How to pick the right insurance for your pet

SEATTLE — Pet insurance is a hot topic.

Many pet owners get it for the peace of mind and not having to be in a situation where you have to deny your pet care.

Preventivevet.com Founder and CEO Anne Tomsic says co-pays are usually 10 to 20% of the fee, so your insurance is covering a good amount of the cost. Pre-existing conditions are excluded, but for new pet owners, she says it’s something to seriously consider.

“It’s good to get pet insurance early when they’re healthy, get it as soon as they’re born, if you know you’re getting a pet from a breeder, the moment they’re born and have been assigned to you, get insurance for that pet because anything that happens to them will be covered 100% going forward,” Tomsic said.

If your pet is a few years old, it’s not too late. Anne says there are many options for choosing the right kind of care for your pet.

There are different types of insurance. The most common is accident and illness. Those are the things that are unpredictable and hard to budget for because there’s a broad range of costs for those types of treatments.

“There are different types of insurance, the most common is accident and illness, those are the things that are unpredictable, they’re hard to budget for because there’s a broad range of costs for those types of treatments. There are wellness and preventive care insurance policies, they’re going to reimburse you for your wellness and preventive visits, I would say in that case, get those types of plans directly from your vet, meaning don’t get a policy that then reimburses you for some of the fees because they obviously have to make money, so it’s best to get those plans directly from your provider,” Tomsic said.

Anne says insurance can cost anywhere between $15 to $30 for cats, and $30 to $100 or sometimes even more for dogs. The cost depends on your location and breed because some breeds are more likely to utilize service more than others.

Bottom line, do your homework because you get what you pay for, and budget monthly to provide that safety net for your pet.

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