ASPCA | Pet Insurance Review

This insurance has turned out to be a better investment than my healthcare insurance, dollar for dollar. I've had dogs most of my 63 years, but never got pet insurance until the summer of 2008 when I made the decision to buy some for my female pitbull Duchess. I found Duchess in the woods in GA about 5 years ago. She was in poor condition, having been overused for breeding and fighting purposes. She recovered from her injuries and severe heartworm infestation and was healthy until later in 2008. She was attacked by a much larger and younger male pitbull and suffered many deep bites and lacerations before I retrieved my gun and killed the other dog. I took her to pet emergency where she was stabilized and kept overnight. The next morning I picked her up and took her to our regular veterinarian, Walt Gregg, who did the surgeries that morning. The bill from both facilities was more than $1100.00. I submitted the billing, a copy of the medical records and the claim form to ASPCA Insurance via fax, got reimbursed more than $650.00 and the check arrived within a couple weeks of when I submitted the claim. It was better service than from my own healthcare insurance plan! Had that been the only time I needed to use the insurance it would be worth continuing to pay the small monthly premium anyway. But, in late October 2009 Duchess stopped walking. The expenses really were not that much so I was not going to file a claim for them. Then, after two months of no improvement I was referred to a neurosurgeon and as part of the appointment, Duchess had a MRI. Ultimately, I submitted two claims to ASPCA Insurance that totaled more than $2800.00, this time emailing the claim! Being able to either fax or email the claim saved so much time and effort! I received $1500.00 reimbursement and it again arrived within a couple or three weeks. If I did not have this insurance I could not have afforded to get the MRI for Duchess and consequently she would not have gotten an accurate diagnosis. Moreover, her condition was so bad the day I took her for the appointment and MRI that had I not gotten good news I was going to put her down the next day. But, knowing I had coverage and what the limit was ($1500) I was able to get the treatment Duchess needed and now she is very much improved. So in a very real way, Duchess is only alive and now enjoying her life because I had ASPCA insurance. For her it was a virtual life saver!

I haven't even had my policy a year, and my little girl Beatrice has already been to the vet 3 times with stomach related issues. The last visit the bill was over $1,400! Having this insurance has saved me a lot of money and gives me the piece of mind that if she gets sick, she will be taken care of. I also love the fact that ASPCA insurance donates a portion to promote animal welfare. It makes me feel good to be a part of that.

I find this plan adequate, though it always discounts my vet's fee and then only pays a portion of the fee. But, in an emergency, it is good to have medical coverage for my two dogs.

After comparison shopping online for weeks I ended up choosing ASPCA for my doggie & kitty, however after I signed on with them I heard about Kroger's plan that covered more & would have cost less. ASPCA PI did not cover any expenses for Sweetpea's seizures (which was the bulk of expenses). The plan has not saved me any money (I actually ended up paying more for the plan than I would have out of pocket). I will not renew with ASPCA & will check out the Kroger insurance plan next time.

We've had the Petshealth Care Plan for two year. After losing our young cat, Harry, in 2007 and spending thousands of dollars to see if we could save him, we decided to buy health insurance should we ever adopt again. Well we did adopt again, this time two sibling Persians, Suzy and Charlie. Suzy has never been a problem, but we thought we'd lose Charlie about six months after we adopted him. He was so sick all the time, we were never out of our Vet’s office. It wasn’t until Charlie was hospitalized for several days from internal bleeding did we find out after numerous expensive tests that Charlie is allergic to most everything. Since we put him on a special diet he is thriving and chases his sister all over the house. It cost us several thousand dollars to help Charlie, but having the health insurance this time certainly helped. I would highly recommend pet owners to purchase health insurance for their pets; it's worth it and gives you some piece of mind. Petshealth Care Plan worked out to be the best plan for us. The people there are very responsive, friendly and compassionate both on the phone and via email. We've been very pleased.