Posted on 02/28/2011 8:12:17 AM PST by Daffynition
Waste of money IMHO. Spend the money up front to get a well-bred animal that is not “farm or mill” raised. If you really want to help an animal out, go down to the rescue shelter. Lots of love in those cages.
You were just looking for an excuse to post a picture of your new puppy.
; > ]
Sweet looking dog.
My sister cashed in on it when her dog broke it’s toe when it got caught on their deck planking and was broken. Even did a little vignette on the local evening news.
I do not have it on either of my dogs but friends who have a lab with an ACL tear said it was worth the cost.
How about this, instead of pet insurance, why not set aside what you'd pay in a monthly premium (and maybe a little more) into a savings account that you can then use to pay for non-routine vet care? At the very least you'll get some interest off of that.
So this is a good deal. Not sure how the other ones work.
I’ll second the idea of making a pet medical savings account to pay for non-routine health care.
I had it in the past, a life insurance policy only, written via my homeowners policy as a rider thru St. Farm. Value of dogs covered only up to purchase value...waste of $$$
As time passed, the premium yearly, exceeded my purchase price.
Be sure to read the fine print.
I would say that unless the animal is a registered show animal that is worth a lot of money, insurance probably wouldn’t pay for much more than its cost.
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Similar with dental insurance (for humans). Many policies have a max-per-year amount around $1000. That hardly pays for one cap.
Pendulum ears, big feet and a broad chest. All marks of a fine Labrador. Looks very much like one of mine when he was that age. Good luck with the next two years. He’ll test you every day. It’s his job. The trick to surviving the “terrible twos” is being smarter than the dog. Keep him occupied and learning and you’ll have a lot less trouble. Labradors are wonderful dogs! As for pet insurance, I’ve had dogs all my life and I’ve never had a need for it.
I think it’s about $40 a month. My niece thinks it’s great, I’m not entirely sold. Although I’ve spent a small fortune on my dog. But had a cat that lived to be 22 years old, hardly cost me much more then your usual once a year trip to the vet. You could put that into a savings account for your dog and when you need it for vet bills you’ll have it.
Until 2.5 weeks ago I would have said pet insurance was a luxury or a waste of money. However, my cat somehow broke his leg while inside the house at midnight. I had to rush him to an emergency vet and while there was informed what the costs would be to heal him back to normal. Ouch!!!! I don’t ever want to be in that Obamacare type position of having to weigh the cost vs the pet. I went with the best and most expensive option (surgery, pins, wires, and an external fixator) and I am glad I did (the little orange furball had really grown on me) but I did consider much cheaper options including amputation.....ugh. If I would have had the pet insurance I just bought the bill would have been 1/5 of what it was. I am having to sell one of my motorcycles to pay for this huge vet bill.
He is recovering well and has about 5 weeks to go to get the external fixator removed. He is curled up on my lap purring as I type this. You don’t realize the strong bond you have with a pet until something like this happens. I NEVER thought I would pay that much just fix up a frikken cat with the best medical care, but dang I found I just could NOT do otherwise.
I have it on both my dogs and had it on a previous dog. As far as I’m concerned it has mostly been well worth it. My last dog racked up $20,000 on his last serious illness. They ended up paying $11,000 of it. He was almost 15 at the time so we has already used it over the years so we got way more that our money back.
For the two dogs we have now we pay approximately $350 each, including a cancer rider. They are only 5 so we haven’t used it that much. I would rather have it than not.
I don’t know, if one could see the future one could make wise decisions but unfortunately that privelege is closed to we mortals.
Btw; that is one cute pup! Melts your heart looking at him.
What’s his name?
The *cost* of a Lab rescue is more than the cost a fine bloodline pup. WE looked into it...and with the cost of transportation and other fees it was much more economical to buy a new pup locally. We went to a gathering of the Labs to be adopted...there were 25-30 dogs there. I never saw a bunch of Labs who were so neurotic. A shame. Plus the hoops they have you go through to adopt...we came away scratching our heads...it was like the volunteers were hoarding the dogs and didn’t want to let them go.
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