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Jul

2008

May I help you?

10:09pm

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Posted by Liz (PurrPurrsMom) in Health & Wellness

10 comments

Featuring:

Amy

Last summer Amy was desperately ill. She was in the hospital for 10 days and had several emergency trips to the vet before being admitted. She had a respiratory infection which led to pneumonia. I'm sure she almost died at least twice. In the end the bill was over $1500, but well worth it. I was just wondering if I had pet health insurance if it would have been easier financially? How many of you have pet insurance? Does it work for you and your pets?

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Anonymous
3 months ago

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After dealing with Duncan's vets bills due to his heart condition and Cushings Disease, I thought it best to get some insurance for Pippin. I went with VPI. I have the policy that covers injury and illness. I opted out for wellness visits.

Pam (pammyj3)
3 months ago

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A co-worker and I were just talking about this subject yesterday. She said it's not worth it to have pet insurance. I on the other hand would like to find out some more info on it before I make any snap judgments. Is there a website or a phone number for this VPI? I would really like to get something to help cover Zoey. Even if she never has any emergency's.

Anonymous
3 months ago

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Unless you've had an ill dog, you'd think it was a waste of money. Go onto VPI pet insurance. I found their benefits to be the best..........here's an example of WHY I carry it. My daughter's 2 yr.old pup got sick on a Friday, by Monday was sent to Tufts. She passed away on Wednesday from encephalitis.............BILL $2500.00..........need I say more?

Liz (PurrPurrsMom)
3 months ago

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I hear you, Deedee. I had a similar experience 2 years ago. My 11 year old neutered male cat was diagnosed with bladder stones and was plugged. The only way to remove them was to perform surgery. After 2 weeks and several repeat bladder infections Billy developed diabetes, pancreatic failure, liver failure, incontinence, and total shutdown. And his bladder stones returned! In the end I had to put him to sleep after 2 weeks of illness. Final bill: $3,500. I'm still not finished paying it off! I don't regret trying, though. What the saying in the movie Lilo and Stich...Ohana? We're family, no one gets left behind. That's how I felt about Sweet William. I don't have a pic posted, but he looks a lot like Bryce, who I sometimes call Billy because he looks and acts a lot like him sometimes! Anyway, I wish I had pet insurance then!

Pam (pammyj3)
3 months ago

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Thanks DeeDee, I will check into VPI. I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's pup. That is so sad.

Anonymous
3 months ago

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When they're that young you wouldn't think that something as awful as that could happen. It really made me think twice. It's worth the price, and you'll have piece of mind. Believe me, I did my homework and weighed the policies. This was the best option for me. Your needs may be different. Please let me know what you decided.

Robin D. (jayheadr)
3 months ago

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there's carecredit..we use for Dash it helps some but there is a downside not everyone takes it.

Brea (Brea1)
3 months ago

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What a cute face Amy has!

I don't have pet insurance because my old cat is too old and they won't cover her. My young cat has ear problems and they won't cover her ear problems. From what I understand, none of the carriers cover preexisting conditions so keep that in mind but it's still worth checking out. There are about three big carriers out there. I could still get it for my young one but I haven't done anything yet.

When I worked at the vet, I asked people who had it if they thought it was worth it. They all had VPI pet insurance. They all said yes it was worth it in the end. The least favorable review was from someone who had a perfectly healthy cat its entire life and they said that they broke even rather than came out ahead. This person had the plan that partially covered vaccines and wellness visits. For the cats that had health problems pop up, it was a great thing.

It's like human health insurance years ago. You pay the doctor the entire amount of the bill and the insurance company reimburses you for some of it. All the vets offices I know will help fill out all the necessary forms and fax it to your insurance carrier for you from their office if you request. You'll need to take your insurance forms with you to your vet visits. I used to fill out, sign, fax numerous of these forms for our clients and their pets.

Liz (PurrPurrsMom)
3 months ago

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Thanks for the info Brea! I think it's worth checking out. Amy does have a cute face, thanks. She's very expressive! I'll let you know what I find out about insurance companies, but mostly I've heard VPI is good.

Brea (Brea1)
3 months ago

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I asked all the cat and dog people with the insurance. All the dogs owners said it saved them money. Most of the cat owners said it saved them money and some of the cat owners said they broke even but didn't come out ahead. No one said that they lost money on it. I asked everyone I came into contact with that was asking me to help them with their insurance paperwork and that was about 2 dozen people. So that's not really a lot of people. All four vets in our office recommended it. All the vet specialists and ER places in our area accepted it.