Insurance
The evolution of pet insurance
by
Ann Brightman
New
products, including group insurance for
animals and packages
specifically for renters, as well as streamlined
payout approaches and coverages for alternative
therapies, are changing the face of pet
insurance.
When Amanda adopted a tabby kitten from
her local shelter, the thought of buying
pet insurance for him never crossed her
mind. “I figured because Tyler was
young, it would be years before I had
to worry about health problems anyhow,”
she says. Unfortunately, about six months
later, Tyler swallowed a piece of plastic,
causing a serious blockage that required
emergency surgery. The vet bill was nearly
two thousand dollars, and Amanda had to
borrow money from her mother to pay it.
“It was a real wakeup call,”
she says. “What would I have done
if Mom hadn’t been able to help
me out? I decided to look into insurance
then and there.”
Why
buy pet insurance?
Amanda’s
experience isn’t unusual. Unable
to afford treatments for unexpected illnesses
or accidents, which can easily run into
the hundreds or thousands of dollars,
people are sometimes forced to give up
their beloved companions, or have them
euthanized long before their time. If
you’re wondering why veterinary
procedures and treatments or even common
ailments are so expensive, consider how
health care for companion animals has
improved over the last number of years.
“The quality of care available to
your dog or cat has increased immeasurably,
and with those advances come higher costs,”
explains Mark Warren, CEO and President
of PetCare Pet Insurance (www.petcareinsurance.com).
“We recently paid out on a pacemaker
for a dog. Who, even seven or eight years
ago, would have thought of pacemakers
for dogs?”
The
price of health
North American animal guardians spend
over $10 billion a year on health
care for their companions. Here are
some examples of common
veterinary treatments and their associated
costs:
Cancer – dog: $3,500 to $5,000
Fractured leg – cat: $2,300
to $2,500
Hip dysplasia: $2,400 to $6,000
Infection – cat: $1,000 to $2,500.
Ingestion of a foreign body –
cat: $1,200 to $2,500
Motor vehicle accident – dog:
$3,100 to $5,000 |
Considering
that two-thirds of all companion animals
will experience a major health problem
during their lifetime, it makes sense
to do what you can now to make things
easier for yourself and your animal, when
or if the time comes. Together with proper
preventative health care, pet insurance
is the best way to prepare. “Insurance
is all about managing risk, and pet insurance
is simply a way of managing the risks
associated with the future health care
needs of your dog or cat,” says
Mark.
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Published
in the June/July 2005 issue of Animal
Wellness
|
