Last week, I wrote about people who have not prepared for their pet’s old age, people who instead abandon that pet when the going gets rough, people who expect that “someone else” will take over the expense and heartbreak of providing end-of-life care for a pet who’s no longer wanted.
You can’t believe people would ever do that?
Listings for senior animals appear daily, both from owners looking to rehome their elderly pets and from shelters and rescues hoping the abandoned pets in their care will find a loving hospice situation.
You want to do everything you can to assure your pet of a life-long home? Start now! Don’t wait a minute longer. Consider what steps you should take in your pet’s youth to give her a safe old age.
Pet health insurance is always the best investment if the pet is enrolled before you bring her home, at the youngest possible age. That means pet health insurance will be one of your first expenses when you adopt a baby animal. Why? Pet health insurance, like some health insurance for humans, normally does not cover pre-existing conditions, so insuring your pet when it is virtually a newborn will ensure full coverage for the rest of her life. Because many expenses for a baby animal come in the first few years of her life, in theory, pet health insurance proves its worth while your pet is young.
For most pets, the next most likely age to anticipate medical expenses is when the pet becomes a senior. Perhaps an otherwise healthy pet will need nutritional supplements or regular medication to keep an ongoing medical issue under control. Maybe an arthritic pet will need pain management. The longer the pet lives, the more likely it will experience one of the common killers of domesticated animals, like cancer.
Treatment for any disease can be expensive, and cancer treatment for pets, just like cancer treatment for humans, can cost more than the average person has in their savings. Pet insurance will never pay all the costs associated with life-saving treatments for disease, but it can make treatment at least manageable for the average pet owner who is not wealthy.
How to find the best possible pet health insurance? Do your research! I would suggest starting with your veterinary clinic. Ask what companies they deal with regularly (there is no point paying for insurance your veterinarian is unable to process). Find out what your clinic’s experience has been with claims, good or bad, and what, in general, certain companies do not cover. Have any of the clinic’s clients disputed a rejected claim? What was the outcome? Does the staff at your clinic have ongoing difficulties in dealing with any particular company, or any regular successes? What insurance company, if any, would they recommend?
Talk with relatives, friends, and neighbors about what pet insurance they’ve chosen and how it’s working out for them. It’s especially important to find out what experiences they’ve had with major claims—emergency surgeries, for example—or with the ongoing treatment of a potentially fatal disease. Most companies make it clear what basic expenses they cover, but may be unclear on coverage when the cost of care amounts to thousands of dollars. Is there a limit?
Once you’ve decided on your best bet for pet health insurance, remember to keep up on your paperwork and your payments. You should be able to get assistance and back-up from the staff at your veterinary clinic, but you must take responsibility for making sure you submit claims properly and in a timely fashion. Keep track of everything!
Insurance is one option to assure that you’ll be able to afford the care an elderly pet might need, but insurance isn’t for everyone. I know many people who instead set aside a certain amount every month in a savings account (or something similar) that is dedicated to their pet’s health care, to be used whenever it is needed. Folks who set aside money every single month and manage to keep it untouched until a pet health emergency occurs have my admiration. They can earn interest on that growing amount and if, in the long run, the money is not needed, they can roll it over for a new pet or invest it elsewhere. The money remains in their control and, if they have the discipline, their pet will benefit.
Other sources of emergency funds for pet health care also exist.
Animal shelters and some veterinary clinics may have what is called a compassion fund—monies, usually donated by supporters, that are kept specifically for disbursal to pets and owners in cataclysmic emergencies. For example, compassion funds may be available for pets who’ve been horribly injured in accidents involving vehicles, either hit by a car or involved in a car crash. Funds are most likely to be disbursed to highly responsible pet owners who have no other options to pay emergency expenses that were incurred through no fault of their own.
Online requests for financial assistance to pay pet emergency expenses are also popular and, from what their beneficiaries report, often very helpful in paying at least some of the costs associated with a pet health emergency. These requests can be posted by anyone, but the most successful seem to be those pleas that involve animals who provide needed assistance to their humans, like service dogs. While donations in response to such requests are probably not tax-deductible like contributions to compassion funds run by registered nonprofit organizations, giving money to pets in real need can be such a “feel-good” act that these requests can help to pay the bills.
Even without making a specific fundraising plea, pet owners sometimes find that they have supportive friends and family when a beloved pet is in a bad situation, health-wise. I have several friends whose veterinary bills have been paid by donors who wished to remain anonymous. Yes, it happens! One friend had posted on Facebook about his cat’s emergency care for a sudden illness and his concern because he was not in a position to pay for expensive treatment. He took his cat in for care anyway, of course, feeling he had no other choice, whatever the outcome. Miraculously, someone who cared about him and his pet saw his post and his clinic bill was paid, in full!
Next week, I’ll make some suggestions about preparing for your pet’s old age with practical considerations of what you can do right now, while your pet is still a youngster, to make her senior years more happy. In fact, if you don’t have a pet yet, I’ll talk about how choosing the right young pet for your situation now can make that pet’s old age easier for the both of you—pet and owner!
