“How much do I love my pets?” This very real question will probably seem rhetorical to most of us, as the universal answer would be something like “A LOT” or “SO SO MUCH.” The unconditional love that a pet brings fills our lives and homes with joy, happiness and so much fun.   

The expression, ‘A house is not a home without a cat’ could not be more true for me. I’ve had cats since I was a small child wearing a two-piece bathing suit with a daisy on it and I’m sure I’ll have one until I’m an old woman wearing a colorful zip-up-the-front kaftan. Currently I have two cats: a small orange tabby called Goldie Hawn and a beautiful, colorful Calico called Coco. Even the pet names we give our pets is indicative of how much we love them. I must really love mine because the pet names for my pets have evolved into their own nomenclature, descending from their true name into a rapped-out progression, unrecognizable to the original. Here’s how much I love my pets.

 

Goldie Hawn 
Goldie 
Goldie Golds
Golds
Gold-zer-rolz
Riz-er-rolz
Riz-ma-tiz

Coco
Cokes
Coca-mo
Mocca-mo
Mik-a-mo
Mikki-moto

 

But to fully and truthfully answer the question, ‘How much do I love my pets?’ we must be willing to put in the effort and the finances to care for them. Animals are sentient, soulful beings made carnate, much like us humans. Accordingly, they get sick, have accidents, and grow old. Much like humans, they benefit greatly from having health insurance. How many of us would go long without having good health insurance?

In 2024 there are a multitude of excellent options for pet insurance on the marketplace. Recently I was pondering changing insurance carriers for Goldie and acquiring insurance for my younger cat, Coco. Never is shopping for insurance of any kind, a joy-filled trip. It can be a laborious, tedious and time-consuming endeavor. And let’s not even mention the multiple levels of voice prompt hell that one has to go through to reach a human being.  But go through it we must. I was worn out after the half day I spent in this endeavor, but am so glad this is now done and the process is behind me. Knowing that my pets are fully protected is a peace of mind that sits well with me. At no time do I want to have to choose between my pocketbook and my precious boo boos. And I vow to never acquire the philosophy of just hoping and praying that nothing bad ever happens to them. La La Land is a movie, not a place in which we should live.

 

My first wakeup call around pet insurance came during my time as a bookkeeper when working with a client who had 3 cats. During my association with this client, 2 of his cats got seriously ill. Ten years ago, circa 2014, one cat’s vet bills towered to $13,000 and the other one an adjacent $10,000. No telling how much that would be today. $18,000 and $15,000?? Fortunately, both cats recovered from their illnesses since they received all needed medical interventions as my client had the funds to do so without the aid of pet insurance. But I remember thinking to myself, ‘There is no way I could ever afford to spend $13,000 dollars on a pet – not now, not ever.’ But I knew that I could afford a few hundred dollars a year for insurance. Because of my great love for my own cats, I knew I had to get them pet insurance and so I did. Looking back, the one pain-filled afternoon is but a faint and uneventful memory.

Now for some GOOD NEWS. I’d like to pass along some highlights from my recent insurance research to encourage all pet owners to get out there and protect your pets.

Here’s a recap of 3 different quotes for a 7-year-old healthy female cat. 

Current Company vs. 2 Comparative Quotes

QUOTE A                                                                                    

$406.98 / year / $35.51 if monthly                              
$15,000 max pay out for year                                        
$500.00 yearly deductible                                               
90% payout    

QUOTE B
$510.46 / year / $47.52 if monthly

$20,000 max payout for year

$300 deductible PER INCIDENT
90% payout

                                                                           

Current Company
 $278.00 / yearly / $23.24 monthly
 $10,000 max payout
 $1,000 deductible
 80% reimbursement max

With a good deal of thought and help from my calculator, I wound up switching from the Current Company to Quote A .  I felt like the additional $128.98/year ($406.98 - $278.00) for Quote A more than makes up for the $500 extra in the deductible due with Current Company AND provides 90% coverage vs. 80%. Lastly the $15,000 total yearly payout being $5k higher than the Current Company made my choice easy and the investigation worthwhile. All these things added up to me feeling proud of myself for going through the insurance battlefield to come out the other side with a victory well in hand.

All above quotes are for ‘accident and illness’ insurance policies. Make sure to distinguish companies offering ‘wellness plans’ which only give discounts on preventative services, such as office visits et al. If your pet gets in an accident, these will do you no good. Be sure to search for accident and illness policies – such policies behave much like the health insurance policies we are familiar with from the workplace. Also, be aware that some companies do not let you raise the maximum payout year over year. So if you sign up your pet for $5,000 worth of coverage this year, because they are young and healthy, and the premium is super low, you cannot raise the limit to say $15,000 when they are older a few years from now and need more coverage.

Not all companies work that way, but some do. So be sure to check.

As another source of encouragement, please let me tell you about my now dearly departed gray tabby who had been with me for 12 years, Winkie. Out of nowhere, he developed kidney disease from which he never fully recovered and died after a hard-fought battle to hang around the planet a while longer. During a time of illness, you cannot know if your pet will or will not make it. Winkie made it for about a year and half. During that time, and because of my insurance coverage, I felt so free knowing I could take him to the vet whenever I needed and that I was doing everything humanly possible for him. Never did I have to ask myself, ‘can I afford this right now?’ With love in my heart and a good insurance policy in my arsenal, we faithfully marched to the vet in Winkie’s favorite leopard-patterned carrier, anytime the little guy needed help. Many were the trips we made to the vet’s. It felt so good and so right. Winks is now gone, but was loved by all who knew him, human and feline alike. RIP my Winkie. Winks. Wink-meister. Wink-a-tonia. Winkelton.

Most of us will wind up paying for a pet insurance policy for years without ever having to make a claim (barring any accidents.) But then as your pet gets older, you will begin to use it more and more – and towards the end, a lot.  But that’s the insurance game, right? That’s how they make money - all those years we never have a claim.  I for one don’t care at all. $400 - $500/year or roughly $35/month for the peace of mind knowing my precious pets are protected is well worth every dollar spent.