Pet insurance that covers hereditary joint problems?

Question

I have a purebred rescue puppy who is an excellent candidate for developing hip and elbow displasia as well as cancers and autoimmune problems. I would like to get her covered with pet insurance before any of these problems onsets/is diagnosed if it is at all possible. Anyone know of a good (reliable) pet insurance company that covers hereditary problems? I have heard very bad things about VPI. Thanks!

I have heard (around the dog park, dog forums, and vet's offices) that VPI is known for being unreliable about paying up when they are supposed to. Kind of like human health insurance companies.

Puppy is about 6 mos old.

Answer 1

http://www.carecredit.com/index.htm Contact Care credit and see if they cover these problems that are already diagnosed. I am not sure about this. I have used Care credit myself for dental work. The one emergency vet in my area accepts care credit plans.

Answer 2

What bad things did you hear about VPI? Probably from an employee at PetCo (which sells their own insurance...) From personal experience VPI does cover heriditary defects. The breeder of my dogs has used it for hip displasia and a number of other herditary defects. The only thing she ever had a problem with was a luxating patella; they said it was a pre-existing condition and not developmental.

They will not cover anything the dog was born with, so the immune problems would be ruled out unless you can prove he wasn't born that way. Cancers will be covered, displasias will be covered as long as the coverage starts when he is a puppy. No insurance company is going to cover hip displasia in a dog with coverage beginning over a year old (more likely 9months)

In my experience VPI has never given my breeder any problems other than with the knee issue. I've only used it for their preventative care and never filed a 'real' claim personally. I had it for a year on one of my dogs and then it became useless when I started vet school. But they never gave me any problems. At UPenn (where I go to school) most of the vets recommend VPI... but being a lowly student I don't know if anyone has had problems making claims. I would imagine all of the pet insurance companies behave the same way... just like health insurance, car insurance, home owners insurance, malpractice insurance...

Answer 3

I've also heard negative things about VPI. You can type "review" into search engines with the companies' names or go to complaints.com to find specific examples. I've also heard some VPI customers, though, who were satisfied, so it seems to be a pretty mixed bag.

I had seen on Petcare's site that they cover hereditary conditions "with certain conditions," but I'm not sure what those conditions are.

We're with Pets Best and love them. I checked the site and it has a page where it explains how much they are able to pay toward hereditary conditions. It looks to me like they'll cover $200 if you choose their Pets First plan (which is what we chose so that we could have the lower deductible). Between Petcare and Pets Best, we went with Pets Best because we seemed to get more bang for our buck (i.e. premium cost vs. what we actually are covered for . . . higher limits, etc.)

I wholeheartedly agree with the poster who said to get the insurance sooner rather than later. Once symptoms start showing it's considered "pre-existing," and claims will either be denied or paid at the lower "pre-existing" rate.

Answer 4

If he hasn't been diagnosed yet, you can get it covered on most insurance plans. My sister's dog has really bad hip dysplacia and when she was a puppy they wanted to do a full hip replacement. Yikes...Anyways, my sister put her on Glycoflex 2. She hasn't had to have her hips replaced and she's 8 years old know. She also takes Zubrin now for pain, but she has a great life and plays ball everyday. Look at all of your options. I think VPI pet insurance may help. Just "GOOGLE" VPI pet insurance. Hope this helps you and your puppy. :)

Answer 5

www.petcareinsurance.com will cover things like that. I'm having the same issue with my dog. They are more expensive because they do cover things such as hip displaysia, but they do not cover everyday routine things. The coverage is 100% with a $75 deductible I believe. There is a 30 day wait period though, so if you think your dog might be having problems, get it done!

Answer 6

I have petcare pet insurance for my English Bulldog, also a great candidate for heriditary problems... I'm pretty sure they are one of the only companies that cover heriditary issues such as hip dysplasia!

You can get a quote online at http://www.petcareinsurance.com

Answer 7

I do not know of one that cover congenital problems.

Answer 8

Now that a spirtual question

Answer 9

Try www.petinsurance.com.