Pet Insurance and vaccination ?'s

[PhoenixFarm]

So we have a new dog! An 8 month old collie, and we love him. The grooming will be worth it, because he is just a fabulous dog.

I picked him up from the rescue earlier this week, and she sent me home with a lot of info, and two issues in particular have brought up some questions.

1. She recommended pet insurance and gave me a flier. It looks like a pretty decent deal, but was wondering if anyone here has expereince with it. She recommended Pet’s Best, and I do think I like it a bit better than VPI (the other company I researched) because it’s a lot more straight forward–80% coverage after the deductible. VPI is all about schedules and is a lot more paperwork/lists. Petsbest also offers some limited coverage for hereditary conditions like hip dysplasia, whereas VPI has none.

But I wonder if anyone has any experience with either of these companies, or even insurance in general for small animals? Thoughts, experiences?

2. She recommended that after his one year old boosters, to not vaccinate him again other than rabies as required by law. She sent me the link to some different protocol’s that some of the bigger vet hospitals are apparently recommending, which indeed includes extremely limited vaccinations. But, my small animal vet still strongly recommends annual vaccines for all dogs. So strongly in fact, that I’m not sure they’d be willing to treat my dog without them. I really like my vet.

I’m not really a fan of vaccine hysteria–my son and all my horses are fully vaccinated. But, when I read a paper from a researcher at Davis saying our small animal population may be overvaccinated, I do pay attention.

So what are you folks hearing out there vis a vis vaccinations? Have any of your vets recommended a lesser vaccine schedule? If you are dong a lesser vaccine schedule are you doing it with or without the consent of your vet, and how is that going over?

TIA, and have I mentioned I love my new dog!

[S1969]

Many vets are very willing to titer rather than vaccinate (except rabies)…my older dog only gets titered annually and vaccinated when the titers indicate he is ready. It is amazing how long some of the vaccines last.

[Horsegal984]

Personally, I LOVE my VPI policy. One huge factor to keep in mind is how long the company has been around, and how much longer it looks like they will be. Anything in your dog’s history, even if her was insured under another company then, will not be covered under the new plan. i.e. if there was a left rear leg lameness before, even if it turned out to be nothing, they will not cover that leg for pretty much anything again.

And VPI does offer more coverage for heriditary conditions now, under their major medical plan only though I believe.

And about vaccines, I believe they have a time and a place. One way to meet in the middle, is to get the distemper/parvo/adno vaccine that is labeled for 3 years at a time. This way, even if you have to board or something comes up you’re well protected, but still avoiding annual vaccination. Lyme/Lepto/influenza/bordatella on as as needed basis, and rabies as required. Don’t vaccinate for corona, or giaridia at all, those are a bg waste of money, but I’m not getting on that soapbox tonight.

Katherine
Vet Tech

[wendy]

I’d be kind of leery of using a vet who recommended either annual vaccines OR titers- titers haven’t been shown to be accurate or safe at all, and for most vaccines the current standard of care isn’t an annual shot; and depending on where you live many of the available vaccines aren’t worth giving at all.
In general however it’s better to err on the side of more vaccines than too few vaccines.

as to insurance companies, I haven’t done extensive research recently, but when I did do it I’d say stay away from VPI. Lots of better deals/ better coverage/ easier to deal with companies available these days.

[JER]

Two comments:

1. Collies are prone to tooth/mouth issues. You might want to consider that when looking at what each insurance company offers. Also, I suggest looking for a dental technician who cleans teeth without anaesthesia. (There’s a good number of them in CA, but I don’t know anyone in your area.)

2. The annual vaccination protocol is not something that is recommended by any vet I’ve talked to in the last 10+ years – and that’s a lot of vets: in Canada, in CA, in TN, in the big multi-vet spay/neuter clinics where I volunteer. (Rabies is determined by state law so that’s different.) If, for some reason, a clinic ‘requires’ a vaccine (as for boarding, if the dog is not a regular client), they’ll run titres if you don’t want to vaccinate again.

I assume your vet has his/her reasons but I also wonder why a vet would be unwilling to accept a client’s informed decision to not give annual vaccinations to her dog. That kind of rigidity in a practitioner would make me uncomfortable.

I love collies. I got to work with the collies from the last Lassie movie, cantering my horse around them to prepare for – IIRC – the hunting scenes.

[SLW]

For what it is worth, a riding friend of mine is a board certified animal ophthalmologist at a veterinary speciality clinic up in the city. When I aquired some chihuahua’s last year I visited with her about purchasing pet insurance since chi’s can have problematic eyes. It was her experience (as a speciality veterinarian) that owners spent a lot of time trying to coax money from the pet insurance companies for veterinary fees. Once a condition starts it is not covered the next year and towards that end, when pushed, she recommended owners set aside that premium $$ towards an emergency treatment fund.

[vtdobes]

I use Embrace for my Dobermans. They don’t have as many exclusions as most of the other companies!

[comingback]

It was recommended by my vet that I look into pet insurance as my dog (a mixed breed rescue) seemed to possibly be displaying precursors to knee issues. Keep in mind that these were conversations that my vet and I had during her annual exams, but my dog never showed clinical signs when I was there (important as many insurance plans will not cover animals with pre existing conditions).

I use Pet Plan (www.gopetplan.com). Sure enough, about a year and a half after insuring my dog, it was determined she had torn her knee. I had a 200 dollar deductible and 100% coverage (you can pick the coverage, 80% is also an option).

I had absolutely no issue with claims processing. My vet was very happy to sign/initial where needed and I sent my claims off. They never took longer than 10 business days to send me a check.

In addition to the actual procedure, I was covered at 80% for specialty service which meant I could take my dog to physical therapy which included the underwater treadmill, cold laser therapy, massage, etc. Each of those visits cost me 20 dollars out of pocket. Considering the 3500 covered by the insurance, it was definitely worth it!

Just be sure to read your insurance docs for any limitations (including waiting periods for coverage). Good luck!!

[Kryswyn]

Annual shots are a money maker for most practices. Period.the.end. That is why they’re recommending them. Do your own research. Set aside some time to discuss with your vet why she feels they’re necessary in the face of the the new protocols.

She might be a very likeable vet. She also likely has a heavy debt load if she graduated w/in the last 10 years and bought a practice.