Pet Care & Pet Insurance: Is It Worth It?

Pet Care & Pet Insurance: Is It Worth It?

The idea of pet insurance has been around since the late 1800’s. The first policies were based around horses and livestock, rather than cats, dogs and such. Pet insurance started getting popular in Britain in the late 1940’s. The first pet insurance policy sold in Britain was in 1947.**note 1(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_insurance).Today, Britain is second only to Sweden in the number of people who over their pets with these types of policies. The US and Canadian pet insurance market has been much slower to take off, but grew by a compound annual growth  rate of 21% over the 2005-2009 period, according to a report from packagedfacts.com. This same report projects that growth in this industry will remain very strong over the next five years.**note 2(http://www.packagedfacts.com/Pet-Insurance-2588709/).

According to data gathered by the APPA, (American Pet Products Association), among dog owners, those who are pet insurance policy holders, is around 6.7% for pet owners who take their pet to the vet three or more times annually. In households with an income of K or more, the rate is 5.3%. In addition, 4.9% of those with large dogs, and 4.5% of those who spend 0 or more annually on dog-related expenses, held policies.** note 3(http://www.packagedfacts.com/Pet-Insurance-2588709/). This means more than 90% of pet owners do not hold policies, and with medical costs rising in all areas for humans and animals alike, acquiring a policy could be a wise decision for most pet owners.

The pet insurance industry in North America includes several very large players that are also associated with already well known names in the pet care industry. Examples of these relationships are: PetPartners and the AKC (American Kennel Club); PetFirst, petfinder.com and Kroger; Trupanion and PetCo; Hartville and the ASPCA (Association For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals). These types of  business relationships come with a certain amount of built in trust, but it is always best to thoroughly check into any companies that you may be planning to do business with!

Taking proper care of the pets you are responsible for can be more than challenging

at times. It can be hard to have sympathy with the dog that just threw up on your new rug, or the cat didn’t like its’ litter box and pooped in your prize flowers! They, like human babies can’t tell us what’s wrong so we have to use our best judgement as to how to effect a cure. Sometimes a home remedy will do just fine, if not pet insurance can certainly help to curb costs. What if you find a funny lump under your dogs’ belly?

Just a simple surgery  to remove and biopsy the tumor can run into  hundreds of dollars or more. People can be very responsible pet owners without utilizing pet insurance, but having a pet insurance policy can give pet owners a certain ‘peace of mind’ that is comforting.