Hi Mandie

First, a disclaimer: I work for Embrace Pet Insurance in Cleveland, Ohio.

The main thing to remember about pet insurance is that it is there to protect you against unforeseen, expensive accidents and illnesses. Many pet parents want coverage for vaccinations and spaying/neutering too but there’s a problem: insurance can get overpriced when you cover these things.

Some pet parents also believe that pet insurance is only worth getting if your dog is old or “likely to get sick.” Well, frankly, I don’t know how you can tell whether your dog is likely to get sick, that’s why we have veterinarians. But I can tell you this: insurance is the one thing you can’t get when you need it the most. You have to plan ahead and get pet insurance while your dog is healthy otherwise you won’t be able to get it if he falls sick.

Some people also look at pet insurance as a form of “savings.” Well, actually, it’s not. Insurance is a transfer of risk from you to the pet insurance company, there are no savings of any kind involved.

Some also prefer to set aside $20 – 30 per month in a dedicated savings account. This is actually a good idea but it suffers from two shortcomings: one is that many of us lack the discipline to actually do it and two is that your dog isn’t going to wait for you to have enough saved before he gets sick. $30/mo saved over 5 years at 4.00% p.a. will yield about $2,000 at the end. This might be enough for a broken leg if it happens 5 years later but what happens if your dog gets one after 12 months? You’ll only have $360 saved up.

Where am I going with all this? I want to emphasize a point: you buy pet insurance because you want to protect yourself from having to choose between your pet’s life and an expensive course of treatment. Many pet parents don’t know that a trip to the emergency veterinarian when their dog or cat swallows dental floss – or something bigger – can easily cost thousands of dollars. And a serious illness requiring surgery at a specialist can easily cost $5,000 or more. These things can and do happen but you cannot predict when. That’s why you have insurance.

In answer to your question about whether it’s worth it to get pet insurance for your Pom, it depends what you’re looking for. If your Pom is young then he’s unlikely to have pre-existing conditions. If this is true then you’re probably going to get full coverage. I will focus on two BIG things that distinguish pet insurance plans.

The first big thing is that some pet insurance companies do not cover anything that is hereditary or congenital, others do. Make sure you ask because every dog, no matter whether it’s a purebreed or not, can suffer from hereditary diseases. FWIW, Embrace Pet Insurance covers congenital and genetic conditions.

The second big thing to watch out for is claims reimbursement. Some pet insurance plans use a benefit schedule, which is a special table that spells out how much you will get back for a given diagnosis, no matter how much your vet bill is. The downside of this approach is that you can be left with a $4,000 veterinary bill but only receive back a few hundred dollars. Other companies, including Embrace, pay you back a percentage of your bill. This usually means you get a greater percentage of your bill back, as high as 90%.

I always recommend that pet parents check out Pet Insurance Review ( ), an independent site that has real customer reviews of all the pet insurance plans in the USA and Canada. It can be very eye opening to read these reviews! Some of the big companies don’t fare so well, I guess the smaller guys try harder.

So do your research and examine your options, there is a plan that’s right for you.

Good luck,

Alex
Embrace Pet Insurance

Yes. For example, VPI is one company that we use. The clients we have love it. But like any insurance, get it as early as you can. For some pets, it can cost ~$15-20/month. With this price, yearly exams, vaccinations and heartworm prevention is included at discounted prices. This being said, you do fork out the money up front, but after sending in the claim, they refund you. Some plans also include a deductable for emergency visits/emergency surgery, and specialists. Personally, I think it is well worth it. As a veterinary professional, I see what can happen to a pet, and the amount owners spend is amazing. I am actually trying to talk my boyfriend into doing this for his young German shepherd mix. Good luck! I know some of the big named insurance companies are now offering pet insurance. I know VPI will give you a free quote online -