{"id":59812,"date":"2010-12-29T04:00:03","date_gmt":"2010-12-29T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=59812"},"modified":"2020-03-02T17:19:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T01:19:48","slug":"pet-insurance-is-it-worth-the-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/pet-insurance-is-it-worth-the-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"How much is pet insurance?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pet insurance costs will vary based on the type of pet, its age and other factors, but one national pet insurance company recently quoted us a policy online of $94.54 per<\/strong> month with a $200 deductible for a 6-year-old mixed breed, female dog. That number can go higher or lower depending on the deductible, very much like human insurance.<\/p>\n

While becoming a more recognizable option, most pets are not privately insured. According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association<\/a>, there are 179 million pets in North America and about 1.4 million are covered by insurance. The most important tip is to understand what the policy does and does not cover and how the monthly fees compare to average yearly veterinary care for your pet. In some cases, it may make more sense to simply bulk up your emergency fund, as blogger Sierra Black did. Before we get to her story, though: Pet insurance isn’t the only option. if you have trouble affording care for your pet, the ASPCA has resources that can help<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sierra Black’s Story<\/h2>\n

My cat, Monster, died after a struggle with cancer. Monster followed me home one day when I was 17; he was with me through every heartbreak, every move, job, boyfriend, and roommate. I’m grateful for the fifteen years we had together, but I miss him. I’ll miss him always, I suspect.<\/p>\n

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Monster’s death left me with a tough decision: Should my girls get kittens for Christmas? We’d been thinking of getting the kids kittens for awhile, but held off because Monster was old and frail. I didn’t want a pair of kittens to terrorize him. While it felt too soon to me to get new cats, my older daughter asked very gently if she could get a cat of her own a few weeks after Monster died.<\/p>\n

When my other daughter’s preschool held a holiday pet adoption & craft fair, the deal was clinched. We came home with two kittens.<\/p>\n

The kittens came with a brochure for pet insurance. I’ve never had pet insurance, and I wondered if a policy might be worthwhile, especially for young cats who need extra care and appointments, as well as vaccines.<\/p>\n

Veterinary care gets expensive fast. I tapped out my modest $1,000 emergency fund<\/a> paying for Monster’s end-of-life care and cremation costs. I have never been so grateful for my new financial skills as I was when I was able to write that check without worrying about where the money would come from.<\/p>\n

Related content:<\/strong> How to build up your emergency fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Between paying for my elderly cat’s illness and adopting two kittens, vet bills have been on my mind a lot. So I looked into my pet insurance options. I decided to “self-insure” my pets by putting more money into my emergency fund<\/strong>, instead of buying an insurance policy to cover their medical costs. Here’s why:<\/p>\n