08/15/2024
Hello fellow Frenchie parents, I wanted to stress how important pet insurance is and my experience with it the last few days.
My Hilo is 14.4 years old and has been fairly healthy all his life except for the seasonal skin allergies. I originally had him on Trupanion Insurance but switched over to Pet Secure when he was 8 because of the increase in premiums. Unfortunately when you switch over, previous conditions are not covered.
I had been paying about $195 monthly for the past few years because of Hilo's advanced age and almost made the decision to cancel it because I thought we would not need it and at $2400/year I thought I would just save the money hold it to use in case of a emergency.
Well that day came suddenly without warning, Hilo was fine on Sunday jumping around and being his regular self. Mon morning he was vomiting everywhere and couldn't keep any food or liquid in his stomach, I thought he was sick and it would pass.
Next day Tues, he still was not eating and now stumbling around like he was intoxicated. He just seemed docile and really out of it so I rushed him to Central Victoria Vet Hospital where they were able to see him right away. After a initial exam the vet recommended to leave him overnight for more testing next day MRI, blood work, ultrasound and gave me an estimate of $2900-$3650, which I had to leave a deposit of $2500. They carefully explained the procedures and said they would contact me after the procedures to explain what they found. Wed afternoon after the tests, they called me and said they had found a node on his lung and that he had a issue with his thyroid but no sign of any tumors on his brain and the blood work was fine. They asked me if I would consent to more thorough testing to find out if there is any more cancer and to find out why his equilibrium was off. Initial thoughts was that he might of had a stroke. Again they explained the procedures and quoted me that the additional procedures would now come to $8600 total and asked if I wanted to proceed. Without hesitation I asked them to proceed.
My insurance with Pet Secure is the most comprehensive one they have with a $700 once a year deductible and coverage of 80% of the total and unlimited coverage per condition. This gave me some peace of mind that Hilo would get the best care possible.
I am glad I did not cancel Hilo's coverage and my advice is to have the insurance as it gives you peace of mind as I have heard owners who had no insurance and made the heart breaking decision to have their pets put down due to financial constrain.
Thank you to Dr Claudia Villa, Dr Laura Barnard and all the staff at VCA Hospital for taking such good care of Hilo.
No matter how much time we we get with our pets, its never enough so hold your fur babies tight tonight and make the time you have together count!