Pet Insurance

[grizabella]

I got pet insurance after Bella injured her foot, it's nice to know that we can get financial assistance that way if something were to go wrong. We're with 'PetPlan'.
I considered just putting money aside each month in a 'doggy emergency fund', but decided against that idea because I may not have enough saved up if something were to happen in the near future, and once it's gone it's gone!

[Gazinghound]

I actually don't, though I have mentioned it to my parents as a suggestion a couple of times, and might get it in the future. We've always paid for stuff as we needed it, and fortunately there wasn't anything astronomically unaffordable. I know my mom wouldn't buy any insurance at all if it weren't required. Frankly, I'm with her; the thought of consistently paying for literally nothing except the promise that the company MIGHT pay for at least a portion of a service that you may or may not eventually require at some point, but hope not to need...rather than just paying for things as you need them...sounds like an unbelievably ludicrous, sick joke. I can't believe the concept actually exists. Since it DOES, I've had to consider whether it might not be a good idea for us. I wonder--does this make me a terrible hypocrite for considering becoming an agent or claims adjuster? xD;

Sadly, my dad hit an unavoidable deer while driving us all up to Pennsylvania the weekend before last (he tried to get away from it, but couldn't, and it was an unusual time for a herd to be crossing the road)--so finally the auto insurance has become useful for something (repairing the damage to the front of the year-old truck.) I wished we could have called a vet out there to try and save the poor creature, though. The collision was a horrible thing to see.

[grizabella]

I think it would be more difficult if you do have more than one dog, because the cost of insurance would really start to add up. I imagine if one was to insure only one or two of multiple dogs, it would of course be the uninsured one that would injure itself or get sick!

That must have been really upsetting! Poor deer, how horrible for something like that to happen. We've been fortunate to not have had any incidents with animals on the road (touch wood), though you do hear about nasty collisions with kangaroos... I actually came across a koala running along the road near our house (we're in quite a built up area, I hadn't seen one near here previously), thankfully it managed to cross the intersection safely as it was late enough for there to be next to no traffic.

[Gazinghound]

Yeah, right? Murphy's Law would ensure that only the uninsured ones wound up needing it! Dx

That is a good point, I'm not sure how much the difference in policy cost would be for multiple animals...you'd think they'd offer some kind of discount or something, but I honestly don't know!

Wow, it's so cool to think about seeing wild kangaroos and koalas (awww!) But I would imagine that kangaroos especially could be as dangerous to hit as deer. It was a good thing we were all in a pickup truck and not, say, my car. Although, if I had taken mine, I'd have probably driven separately and thus been behind the truck. We didn't feel much of anything, but it was really terrible to see the unfortunate deer get tossed up and off the road. Poor, poor thing. If anything, I can hope that it taught the other ones that witnessed to avoid cars. It's a hard lesson; nothing else in their world moves that quickly and causes that much harm. But according to other PA residents, "It's not a matter of whether you're going to run into one, but when." It hadn't happened to my dad in over 40 years, and he felt terrible.

[grizabella]

I think in most cases, each dog is insured separately. I think if you had many dogs it would probably be a better to just put aside money each month away for unforseen vet visits.

My dad often drives out in the middle of nowhere for his work, I think he's had some near misses with kangaroos, emus and even on occasion, feral camels (one animal I most definitely would NOT want to run into). Seeing the amazing wildlife when you're out and about is definitely one of my favourite things about living in Australia.

[Gazinghound]

Oh...yeah, you know, that probably would be the wise thing. Just set aside about the same amount you'd be spending on insurance, and hang onto it in case you need it for an emergency. I did read something the other day about a 15% multiple-pet discount from V.I.P. Pet Insurance or some such thing, but it was...I don't even remember, some kind of brochure for another company where you had to buy or win the insurance through them...it wasn't directly from V.I.P.


AHH! That is really, really neat. Not the near misses, really, just the spotting of such cool creatures out and about!
I have a fondness for camels (heck, they've always been my favorite animal cracker shape--and the rarest one. Ulla likes to imitate them by lying down the way they do...plus, I used to have the cutest plushie...& I always even liked Joe Camel the cigarette mascot.) But "Watch out, they spit!" -lol- And my favorite pick-your-own apple orchard/farm has (or used to have, at any rate) a pen of emus. It'd feel odd, but awesome, to see them running free outside of a drive-through safari. :3 Australia is definitely one of my must-go-to places.

[grizabella]

If you do ever end up coming over to Australia for a visit, I'd recommend going to Queensland, for the rainforests and of course the Great Barrier Reef (I've been twice, it's just amazing!)

[Gazinghound]

OH MAI GOODNESS, ABSOLUTELY. And as a sea life nutjob, the Great Barrier Reef would be my #1 destination. I have SCUBA training, too; I would just need to go over it all again, take the test, and get the actual certification in order to go diving. =)