PET INSURANCE!

So you’ve thought long and hard about it, considered your responsibilities and finances. You’re looking

forward to years of love and affection and decided to take the plunge. You’ve become a proud new pet owner! That’s great news!

Despite the initial commitments and ongoing responsibilities, pet ownership is one of lifes’ joys, and as such you need to be able to offer the best help you can to your pets when they get ill or injured.

Which brings me to the main point of this article – Pet Health Insurance. Broadly speaking, most people expect that medical and surgical care for their pets can be “expensive”. In fact, for similar services offered when compared to human medical care, veterinary care is extremely good value. (Don’t choke on your breakfast here, I’m serious!!!) The problem is :

1)  What one person and anothers idea of “expensive”, can be vastly different things

2)  Public knowledge of the real costs of medical and surgical products, supplies, procedures is usually very limited

3)  Most peoples experience of medical care involves subsidized fees for medicines, pathology and procedures courtesy of medicare, pharmaceutical benefits and private health funds.

These days, Veterinary Science can offer a remarkable variety of services .Veterinary General Practice, and especially Veterinary Specialist services, are able to offer care comparable with the best human medical and surgical care. Like human private medical and surgical care the costs of such services can be a stress on an unprepared wallet.

Here’s a few examples of common services offered by “ a prominent Brisbane Veterinary Specialist Hospital”:

Consultation with specialist $142

CT Scan $1000-1500

Spinal Disc Surgery $2700-3500

Cruciate Ligament Repair $1800-2500

Bone Plating $3000-4000

Caesarian Section $1800-2800

Cancer Therapy $2000-5500

Total Hip Replacement $5700-6300

Tick Paralysis Treatment $500-1500

However dear punter, Rejoice! Pet insurance is at hand. It’s effective, it’s affordable and it means that you don’t have to make a choice between what your pet needs, and what you can afford.

Just like human health insurance offers many levels of cover, Pet health insurance can be selected and tailored to your pets needs and lifestyle. For example, a cat that is totally housebound will never need cover for tick paralysis or snake-bite. Breeding animals will need different cover than desexed pets and so on.

Pet Insurance will cover major items such as trauma, non-elective surgery and medical care. Most policies will cover up to many thousands of dollars of treatment a year. However as well as this, most policies will cover items such as Boarding Kennel fees, Advertising and reward for lost pets, theft or straying, holiday cancellation due to pet illness, death from injury or illness and extended hospitalization or emergency boarding.

Some policies will cover 100% of vet fees, others a percentage. Many also offer a large reimbursement for preventative care such as heartworm, tick and flea prevention.

As in human schemes, different levels of cover with different excess and exclusions are available within each policy, depending on what conditions or situations you may anticipate. In the Northern Rivers region, for example, I’d advise all owners of “outside” pets to be covered for tick paralysis and snake bite.

Costs of these schemes are generally in the realm of $3-$8 a week depending on your needs. This really is a “drop in the ocean” as far as total ongoing pet ownership costs (food, shelter, accessories, time etc.) are concerned. It certainly is a small price to pay for the security of knowing you can offer your pet the best of modern veterinary care in situations where making a decision may be literally life and death.

Vets are not ethically allowed to recommend any one scheme over another. They can, however, supply information as to the schemes most suitable for your area. There are many policies available to choose from, including some that are available via household insurance companies. It’s always worthwhile asking your current insurance provider if they offer any add-ons for pet insurance. Many provide online quotes.

So in a nutshell, pet insurance is a great idea and it’s not expensive. I strongly recommend it!

Bye for now,

Evan Kosack (Lennox Head Vet Clinic)