As many of you know, Chili went through three major surgeries at the same time a couple weeks ago. He had a parathyroid tumor (benign), had a liver biopsy and had his stomach tacked to prevent bloat (This was elective - he's larger than most huskies). He's healing great but still has long term liver issues that they don't know the cause of. We are managing his liver issues with medication and are feeding him a liver cleansing diet.

We were able to give him the best care possible and save his life because we planned ahead when we adopted him. We got pet insurance, we set aside a bank account for emergency vet expenses and paid off all our credit cards so we could charge large amounts in case he got sick. All of that planning paid off and massively helped us focus on his recovery in a very stressful time so we didn't have to worry about the money. Once they received all of the paperwork from the vet (the only delay), they processed our claim within days. They will also be covering his meds, which is handy because they will cost $700/month the first few months.

Definitely do your research on sites like www.doggiehealthinsurance.com and www.petinsurancereviews.com so you understand what each policy covers and doesn't cover, and reimbursement rates. We went with 90% coverage and a $500 yearly deductible and pay about $30-35 per dog. Totally worth the peace of mind even if we didn't have to claim!

We are extremely happy with Healthy Paws and they even sent an email asking how Chili is doing and to give him a big hug!
http://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com

That's good to hear! I've been wanting to tackle pet insurance for a while now. I guess I need to get off my lazy butt and do it.

Glad to hear Chili's doing better and that Healthy Paws stood behind you 100%! I think I was actually going to go with them too. I think it's family owned or something along those lines.

Thanks for the post. I hope Chili heals fast.

Thanks, Jackie! It was super tough the first week and especially the first day in recovery since he was flailing around and out of it. The hospital was really great and the staff was so nice and supportive to all of us! I even got to snuggle up with him in a private room the second day he was there.

I checked into pet insurance. At the time I found Pet Plan to be the most cost effective for the coverage, but I didn't check into Healthy Paws. I think Storm and Chili is about the same age, right? Maybe this will be a better option as Pet Plan would've cost more for Storm.

Thanks for the info and feedback!

Glad it was helpful, Claudia! Chili's 6 1/2 (ish - he was stray, so no idea of that's correct) and we signed him up when he was 4. Frosti's a few dollars less per month, she's turning three next week. You can enroll any dog up to 14 years of age and they cover hereditary conditions.

They had fantastic reviews but until you get that check in hand you never really know how fantastic it is. They sent us an email with an itemized explanation of the claim reimbursement on each claim and I could email them scanned in claims (or my vet could).

I also love that they donate to homeless animals!