Hey, /r/germanshepherds! As the founding mod of this sub, I don't normally do this kind of thing, but I wanted to tell you all about my experience with having pet insurance, and why I think having it is one of the absolute best things I've ever done.
Please note: I have absolutely zero connection to any pet insurance company. I am journalist, and complete transparency is extremely important to my life. Feel free to completely disregard everything here. It's just something that's helped me and my critters, and I wanted to give a first-hand take on it.
So, after one of our cats died in my hands because we didn't have the money at the time to do everything we could to figure out what was wrong with her, my fianceé and I decided to look into pet insurance for our pets. For our GSD, we wanted to make sure they covered hips as well as everything else.
After weeks of research, we decided to go with Trupanion. It is now 4 years later, and we could not be more happy with this company.
Trupanion covers 90 percent of almost everything—the only thing excluded are vet visit fees, and wellness checkups (yearly physicals, vaccinations, etc.) The 90 percent coverage of course includes injuries and medication. But it also includes supplements and therapy.
You can pick your deductible, and the higher your deductible, the lower your monthly fee. For our GSD, we pay $75 per month and have a $0 deductible.
What this means in practice is, our GSD (his name is Saggio) recently had to have major knee surgery for a torn CCL—one of the most comment injuries in all dogs (tho not super common in GSDs). The price for the surgery was (in my area, Hudson Valley in New York) $3,700. What we paid: $500, which included three follow-up visits with the surgeon. That means we basically broke even, with the amount Trupanion paid (~$3,200) equalling roughly 3.5 years worth of our monthly payment for Saggio. And that's just one procedure. I don't have any totals, but having Trupanion has literally saved us thousands of dollars.
Oh, and for major procedures like this one, Trupanion pays the vet up front (rather than you having to lay out the money first, as is the case with lower-cost care), and then you pay the difference.
The best part, however, is just being able to say "Yes, do what you need to do, doctor" to whatever it is. Need blood work? Go for it. Need x-rays? Go for it. On and on.
I know this is a love-fest, and I wish I had something negative to say to give a sense of balance. But I don't. Trupanion consistently makes it easy, refunds you money very quickly and makes it easy for you to submit your claims.
Anyway, I recommend doing your own research and picking the company that works best for you. But if anyone was thinking about getting pet insurance, I cannot recommend Trupanion more.
Please note: I have absolutely zero connection to any pet insurance company. I am journalist, and complete transparency is extremely important to my life. Feel free to completely disregard everything here. It's just something that's helped me and my critters, and I wanted to give a first-hand take on it.
So, after one of our cats died in my hands because we didn't have the money at the time to do everything we could to figure out what was wrong with her, my fianceé and I decided to look into pet insurance for our pets. For our GSD, we wanted to make sure they covered hips as well as everything else.
After weeks of research, we decided to go with Trupanion. It is now 4 years later, and we could not be more happy with this company.
Trupanion covers 90 percent of almost everything—the only thing excluded are vet visit fees, and wellness checkups (yearly physicals, vaccinations, etc.) The 90 percent coverage of course includes injuries and medication. But it also includes supplements and therapy.
You can pick your deductible, and the higher your deductible, the lower your monthly fee. For our GSD, we pay $75 per month and have a $0 deductible.
What this means in practice is, our GSD (his name is Saggio) recently had to have major knee surgery for a torn CCL—one of the most comment injuries in all dogs (tho not super common in GSDs). The price for the surgery was (in my area, Hudson Valley in New York) $3,700. What we paid: $500, which included three follow-up visits with the surgeon. That means we basically broke even, with the amount Trupanion paid (~$3,200) equalling roughly 3.5 years worth of our monthly payment for Saggio. And that's just one procedure. I don't have any totals, but having Trupanion has literally saved us thousands of dollars.
Oh, and for major procedures like this one, Trupanion pays the vet up front (rather than you having to lay out the money first, as is the case with lower-cost care), and then you pay the difference.
The best part, however, is just being able to say "Yes, do what you need to do, doctor" to whatever it is. Need blood work? Go for it. Need x-rays? Go for it. On and on.
I know this is a love-fest, and I wish I had something negative to say to give a sense of balance. But I don't. Trupanion consistently makes it easy, refunds you money very quickly and makes it easy for you to submit your claims.
Anyway, I recommend doing your own research and picking the company that works best for you. But if anyone was thinking about getting pet insurance, I cannot recommend Trupanion more.