Veterinary Insurance

[ZiggyStardust]

I'm curious as to how many chameleon owners have insurance for Vet fees?

After I had Ghengis to the vet last week when he was diagnosed with a broken tail, I decided to get some quotes for vet fees only for both my chameleons and I was wondering how common it was?

I was conscious of the discussion that I had with my vet when we were talking about options for possibly trying to straighten his tail using surgery (decided against it because of the risk of nerve damage in the end) but had he absolutely needed surgery (for example a broken limb) then the bill would have run into hundreds of pounds and I have to admit that I don't have that sort of money just lying around.

About 9 years ago, our female Mediterranean tortoise suffered a prolapse, twice, and Suina my vet had to operate on her twice to save her life, which involved removing part of the underneath of her shell. To say that the bill, at the end of treatment was huge is an understatement, but we found the money (as you do).

However, having two chameleons and knowing just how specialised and expensive exotic vet's fees are, I have decided to play it safe! For just over £13.00 per month, both my chams are covered up to a maximum of £1,500.00 each for vet's fees in any 12 month period.

Does anyone else have it and do you find it peace of mind/value for money, or a waste of money?

 

[repdog]

Does the vet insurance cover reptiles? I know many have it for dogs and cats. When I looked into it many years ago for my dogs it was better for me to start a saving account and add $50.00 a month to it then use it for the big stuff. But at that time all the coverage was only good if you had all the shots done yearly. Right now I have Care Credit which is good for humans as well. Anything over $400.00 is 6 months to pay. I think that is the dollar amount here. Only some places take this card but worked great when we did chemo with our dog.

 

[ZiggyStardust]

Does the vet insurance cover reptiles? I know many have it for dogs and cats. When I looked into it many years ago for my dogs it was better for me to start a saving account and add $50.00 a month to it then use it for the big stuff. But at that time all the coverage was only good if you had all the shots done yearly. Right now I have Care Credit which is good for humans as well. Anything over $400.00 is 6 months to pay. I think that is the dollar amount here. Only some places take this card but worked great when we did chemo with our dog.

The insurance that I have taken out is specifically for reptiles and other exotic species, in fact this is all they insure.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Only some of the pet insurance companies cover exotic pets like reptiles so you have to shop around. I think it's an excellent idea because reptile health problems often get expensive but I'd say probably 80% of my reptile owners cannot afford to do the appropriate diagnostics even for simple problems (and I'm talking minimal diagnostics like a $35 fecal or a $60 x-ray, not bank breaking costs). I have a lot who can't even afford the exam fee (despite knowing what it was going to cost ahead of time), much less any diagnostics or medications. I don't know if it's just that they won't spend the money needed but definitely have those who genuinely cannot pay. And as much as I'd like to do payment plans to help out I'd say maybe 20% of those people ever actually pay. I've been burned too many times by people who promise to pay and never actually do that I can't offer them any more. And unfortunately it is a very widespread problem in vet medicine (not just with reptiles) so you can't count on many vets offering payment plans, not for lack of compassion (we get it and trust me, we do really want to help), but because we get burned by them so often.

 

[LilBlue]

I have a Pet Card, which is through Medi Card Finance, and it is an American company, they cover humans as well. It works like a credit card, can use for any animal, and you just make monthly payments just like a credit card. It's great because of no monthly insurance payments. I've used it at 5 or 6 different vets in Canada so far, only one place didn't take it.