Are your dogs and cats covered by a pet insurance plan? There are some pet owners who love their “fur babies” so much that they will hold off on buying themselves a health insurance plan in order to be able to afford to get pet insurance. Depending on your budget, pet insurance might be a bit expensive, but, many pet owners feel that is it very much worth the cost.
Around one million pets are insured in North America. This equates to about 1% of the population of pets in the United States.
Who buys pet insurance? According to Kristen Lynch, executive director of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, many of the people who insure their pets are females who live in large, urban, areas. The women might be single or “attached”. The majority of the people who buy pet insurance are childless, and many are “empty nesters”.
There are some people who do not understand why they would need pet insurance coverage. One reason is that it functions like a health insurance plan for humans. It helps pet owners to be able to afford to take their dog or cat to the vet for things like checkups, shots, and anything else that is needed. Sometimes, situations happen that require emergency veterinary services. Your pet could get injured from an accident, or might ingest something poisonous. Pet insurance could help you pay for those medical bills.
Over the years, there have been advancements in technology that have led to improvements in health care for humans. The same is true for pets. Your pet could need a hip replacement, physical rehabilitation after an accident or stroke, or chemotherapy as a form of cancer treatment. Those situations have increased the cost of veterinary services. In 2008, people spent an average of $206 on medical bills for their pets. In 1998, the average was closer to $60.
Pet insurance can help you to pay for the expensive medical treatments that your pet requires. This could save you from being put into an extremely stressful situation. Sadly, there are pet owners who cannot afford to pay for the surgery, or chemotherapy, that their dog or cat requires. This can lead a pet owner to feel as though the only solution is to put their pet to sleep. This shouldn’t have to happen when the pet has a health issue that is treatable.
Image by Etsy Ketsy on Flickr