compared to upfront medical bills ranging within the 1,000-dollar to 10,000-dollar range, pet insurance can be the cheaper option over the course of your pet’s lifetime.
Costs also vary depending on the type of plan: some basic plans will offer lower premiums but will only reimburse you for seventy to eighty-percent of your vet bill, whereas more comprehensive pet insurance covers may cost fifty dollars per month but will cover vet bills of up to fifteen thousand dollars per year. There are also accident-only pet insurance policies for less than ten-dollars per month, however these will not cover any preexisting health conditions that your pet may have.
Pet Insurance Costs vs Medical Costs: which is more expensive?
Pet insurance acts as a form of protection for both you and your pet: vet bills and pet medical costs can add up over the course of a pet’s lifetime and the last thing most pet owners want is to pay vet bills in the thousands of dollars. If you’re considering taking out pet insurance, the big question you want answered is: is the cost worth it? The best way to answer this is to compare pet medical costs with the average pet insurance cost.
For example: the average cost of dog insurance is 29-dollars per month. If you insure your dog when it is 6 months old, and he lives until he is 13, the lifetime cost of pet insurance is less than 4,500 dollars. That might seem like a lot at first glance, but not when compared to vet bills and pet medical costs. Even routine yearly trips to the vets can cost up to 200 dollars, and common operations, such as those to remove a cancerous tumour or repair a ruptured disk, can cost between 1,000 and 10,000 dollars. These bills are often payable on the spot, meaning that pet owners are put in the awful situation of denying their pets medical care if they are not insured.
Pet insurance cost is the wisest choice when compared to the pet medical costs over a dog or cat’s lifetime. Your dog might only need to visit the vet every now and then, but these one off costs can be huge when compared to affordable weekly or monthly pet insurance payments.
