OT - Pet Insurance?

Ozzie_Isaac

Does anyone have Pet Insurance or first hand experience with it?  Can’t tell if it’s a good idea or better to just put “premium” in an account to use in case of something severe?

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Does anyone have Pet Insurance or first hand experience with it?  Can’t tell if it’s a good idea or better to just put “premium” in an account to use in case of something severe?

never had it, so far out of all of them one died at 10.5 years with bad kidneys and a hole in his cardinal heart sack. (he was a gonner after eating some duck jerky treats made by purina and insurance would not have helped).  they get raw marrow bones and beef back bones for snacks now. 

 newest pup is 2.5 years old and has had a half dozen seizures over the last year. less than a minute in length and mostly early mornings. vet wants a video as seizures dont normally happen at 4 in the morning with the hunting breeds. cant say if the insurance will cost more than the meds as they look fairly cheap on line

my older britt is currently 14.5 and my gsd made 18 yo without incidence 

Ozzie_Isaac

I’ve had many dogs, largest bills were $1800 for a rattlesnake bite, $400 for eating an oven mitt, and probably $1500/dog for two that came down with valley fever.  I’m not sure on how it works for emergency treatment, checkups, etc.  My view of insurance is they wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t make money - house always wins.  However, as costs keep rising and my ability to drop $ks without thinking has changed I’m thinking of options.

On your seizures front, I had a Jack Russel who had seizures, it was related to low blood sugar.  After working hard I would give her a bowl of sugar water.  It solved her seizures.

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I’ve had many dogs, largest bills were $1800 for a rattlesnake bite, $400 for eating an oven mitt, and probably $1500/dog for two that came down with valley fever.  I’m not sure on how it works for emergency treatment, checkups, etc.  My view of insurance is they wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t make money - house always wins.  However, as costs keep rising and my ability to drop $ks without thinking has changed I’m thinking of options.

On your seizures front, I had a Jack Russel who had seizures, it was related to low blood sugar.  After working hard I would give her a bowl of sugar water.  It solved her seizures.

not sure yet whats going on with this one, britts usually drop after intense feild work in the afternoon, not in the early morning hours. she wants a 4 am urine sample and my britts never been on leash. going to be fun trying this in the dark zero degree morning hours.

fishlessman

fishlessman said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I’ve had many dogs, largest bills were $1800 for a rattlesnake bite, $400 for eating an oven mitt, and probably $1500/dog for two that came down with valley fever.  I’m not sure on how it works for emergency treatment, checkups, etc.  My view of insurance is they wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t make money - house always wins.  However, as costs keep rising and my ability to drop $ks without thinking has changed I’m thinking of options.

On your seizures front, I had a Jack Russel who had seizures, it was related to low blood sugar.  After working hard I would give her a bowl of sugar water.  It solved her seizures.

not sure yet whats going on with this one, britts usually drop after intense feild work in the afternoon, not in the early morning hours. she wants a 4 am urine sample and my britts never been on leash. going to be fun trying this in the dark zero degree morning hours.

the other side of this is that with more people opting to pay ins, the costs look to be increasing.  1 small stitch on a dogs forehead costs a grand

Ozzie_Isaac

fishlessman said:

fishlessman said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I’ve had many dogs, largest bills were $1800 for a rattlesnake bite, $400 for eating an oven mitt, and probably $1500/dog for two that came down with valley fever.  I’m not sure on how it works for emergency treatment, checkups, etc.  My view of insurance is they wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t make money - house always wins.  However, as costs keep rising and my ability to drop $ks without thinking has changed I’m thinking of options.

On your seizures front, I had a Jack Russel who had seizures, it was related to low blood sugar.  After working hard I would give her a bowl of sugar water.  It solved her seizures.

not sure yet whats going on with this one, britts usually drop after intense feild work in the afternoon, not in the early morning hours. she wants a 4 am urine sample and my britts never been on leash. going to be fun trying this in the dark zero degree morning hours.

the other side of this is that with more people opting to pay ins, the costs look to be increasing.  1 small stitch on a dogs forehead costs a grand

That is why I usually use my large animal vet (old school rodeo vet) for my dogs.  He would stitch them up and barely charge anything.  He was also very pragmatic and never asked if I wanted a million scans/blood tests.  Unfortunately, I’ve moved pretty far away from him now.  He used to be just down the road.

fishlessman

i try and barter. made 20 bkts for  solar panels on a 30 plus foot sail boat, parts for her bee hives, fixed some warped all-clad pans etc.  i dont even know how one warps all-clads.   those emergency hospitals in maine are nuts on the weekend though especially when you just need something simple like antibiotics. dogs always seem to get hurt on weekends