Why would you not insure your dog?

Vet bills are often unexpected and end up far more expensive then the owner can allow for. A canine insurance policy means that expenses incurred for treatment of a dog are not going to hit the owner financially, while allowing the dog to get the best medical treatment available.Why would you not insure you dog?If you insure your dog have you ever been really glad that you had insurance?

Pet Insurance is fairly new and not all vets take it and it doesn't always cover what people NEED it to cover. A fairly large amount of people don't have health insurance for themselves, let alone their pet.

Honestly? Because I cannot even insure myself at the moment. I have not had my own insurance since I was 15. As much as I would like to insure the whole family (dogs included) I just cannot afford it at the moment. Best I can do is have my savings account for any emergencies, be it with us, the dogs, the vehicles, whatever.

In my case, it's simply because I have so many dogs that the annual premiums would be higher than most vet bills.I just put money aside for emergencies.For example, from PetPlan for the puppy premiums would range from $230-290 annually. For my 5 year olds it would be from $480 - 600. They won't even insure my dogs that are over 7 (five of them), but if they did the cost would be even higher.

Well for one reason, I don't have a dog

We never insured any of our petsand My dogs 7 and only been in once (to get nutured)and we have four cats and never had promblems

It is not always accepted and subject to a LOT of pre-existing clauses.I prefer to have a savings account that I add to monthly for emergency vet bills.

because the insurance can be quite expensive and it doesnt cover much of anything...the only way to get your money out of it is if your dog is hit by a car or runs away. it doesnt cover basic vet bills or shots and even the things it does cover is a low percentage...

I've never insured my dogs or cats. I live in a small town. My vet has always let me pay out any pills that are very high. I usually only have to pay for the yearly shots, heartworm and flea preventative. I don't really think that an insurance policy would be that necessary.

Why not? Because 1) I keep pretty stringent control on, and take good care of, my dog, so have low risk; and 2) I can afford a major bill, if one should come up. That's what contingency accounts are for (i.e. I'm self-insured).

Only one out of twenty two of my animals is a dog. If I ever find pet insurance which will cover at least a few of my pets, then I'll be interested. Otherwise, it's an extra cost I don't have the money to chance. It's cheaper for me to just keep an emergency savings ready.

I do. But some people don't care as much for their pets and think that it will never happen to them. If it costs too much to treat their pet, they'll just have it put to sleep or just abandon it.I personally think that if you can't afford to look after a dog (or any animal for that matter), including paying for insurance which can be as little as £5 a month, then you shouldn't be allowed to have one.

Hmm well..I searched on the internet and this is a responce i got..For those who bought their dogs from the pet stores (which I strongly detest) probably had been pitched by sales staff into buying dog insurance.Many novice dog owners I came across are sold on the idea that dog insurance is the best way of curbing medical bills. Then there are others who think that they are being prudent since their dogs are going to visit the vet several times a year.Pleeeeeeeeease! Are these people for real? Do you really want to bring your dog to the vet several times a year? Do you think you are doing your dog a great favor by bringing him to the vet whenever he’s off his food or letting out foul gas or sneeze for a few days? Come on, let’s be honest here. Do you visit your doctor for common flu or headaches? I’m not saying that you should completely ignore your dog’s welfare, but what I’m advocating is to be sensible enough to grudge the urgency and severity before acquiring veterinary assistance. Many of the minor dog ailments I’ve seen in veterinary clinic can be easily treated at home. Having said that, I do realize this knowledge does come with years of experience. However, it’s not impossible to acquire this knowledge if you’d spend a bit more time in reading good books on dog health and related.As always, read my Disclaimer for your benefit.I probably will be stoned by pet insurance agents for telling you this. Yes, you guess it, I don’t recommend any dog owner to get pet insurance for the sake of getting one, thinking they will be saving huge sum of money.In reality, no dog insurance carrier on earth will pay your entire veterinary bill. Think about this for a second, what would be in it for them if they do cover every single veterinary bill?Chances you won’t be saving any instead you might end up paying more than you want to. The deductible and between-the-line restrictions (usually in microscopic print) of certain policies could wind up costing you more money, and not to mention some heated irritation, than if you didn’t have insurance to begin with.What I would recommend is to keep a reserve fund of about one to two thousand dollars for emergency cases. This amount may be a bit hefty sum for some considering for a pet dog but this cannot be simply ignored as you wouldn’t do for your own emergency issues. Whoever says owning a dog is cheap and easy, certainly have to rethink his or her perception and reevaluate their financial and commitment levels.Usually the monthly or yearly dog insurance premium aren’t outrageously pricey, ranging from few dollars to tens of dollars per month depending on breed and age, but over a period of ten over years this amount can really chalk up big. As said earlier, no policies cover every single veterinary bills. So in long run, you actually forking unnecessary bill.Whether you bought your pup from a pet store or breeder, your dog’s first year medical cost would be his third vaccination (the first two are already done by them) and maybe a couple causal veterinary visits for minor ailments. And throughout your dog’s life, you have provided a non hazard environment for him to live in then those occasional veterinary visits won’t dampen your pocket much, costly indeed but you’ll survive.God forbid, should your adult or senior dog been diagnosed with a catastrophic illness like cancer, the deductible will be eaten up by just one session of chemotherapy. So are you not going to bring your dog for his second chemotherapy treatment just because the dog insurance coverage has been exhausted?I’ll be very frank with you; most of my dogs I had for the last 4 decades have never been to the veterinary clinic for more than three times in their entire life. All my pups got their vaccinations done at home through house call. Whelping and dental scaling were done at home too with the help from my late dentist dad. Currently I only bring my dogs to the vet for their dental scaling which occurs every 18 months and on their last day - cremation.Personal note: I’m very thankful that all my dogs never posed many major health problems that require intensive care, and if they did, they were very brief lasted a day or two and left peacefully. I’m one lucky and blessed dog owner.Just like personal health insurance, we don’t get one to four policies in hope to fully utilize them just to offset our prepaid premium. Dog insurance is no difference either. If that’s the notion you have, then I highly recommend you spend your money on good dog food, supplements and herbs, and occasional visit to doggy spas. And that my friend, you are being very prudent and will be richly rewarded – your dog’s longevity and happiness.Haha Long!! I hope this has helped!!! x

Many work places (like Home Depot, for one) offer pet insurance along with their people coverage. It's a good thing to have especially if your workplace offers it as an option. On it's own it can be pricey especially if as another poster pointed out, you can't even afford your own health coverage (I'm in the same boat and have not had health coverage for some 13 or 14 years!) I do, however, have Mocha covered on my insurance policy for my vehicle, so if, God forbid we are in an accident, her vet bills will be covered!

I've always thought pet insurance would be a good idea ever since my dog got hit by a car and needed surgery... Everyone I've talked to however said pet insurance is a rip off... It is pretty expensive and, seriously how often does your pet need expensive surgery? I've owned dogs all my life, and only one needed a high cost surgery. So, it's your decision, risk getting ripped off, or better safe than sorry...?Also, most vets offer a payment plan with low interest when you need to pay for a really expensive surgery (That's how we paid for my dog's surgery)

Hm good question..I don't carry pet insurance on my dogs( 7 of them) because that would be outrageous! I rarely make a trip to the vet that costs over 100 dollars. Plus, I only make trips to the vet a couple times a year...for vaccinations, checkups, etc.. I've had unexpected things come up *like Parvo last yr* that have costs anywhere from 200-500 hundred dollars.. With the economy in the state its in right now, many people can't afford it. I for one, would never be able to afford to have pet insurance on all of my dogs, I'll just pay for it with it comes up. That to me is a lot better than having to have a set amount of money coming out of the little money coming in, for pet insurance. Can hardly afford health insurance for ourselves, nevermind the dogs

Because in 21 years of owning dogs (sometimes several at a time), we have only had 2 emergency visits. One was less than $150 dollars, and I don't know how much the other was. I see no reason to buy insurance when I will likely never need it. Especially given that most vets (at least in my area) will help you arrange a payment plan if you cannot afford to pay right away. I guess I could see having it if my dog came from a background with a high likelihood of having health problems or if I lived in an area where accidents were likely (like near a major highway), I may have a different opinion. But I don't. And I make sure that my dog is safe and not exposed to aggressive or sick dogs. Sure there's a chance that he'll still need an emergency vet visit, but it's really unlikely.

Because it doesn't, duh, cover normal problems.

I use to have pet insurance but never used it so now I just put away the money in a separate account that I would of paid in premiums, that way I have the cash for if and when my animals need it.

I have looked into it and for an intact dog, the rates are kind of outrageous. And the insurance doesn't cover a lot of genetic illness my breed is prone to, like Addison's. Most companies will only reimburse you for the treatments, not cover it upfront. If I had the thousands of dollars to give to the vet, I wouldn't need the insurance, now would I? I have a credit card for any vet emergencies and I have money in savings for anything minor that could come up, for medications and such. If we got into a BIG pickle I'd dip into the credit.