I have alos been thinking about this and reading up on it too! I think most kinds have you pay and they reimburse you a set amount for each service. That’s what I have gathered so far anyways…

don’t wanna sound stupid, but what does pet insurance do? :/

Hi, I didn’t check out your link yet, but I use VPI pet insurance, as do many of us here.

You pay about $12 every month. To be honest, insurance for anything is actually a bit like gambling. They are gambling that you will stay well, and you are betting that you will be sick suddenly and need financial help. So you put in money every month to the company in case something happens and you need to buy medical care. In this case, for your pet.

When your pet goes to the vet for an illness or accident (NOT for getting speutered, I’m sorry to say, or for a first time wellness exam) you pay the vet the bill for treatment and get a copy of what you paid. You make a copy of your bill and payment and send that to your insurance company – that’s called a “claim.” It is best to get the insurance when your bunny is healthy, because if you go to the vet for a problem, THEN take out the insurance, they will not cover it because it is considered a “pre-existing condition.”

So, you submit a claim after you’ve been paying the monthly ins. for a while, when you take your bunny because, say, it isn’t pooping or her teeth are giving her trouble, or she’s scratching her ears too much. If the diagnosis is anything requiring medicine, or mites, or regular teeth filing (these are just examples) then you submit the claim to the insurance company. Usually mailing the forms in.

The ins. co. examines what was done, and usually has a preset amount of money that they believe is the cost of the treatment. They will accept the claim, and pay you a check for that amount. It will often be less than what your vet charged. A vet might allow you to be billed and not pay on the spot, so you can submit first, then pay the vet, but that’s rare. So, you get some money back from the ins. co. to offset the cost of the bills you just paid.

You might figure out that what you pay each year, at 12 bucks a month, is way more than you would spend that year at the vet. However, one serious illness, or one chronic condition like teeth work, one broken leg, etc. can be VERY expensive all at once. I mean a thousand dollars right away. So, the insurance co. says it will pay you toward those costs, even if it’s much more than what your 12/month added up to. Some of us feel that in a bad economy, 12/month is not too hard to pay, but having a bill for large sums is, and it’s worth the investment. You might not use it this year, but your bunny will get older and need more care in later years. You might take a chance with him for a year or two, but it’s a good idea eventually. I felt it was worth it as soon as she came home. You never know what might be a genetic condition that came with your little furbaby.

When you read a post about someone who delays bringing the bunny to the vet because “they can’t afford it” and your heart breaks or you just feel mad that they took on a responsibility for a living thing they won’t care for, then think about not putting yourself in that position. I got the insurance.

Thanks for the info! VPI is what I was reading about. I think I will get it. Is it about $12 per bunny or…?

One thing to keep in mind though with pet insurance – you do need to pay the money upfront and then you are reimbursed by the insurance company. It is not like a co-pay plan where you pay a co-payment.

I don’t have vet insurance but I wish I did.

BinkyBunny mentioned that she has Care Credit (which I now have) that I believe allows you to pay without a finance charge for up to 3 months which she uses to pay the vet then when she get’s reimbursed from the insurance pays the rest of the Care Credit so that might be something to consider using as well if your vet takes Care Credit. But this is a credit card so you do have to qualify as well. I thought that was a very smart way to use the Care Credit too!

I have pet insurance for Cotton and Schroeder and will add Griffin as soon as he is eligible.

Schroeder had a GI stasis issue about 2 months ago, was in pain, stopped eating,etc.  I paid about $600 total for his care- and I was reimbursed $300 from pet insurance.  His premium is about $11 a month- so I got more back on the claim than what I will pay in premiums for a year.

Of course Cotton has had insurance for 1 1/2 years with NO claims.

VPI has a set amount for what they will pay for certain illness/injury.  It is not what they think the treatment SHOULD cost- it is just a set amount of what they will cover.  Pet insurance is not designed to give 100% coverage.  It would not be only $12 a month if that was the case.

Care Credit is a good thing too- but not all vets accept Care Credit- so that is something to check into.

I have 5 cats and I do not insure my cats- they are strictly indoors and it is cheaper for me to pay outright for their care than to have insurance.  My 2 Aussies have insurance since they are high energy dogs that do travel with us and go to my Grandparents farm, dog parks, dog friendly events, etc.  So it is about risk assessment and determining what might be beneficial.  I decided to insure the bunnies since they are so sensitive and exotic care is expensive and my vet refers to another clinic out of town for major emergencies like stasis, dental issues, etc- so I can expect the bunnies might need care that I will not get a discount on (I work at a vet clinic).

I have VPI for my bun Pepper, which turned out to be an absolute godsend when she started showing signs of Pasteurella!  We actually maxed out her benefits for 2 years in a row while we got things under control.  She will have to be on and off antibiotics for the rest of her life now, as the condition is chronic.  

For now she’s fine, and only shows symptoms every few months.  She gets a few days of treatment and she’s fine again, but it could resurface at any moment.

Without VPI she’d be my $3000 bunny.

In australia you can only have pet insurance for a dog or a cat Really annoying as i just dropped about $5000 on my birds and the two I was fighting to keep alive have now passed, any money back would have been great! I put money away each month for vet care so at least I was not 100% caught out and having to put it all on credit cards. I think even if you decide not to take out pet insurance or you are like me and can’t take it out on a bunny then at least put $10 – $20 in an account or jar each month so you have something up your sleeve if something goes wrong

I think you can only get it for dogs & cats in Canada too.