Last Updated on May 23, 2020 by ellen
Have you ever wondered about cat insurance and whether or not it was the right choice for your family? After all, we have medical insurance in case there are catastrophic medical costs. Doesn’t it make sense for our pets since they’re part of our family as well?
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Is Cat Insurance Worth It
We honestly never thought about getting cat insurance before September. It isn’t that we didn’t see a need, but it never occurred to us. We made sure that the cats had healthy food and a safe place to live and lots of love. They had regular vet appointments and all their necessary shots. And, that’s all we thought was necessary.
In September, my husband noticed that Scout (our boy grey tiger cat) wasn’t eating as well as he normally does. He’s always been a picky eater so we tried a different prescription food from our vet. But, he didn’t like that either. So, we scheduled an appointment for him to be seen.
If you know cats, you’ll know that when they’re sick they hide it. They spend more time sleeping in out of the way places. It’s a survival thing from when they were in the wild. So, we had no idea that Scout was sick until his eating habits changed.
After doing an x-ray and blood tests and urine tests, our local vet told us Scout was very sick and close to kidney failure. They recommended we go to the emergency vet two hours away for an ultrasound that they could not provide. We live in a rural area so the closest vet with this ability was a two-hour drive away.
Once we arrived at the emergency vet, they schedule more tests and an ultrasound and let us know that he was very sick and in renal failure (kidney). He’d have to spend the night and probably several nights when they gave him antibiotics and fluids in an IV. They weren’t sure he was going to make it but they were going to try.
In the end, he spent close to a week in the ER vet’s care with blood tests, urine tests, IV’s, fluids, shots to encourage him to eat, ultrasounds and x-rays. That’s on top of the tests done at our local vet before we went there. All told, we spent close to $3000 to save Scout and make him healthy again. And, we had no insurance for him.
Trupanion cat insurance
With Trupanion cat insurance, we could have spent much less out of pocket than we did.
Almost any type of illness or injury is covered as long as it isn’t pre-existing. If your male cat gets a kidney infection or your dog gets porcupine quills in his snout, it would be covered. If your dog eats something she shouldn’t or your cat swallows a rubber band, it’s covered.
If you’re wondering “Is cat insurance worth it?” the answer is definitely yes.
Get a quote today!
Ellen runs a small pet sitting business in southern Vermont. She has experience with a variety of small animals, dogs and cats. She has also cared for ducks, chickens and rabbits. Combined, she has over 20 years of experience in pet care and pet sitting.