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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — We love our cats and dogs.
They’re usually happy to see us. They’re instant exercise partners. Well, maybe not cats. And let’s face it — both dogs and cats are cheaper than a therapist.
Little wonder why many of us will spend whatever it takes to get them the best medical care possible.
“He has lots of spunk,” Dalia Cole said of her 13-year-old German shepherd, Milo. “Absolutely, when he’s running and playing with the other dogs, absolutely.”
Milo gets around pretty well — even with his hind legs in tow. Cole started buying pet insurance for him when he was a healthy pup. But two years ago, a rare form of dysplasia caused Milo's legs to stop working. Cole says the insurance has saved her thousands.
“He’s had two ACL surgeries that has amounted to about $6,000 and they paid a very good amount of that,” Cole said.
Cole said her insurer reimbursed her 80 percent of the cost. Her costs amounted to around $1,200 for the procedure.
“Pets are becoming an integral part of our entire life,” said Dr. Rick Campbell of the Willow Creek Pet Center. “Pets bring so much companionship to everyone.”
Pets have become so integral, pet owners are now often choosing treatments once reserved for humans.
“When we first started (in 1983), we had one pain medication you could use on dogs,” Campbell recalled. “Now, we have all kinds of ways to address pain. We can diagnose so much better because we have things like digital X-rays. We use MRI. We have extensive blood testing in the clinic. So we can get answers in a heartbeat.”
Last year, Americans spent $15.4 billion on veterinary care, according to the American Pet Product Association. That’s nearly twice the $7.9 billion the country spent 13 years ago when Milo was just a pup.
And sure, the rising populations of both dogs and cats play a part. But pets are also getting those MRIs and ultrasounds, chemotherapy and increasingly difficult procedures that in turn push vet bills into four- and even five-figure territory.
“It can get very pricey,” Campbell said. “And that’s what’s nice about having a little backup with pet insurance.”
There are over a dozen pet insurers in the business now.
KSL pulled quotes from three of the biggest — Trupanion, Healthy Paws and Nationwide — for a 2-year-old mixed-breed dog and cat in a Salt Lake ZIP code.
At $612 a year plus a $200 deductible, Trupanion was the most expensive premium.
Healthy Paws was the least expensive at $339 a year with a $250 deductible.
Premiums for cats averaged from 30 percent to 44 percent less.
Now compare that with the costs without insurance. The American Pet Product Association found dog owners last year spent $551 in surgical visits, and cat owners spent $398. Add in the deductibles and those costs are still cheaper than pet insurance.
“The prices, by the way, even on pets you’ve already insured, they go up every year," said Tobie Stanger, a senior editor with Consumer Reports.
Stanger said if you’re insuring a puppy or kitten, it’s going to cost far less than if you’re going to insure an animal for the first time at age 5 or older. And she said breed is a factor in premium costs.
“Certain breeds are more prone to certain illnesses and issues,” Stanger told KSL. “Hip dysplasia is a big one for some big dogs, for example, so that has an impact."
Another factor is location.
“If veterinary expenses are high in your region,” Stanger said, “that will have an impact on the premium.”
But when it comes to making the decision between buying pet insurance and skipping out on it entirely, Stanger says it can really be a tough call.
“Our results in our Consumer Reports studies show that in some cases, it does help and in some cases it doesn’t,” Stanger said. “We don’t recommend you get it if you just want to cover routine physicals and things like that. That really is better handled out of pocket. It really depends on — it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen to your pet.”
Campbell says where pet insurance really shines is during canine catastrophes — your dog or cat swallows a strange object, gets hit by a car or needs a tumor removed. Each of these could mean a thousand-dollar vet bill, or much more.
“Pretty much catastrophic events is what pet insurance is intended to cover,” Campbell told KSL. “If ever there is a catastrophic event with your pet — you’ve got no worries. It’s handled.”
Dalia Cole has no regrets. She said without pet insurance, Milo wouldn't even be around to play and run with her other dogs.
“At this point, as long as he’s happy and he’s showing excitement and he’s eating and he’s playing,” said Cole, “it would be hard for me to let him go.”
There are some other important points to keep in mind about pet insurance. Generally, you pay the vet for your pet’s treatment and then your policy reimburses you — usually at 80 percent or 90 percent of the procedure’s cost. Pet insurance companies will not cover pre-existing conditions. And mixed breeds are often cheaper to insure than pure breeds because a purebred is more likely to inherit hereditary conditions, such as hip dysplasia.
Whether or not you buy pet insurance, one way experts say you can help avoid costly medical bills down the road is to take your dog or cat in to the vet for regular checkups.
