Everything You Need To Know About Pet Insurance

In order to keep your pet safe and healthy, you want to ensure that they have access to the best care possible. In the event of an accident or sickness, pet owners are often faced with the dilemma between wanting to give their pet the most optimal treatment and the enormous medical bills that follow suit.

Yet, as a pet parent, you should never have to choose between taking care of your family and whether or not you can afford the treatment. That’s why it’s incredibly important for you to find pet insurance coverage that is right for you and your pet’s needs.

Pet insurance is becoming increasingly necessary as the cost of veterinary and medical bills are on the rise. So, if you own a pet and need to obtain coverage, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about pet insurance including why Fursure Pet Insurance is changing the way you can protect your furry friend.

Here are a few topics we are going to cover:

• What is Pet Insurance?
• What Does Pet Insurance Cover?
• What Are My Pet Coverage Options?
• How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?
• Where Can I Get Pet Insurance?
• Fursure Pet Insurance For Protecting Your Pet

Everything You Need To Know About Pet Insurance

What is Pet Insurance?

Pet insurance is simply health care for your furry friend. Just like your human health insurance covers you in the case of an accident, sickness or necessary wellness check ups - your pet’s insurance will work in a pretty similar manner.

This is how pet insurance usually works:

• You’ll set up your insurance plan
• Bring your pet to the vet whether they need a check up, had an accident or are sick.
• Pay for your pet’s treatment
• Submit the claim to your insurance provider
• Get reimbursed for the covered treatments

With Fursure Pet Insurance, you won't need to pay out of pocket for your pet's treatment or wait for your provider to reimburse you. With our Direct Pay feature, you'll be able to pay for your pet's vet visit right from your own policy at the time of treatment.

Notice how it works just like your own health insurance? If you can do it for yourself, you can easily do it for your pet.

With a quality pet insurance plan, you can go to the veterinarian with confidence. Knowing that your plan will incur a portion of the medical costs, you’ll be able to get your pet the attention they need without the daunting monetary surprises.

Pet insurance covers a range of animals. While the majority of insurance options will focus on dogs and cats, you can also easily find a coverage plan for your pet species whether that be a bird, rabbit or snake.

Here are a few key factors to note about pet insurance:

• Your plan will be customized to your pet. This includes their breed, age, any existing health issues or conditions they may have.
• Chronic conditions, disease or allergies can be covered.
• If you have more than one pet, you can obtain insurance for each. Many providers offer a multi-pet discount (usually 5% or 10%).

Now that you have a general idea of how pet insurance works, let’s dig deeper to understand what it covers, how much it costs and what options are available for your pet.

What Does Pet Insurance Cover?

Pet insurance can be broken down into two main categories: accidents and illnesses. Let’s discuss each one in depth and what the coverage will include.

Accidents

Accidents for your pet include, but are not limited to:

• Getting hit by a car
• Swallowing a rock or stick or sock (foreign object ingestion)
• Breaking a bone or cruciate ligament injuries (ACL)
• Eating something toxic/getting poisoned
• Being attacked by another animal

Pet insurance coverage for accidents usually includes:

• Exams
• X-rays
• MRI
• Ultrasounds
• Blood work
• Suture
• Medications
• Hospitalization
• Surgery

Illnesses

Illnesses that could occur for your pet include, but are not limited to:

• Cancer (40% of dogs and 20% of cats get cancer)
• Arthritis
• Diabetes
• Allergies
• Skin Conditions
• Hyperthyroidism
• Kidney Disease
• Ear infections
• Digestive problems
• Urinary Tract Infections

Coverage for illnesses will often include:

• Full congenital and hereditary coverage including breed specific illnesses like hip dysplasia
• Cost of major and minor illnesses - exams, x-rays, surgery, etc.

Wellness

An additional category that some, but not all providers, will cover is wellness. With Fursure Pet Insurance, you can select a Wellness Plan to add-on to your accident and illness coverage. This includes procedures such as:

• Veterinary expenses
• Annual exams, Flea/Tick and Heartworm Medication
• Shots / Vaccinations
• Teeth Cleaning
• Spay / Neuter

As you can see, pet insurance covers several important pillars of your pet’s health. While your pet may be healthy now, there’s always the possibility of an accident occurring or illness occurring later in life. When such a situation arises, it will give you peace of mind to be prepared and know that your pet is covered.

What Are My Pet Coverage Options?

Pet insurance providers take the three categories we mentioned above - Accidents, Illness and Wellness - in order to create different insurance plan options.

There are 4 types of typical pet insurance plans, here is a quick breakdown of each:

Accident & Illness

• This plan covers treatment and any care related to an accident or illness.
• It does not cover wellness visits, routine care or preexisting conditions.

Accident Only

• This plan will cover emergency accidental care such as getting hit by a car, foreign object ingestion or eating something toxic.
• It does not cover pre-existing conditions, illnesses or breed specific issues. It also does not cover the wellness visits and check ups.

Accident Illness with Wellness

• This plan covers all types of treatment - whether that be routine wellness, accidents or injuries.
• It does not cover pre-existing conditions.

Wellness

• This plan can cover services such as annual checkups and routine vet visits, vaccinations/booster shots, and teeth cleaning.
• It is typically an add-on to an accident-illness plan.

The coverage plan you choose will ultimately be up to your discretion. It truly depends on your pet and what you can afford. As you can see, the most obvious comprehensive insurance coverage plan would be the accident-illness plan that also covers wellness check ups and procedures.

Let’s have a look at what a standard pet insurance plan costs.

How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?

Did you know that vet bills can be incredibly expensive without pet insurance? To give you a few examples, here are a few standard prices for procedures related to accidents and illnesses:

• If your pet swallows a foreign object it could cost you $3000
• They tear their ACL? $5400
• Or, potentially become sick with cancer - $9000

As you can see, those prices are astronomical and surprising for many pet owners who forgo purchasing insurance. So, instead of being overwhelmed by the cost of caring for your pet - let’s look at how much you’ll spend by planning ahead and purchasing a pet insurance plan.

According to Value Penguin, these are the current facts and figures regarding the average cost of pet insurance in 2023:

“The average monthly cost of pet insurance is $49 for dogs and $29 for cats. These are for plans that cover both accidents and illnesses. The range of average pet insurance for dogs is $23 to $90 and $9 to $37 for cats.

This would mean that the average annual cost for pet insurance for a dog is around $588 for dogs and $348 for cats.

It’s important to note that the cost of your pet insurance will be determined by your pet’s:

• Age
• Species
• Breed
• Where you live
• The Coverage package you choose

Pet insurance is higher for dogs, averaging at about 60% more expensive than for cats. You can also expect to pay more for an older or larger pet. Therefore, it’s best to get your pet set up with insurance immediately when they are young and in good health in order to avoid higher rates.

Additionally, no current pet insurance options will cover pre-existing conditions. Unless the vet record says a pre-existing condition has resolved itself or no symptoms have occurred in 180 days or up to 1 year depending on the provider - you can assume that any procedure prices will need to come out of your own pocket.

Yet, if you purchase insurance as soon as possible, you can obtain coverage for your pet before pre-existing conditions have a chance to happen and develop. In short, the sooner you purchase pet insurance, the longer the coverage for your pet and the less likelihood that you’ll incur the stress of expensive medical bills.

Ultimately, the individual price you pay for your pet’s coverage will be based on the deductible, annual max and reimbursement level. The best way to select a plan is to get your personalized Fursure Pet Insurance quote and discuss your policy options with our team.

Choose Fursure Pet Insurance to Protect Your Pet

At Fursure, we believe that buying pet insurance shouldn’t be expensive, confusing or time consuming. Our mission is to make it easy for you to find the insurance plan that fits your pet needs, get coverage quickly and avoid the stress of expensive medical bills and procedures.

With our Fursure Pet Insurance plans, we offer a range of options that will fit your budget and lifestyle. Plus, with our Direct Pay feature, you won't need to worry about having to pay for your pet's treatment up front and wait to be reimbursed. With our plan, you'll have peace of mind knowing your furry friend is receiving quality care and that you can afford it.

To get your pet protected and covered in just a few minutes, get your free personalized quote!