A recent survey estimated that the average dog owner will visit the vet two-three times a year and spend an average of two hundred dollars. Pet owners who have cats will spend a little bit less. That estimate is for the normal routine stuff like sterilization (spaying or neutering), vaccinations, worming, and a heartworm test; youre normally in and out of the veterinarians office in approximately fifteen minutes. Its hard to imagine what the trip to the veterinarians office would cost if your pet was suffering from a really serious medical problem such as benign tumors or a broken leg.
Approximately three percent of pet owners in the United States have decided that the best way to deal with financing their pets vet bill is to purchase pet health care insurance. Pet health care insurance is similar to human health care insurance. The pet owner pays a monthly premium and when the pet has to go to the veterinarians office the insurance company will pay a certain percentage of the bill minus the deductible.
Before a pet owner purchases a pet health care plan they need to get some estimates/quotes on various plans. Before the pet owner goes online to find a quote they need to grab a pad of paper and write down two things. The first thing they need is a wish list of the type of pet health insurance coverage you would like to get. This list can include things like prescription coverage, low deductibles, dental, annual checkups, spaying and nueturing, declawing and anything else you can think of. It is important to remember that you may not be able to find a pet health insurance plan that will have everything you want, circle the items that you simply can’t live without. The second thing you need to write down is what is the most you can spend each month on your pets health insurance plan. Keep this number close by so you don’t splurge on an insurance plan you wont be able to afford.
Now do a couple internet searches to find all the names of pet health insurance companies. Go through the list and find all the companies that have health insurance plans that are compatible to your wish list and seem to be in your budget. Try to narrow the list down to the five most likely possibilities.
Now that you have five health insurance companies that seem like real possibilities go to their quote section on the webpage. Follow the instructions and enter all of your pets pertinent information.
If the quote is satisfactory its time to proceed to the next step. Call your pets veterinarian and ask the clinic will accepts this particular brand of insurance. If the vet clinic you use doesnt accept insurance from that company move to your next possibility. Youll probably have a harder time finding another good vet then another pet health insurance company. Now all you really have left to do is to talk to the pet insurance companies representative.
In 1849 hundreds of men made the grueling climb across the Rocky mountain range before stepping onto California’s soil. These men, who history remembers as forty-niners, came to California with dreams of striking a mother lode of gold and spending the rest of their days in the lap of luxury. Few of these forty-niners had possessions worth speaking of, just the tattered torn clothes they were wearing, a shovel, a pan specially designed to sift through river sediment, and an old mule to haul their find out of the mountains.
Over a hundred and fifty years have passed since the last forty-niner made their final trek across the Rockies with only his own voice and a cantankerous old mule named Worthless for company. In this new modern world a different type of person is journeying across the country seeking the answers to all their dreams and prayers in the warm California sunlight. Today its students, freshly armed with brand new high school diplomas and a tiny sub-compact car loaded down with expensive clothing and glamour shots, seeking not gold but rather fame under the bright lights of an acting studio. Like the fortey-niners, many of these future stars have only their CD collections and a family pet to keep them company on the long drive across the country.
What many of these Hollywood hopefuls don’t realize is the animal health branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture has rules and regulations for bringing pets into the state. Most of the rules will involve the young pet owner to take their pet to the veterinarian for a round of shots and an exam before leaving for the land of movie stars and millionaires. The purchase of pet health care coverage can sometimes let the youngsters get the routine vet work out of the way without forcing them to dip to heavily into their savings.
Domestic cats that are infected with a contagious disease are not allowed into California. Cats are not required to have a current rabies vaccination nor do they have to have a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection before they cross the state line into California. They must have a health certificate if they are coming from an area that was under rabies quarantine. If you are coming into the state of California via airplane check with the airline about what health requirements they enforce before allowing your cat to fly. Before you leave your home town for the California shore line, ask your veterinarian what can be done to make the trip as comfortable and safe for your cat.
Just like cats the California Department of Food and Agriculture will not allow dogs that are carrying an infectious disease to cross the state line into California. Any dog over four months of age is required to a certificate stating the date of its last rabies vaccination, the type of vaccination used, the manufacturer lot number of the rabies vaccine used, and the name of the vet who gave the injection. If you are traveling by plane ask the airline about any additional health requirements your dog must meet before it is allowed to fly. The sooner you contact your airline the better.
If you are bringing a more exotic type of pet, such as a potbellied pig, into the state of California you may be required to have an entry permit.
Pet health insurance companies are hoping that someday pet owners in the United States will catch up with European pet owners. A recent poll taken of American pet owners suggested that approximately three percent of American pet owners had purchased pet health insurance for their family pet. A veterinarian who was interviewed after the survey was stunned by the results. She felt that the survey was generous. She believes that less then one percent of her patients have any health care insurance.
In Europe approximately twenty-five percent of all pet owners have some sort of pet health insurance on their pets. The numbers are even higher in Sweden where approximately fifty percent of all pet owners rely on pet health insurance to help pay their pets medical expenses.
Some experts believe that the reason so many pet owners in the United Kingdom have pet health care insurance is because of an act passed in 1971. In the United Kingdom dog owners are liable for any accident that their pet is found responsible for. This means that if a dog darts out into traffic and causes a seven car pile up the dogs owner is responsible for paying all the damages. Unwilling to dip into their own pickets to cover their pets misadventures pet owners in the United Kingdom purchase something called third party insurance. Third party insurance is a simply a liability insurance specifically geared to pet owners.
Many American pet owners dont realize that there are similar pet liability insurance plans available in the United States. Pet owners who would like to purchase pet liability insurance to cover any damages their pets might be responsible rather should be aware that certain breeds of dogs are listed as high risk insurance cases and the owners will be required to pay extra high insurance policies.
It is unclear why more pet owners in the United States dont purchase pet health insurance. One possibility is that pet owners simply dont understand exactly how expensive pet health care is. Fifteen minutes spent in a veterinarians office can sometimes cost as much as a hundred dollars. When a pet owner finds themselves facing the cost of an emergency surgery or has to take their family pet to a university hospital to have an illness treated they quickly find themselves whishing they had something to help cover the enormous vet bill. All too often pet owners who find themselves in an emergency situation are forced to euthanize their beloved pet for economic reasons.
Pet owners who are city dwellers probably feel that they dont need to worry about something like pet health insurance because they cant possibly for see when they would need it. Their pets live inside, what could possibly happen to them. What these pet owners dont realize is that illness can sometimes affect house pets the hardest because their immune systems havent had a chance to build up any resistance.
Farmers and ranchers have a very clear cut idea of how fast and accident and how expensive vet care is. Most of them would like to insure the health of their pets but there simply isnt enough extra money to afford the monthly premiums. Ranchers and farmers also tend to have a working knowledge of illnesses and injuries that lets them treat their pets on their own.