# need pet insurance advice



## arash53 (Aug 13, 2011)

I want to buy a puppy for my daughters birthday ,and looking for a good dog insurance , I looked online but I need some feedback to choice the best ,I really appreciate any advice  
Thanks,
Arash


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Can't help on what to decide on but good on you for planning ahead. I wish we got that stuff as a dog owner with a dog with food allergies, environmental allergies that bugs her skin, thyroid problems, bladder/female problems it can be costly at the vet. This doesn't include three knee surgeries and lots of joint and pain meds after each also not including the hydro therapy at a little over $50 per half hour a couple times a week. All that's on top of 200-250 a month average cost for vet kibble and regular meds so really in the 10 years my girlfriend and I have had her she has cost as much as a new car and my mother in law runs a vet hospital so we get a pretty good deal on lots and its still crazy expensive. 

One thing we are looking for now is insurance for pets in the car as I believe icbc doesn't care if your dog is hurt even through no fault of your own, they don't cover any vet bills that may be a result of a fender bender. I believe it's bcaa that sells an animal policy ill have to ask the wife I know she was looking into it.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I can find out exact details later if you want from the wife. We have a puppy and bought insurance for him. I can ask the wife which company we are using. I think we pay $22 a month and that covers up to$1500 a year. If something happens. Which it did. My puppy got something stuck in his throat. He coughed for weeks and finally after the vet stuck a camera down his throat. It dislodged what ever was stuck. We had to pay $300 dollar deductible. We visited the vet 3 times for this issue. The rest was coverd by insurance. They paid $1500, so we saved big time.

IMO its well worth it. Especially when they are puppies. When the dog gets older it's not as important because they don't eat random things etc..... but for puppies I think it is. My puppy actually came with the first 3 months insurance paid by our breeder  which was one more reason why we knew we had found a good breeder. He 11 months old now and we still have insurance and will continue to buy it until he's at least 3 yrs old. We will make the dicision than if we want to continue to buy insurance.

"DRACO" My Brittany Spaniel








Turns out we get our insurance from Presidents choice. She buys it from superstore. who would of guessed?
http://www.pcinsurance.ca/RocEn/PI_SEM.asp?gclid=CInBkoOx-bsCFQh1QgodVGAAXw


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

Most vets have insurance literature in their offices, they probably get a spiff everytime one of their clients buys it so they all want you to get it.

I would just walk in and ask for a flyer


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Beautiful Brittany". Good choice on a family pet. 
I would suggest anyone owning a dog or buying one to do a lot of reading in dogs naturally magazine. It can also be found on Facebook. Especially read Rodney habibs blog who is now part of dogs naturally magazine. He won an award this year for best pet educator and pet nutritionist. Dr. Peter Dobias of north vancouver also has some amazing information. 
The person listing all the ailments their dog had can all be contributed to diet, vaccinations, early neutering etc.
Once the puppy shots are done...and as few as possible do no more then every third year. Or none at all unless traveling or boarding.naturopath vets have data thst says once immunology done it lasts 15 years . 
Acl tests, skin allergies, thyroid, cushings, diabetes, bone cancer, liver cancer, etc. 
Raw or home cooked food will save you many dollars in the long run. 
I've groomed for 38 years and there's a huge increase in all these problems over the last years.
.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

We went with Petsecure. There are other companies as well.Some will not insure intact dogs. Some have limits on certain breeds.Depending on the breed you're planning to get,can be the determining factor.Different companies offer tiered coverages.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

It's a good idea to keep the coverage past the puppy stage. Our dog didn't use his until he was 4 years old. He tore his ACL and had a fractured elbow. He also had a whole slough of issues when he got older. All the medications and surgeries added up to a grand total of $10,000.00+ so even though you may think you don't need it later on, it is better to keep it because it's cheaper when you insure them younger. To get a policy when the issues happen later on in life will cost more monthly and any previous conditions will not be covered and will be considered to be pre-existing and will come out of your own pocket.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Tough decision. When we got our puppy, we considered pet insurance, we narrowed it down to this company:

Dog Insurance in Canada | trupanion.com

In the end, we decided not to get it. The amount of money you want to spend on premiums depends on a few factors, ie. age of dog, amount of deductible. A higher deductible lowers premiums, so really you're covering for major incidents. Our vet actually suggested not to get pet coverage, just bank the amount of money you would have spent on monthly premiums and have the funds available for coverage.

Then again, one acl injury, surgical procedure could pay for itself. It's what you feel comfortable with and what the peace of mind is worth to you.

Here's reviews on different coverages available:

http://petinsurancereview.com/


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

April said:


> Beautiful Brittany". Good choice on a family pet.
> I would suggest anyone owning a dog or buying one to do a lot of reading in dogs naturally magazine. It can also be found on Facebook. Especially read Rodney habibs blog who is now part of dogs naturally magazine. He won an award this year for best pet educator and pet nutritionist. Dr. Peter Dobias of north vancouver also has some amazing information.
> The person listing all the ailments their dog had can all be contributed to diet, vaccinations, early neutering etc.
> Once the puppy shots are done...and as few as possible do no more then every third year. Or none at all unless traveling or boarding.naturopath vets have data thst says once immunology done it lasts 15 years .
> ...


April has some excellent points. We do annual Titer tests instead of booster shots to see if the original puppy shots are still doing their job. 2 years later they still are. Late neutering too, almost 2 years old.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

We've had all our pets on PetSecure for 10+ years. No major complaints, and it's saved us a bomb, even if we had been putting the premium money away instead. I would definitely get insurance as early as possible both to prevent them from excluding anything that crops up later (most insurers won't cover pre-existing conditions) and to minimize the premiums. Our dog is nearly 8 and has been on it since we got her at 3 months.


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