Momo - Shih-Tzu Community

The Best Pet Insurance for Shih-Tzu's? Read about Embrace Pet Insurance and QuickCare Pet Insurance below.

Is pet insurance worth getting? You bet. A friend of mine who has a bulldog told me about his last vet bill: $3,000!

A couple months ago, his dog was not feeling well and had trouble keeping down her food. She kept vomiting and was generally not her usual spunky self. They took her to a vet, who said that she would have to have a couple exams done and spend the night. An x-ray determined that something she ate was lodged in her intestine, making it difficult for her to fully digest her food. I am not exactly sure how they removed the object, but they managed to clear her digestive path out. She ended up staying for two nights at the animal hospital.

While they were relieved it was not anything serious, the bill for the visit, exam and hospital stay stunned my friend. Stunned me too, quite frankly. This prompted him to look at pet insurance - to avoid having to pay exorbitant animal care bills.

The good thing is he started early - the dog is still a puppy and so fairly healthy and not beset with the typical health issues dogs face as they grow older. It made me think about looking into pet insurance as well, for Momo and Chuy. I looked around and found what I believe to be the best deals out there. I have found two companies that seem to offer the best pet insurance plans out there.

Embrace Pet Insurance consistently receives rave reviews from consumers. Embrace is great for the following reasons:

• You can use any vet and do not have to use vets within a network, such as VPI's (with VCA).
• Embrace Pet Insurance plans cover genetic conditions. Treating genetic conditions can be very expensive and unfortunately many pet insurance plans do not cover genetic conditions at all.
• Embrace Pet Insurance's customer service is top-notch. Embrace turns claims around in 15 days or less. Their claims adjusters are veterinary technicians who keep in touch with you while your claim is processed.
• Embrace Pet Insurance plans reimburse your claim as a percentage of your actual veterinary bill so you almost always get more back. The way of calculating your reimbursement that other plans use, the benefit schedule method, oftentimes means you get back much less than you expect - less than 30% what Embrace reimburses you in many cases!
• Embrace Pet Insurance allows you to customize your plan. Each pet on your policy can have a different maximum, deductible, co-pay, and optional coverages. For example, if you have a young, healthy dog and an older, indoor cat then you could customize pet insurance coverages for each pet to get just the right level of protection. You can customize the following:
  • Annual Maximum: Choose from $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000 per year
  • Annual Deductible: Choose from $100, $200, or $500 per year
  • Co-pay: Choose from 10%, 20%, or 35% per visit
  • Prescription Drug and Dental Illness Coverage: Choose whether you want this or not
  • Embrace Wellness Rewards Plan: Choose whether you want this or not
• Embrace Pet Insurance provides coverage for chronic conditions. Embrace provides what they call Continuing Care Coverage, which reimburses you for treatment of an accident or illness that first showed up in a prior period of insurance. In other words, it protects your pet against chronic illnesses or problems that last more than 12 months, including allergies, diabetes, thyroid imbalances, and osteoarthritis, to name a few.
• Embrace Pet Insurance does not raise your premium if you submit claims for your pet bills. And the only person who can modify your coverage is you. Once your pet is enrolled with Embrace, it stays protected for life.

QuickCare Pet Insurance is also one of the best deals I have found on the Internet. The good thing about their insurance program is that you can choose from different programs, and decide on how much coverage you would like to get for your dog while at the same time choosing how much of a premium you would like to pay on a monthly basis as well as how high a deductible you are willing to pay before insurance covers pet care expenses.

In other words, if you would like to get comprehensive coverage, you may have a higher deductible or pay a higher monthly premium. If you are okay with selective coverage, you may be able to pay a lower monthly premium or lower your deductible. With QuickCare Pet Insurance, you can pick the plan that meets your needs in terms of the care you would like to give your dog and your economic situation.

Almost everyone universally dislikes VPI, one of the first to provide pet insurance in the market. We tend to agree with this view. There have been too many complaints about disappointing reimbursement levels and VPI's tendency to raise rates once you begin submitting claims. Embrace Pet Insurance and QuickCare Pet Insurance have very good reputations in the market and almost always receive high ratings.

As with human health insurance, you never know when a loved one might fall seriously ill. That is why we seek health insurance in the first place, as a serious illness like cancer or something requiring surgery could cost thousands of dollars. The right thing to do for your dog is to get pet insurance. We highly recommend you look into Embrace Pet Insurance or QuickCare Pet Insurance today.