Yes or No: Is Pet Insurance Right for Your Pet?

Is pet insurance right for your pet dog or cat? For many pet owners, pet insurance is new territory. Also, insurance of any kind is something many experience as being a maze of confusing jargon.

However, this article is about showing that it needn’t be.

Nothing in life needs to be all that hard, especially when you’ve got the right support. You know what we mean? For instance, you can just click on the bits of the article that are most important to you in the links list below, and we’ll take you straight there. And we’re also always here to answer your questions, online or a call away…

That said, perhaps one of your burning questions is listed below, along with the answer. Here are eight top questions (with answers) to help you decide whether pet insurance is right for your pet dog or cat.

1. How to compare pet insurance the right way for you?

When you want a super awesome policy that provides adequate protection for your puppy, kitten, dog or cat, you need only to follow the appropriate steps…

Firstly, get to know your fur baby – their existing and potential health needs, by species, health, age and breed. Secondly, narrow down your pet insurance providers to a selection of your favourites. You can do this by checking their reviews, awards or asking trusted friends and family.

Once you’ve got your shortlist, do a cross reference and make your match.

Easy-peasy, right? Don’t worry, we’re not leaving you to figure it all out alone. We’ve got you covered with our guide that outlines steps to compare pet insurance in Australia.

2. Is pet insurance right for your fur kid?

At some point, every dog or cat has its day. When this happens, if you already have a pet insurance plan in place, it can help to cover the unforeseen vet costs.

Just like you and I, cats and dogs are bound to get into unforeseen scrapes, catch the occasional bug and possibly require a dental treatment. A bit different to us humans, is that our pets, especially dogs, are prone to eating random things (like poop, for example).

We’ve only mentioned a few possibilities and already the vet bills would be racking up. One cat bite that causes an abscess, one grape swallowed (very poisonous to dogs), not to mention hereditary conditions that emerge beyond your control… (Like hip dysplasia in dogs or IVDD in Dachshunds for example).

Like us, cats and dogs get obese, suffer from urinary tract infections, cancer, ear infections, diabetes and a whole host of illnesses. To sum it up, pet insurance can help your pet and pocket by covering a wide range of these costs, according to your plan.

It means you’re not alone paying those pesky bills for the unexpected and unforeseen vet bills.

3. Is pet insurance right for your pocket?

Big question: Is pet insurance right for your pocket? This is a great question to ask. Having enough information at hand in terms of your current and future budget can help you decide this.

Pet insurance starts from as little as the price of a cup of coffee a day. If you’re having to choose between lifesaving vet treatments for pets or do the bare minimum and hope for the best, insurance can allow you to make this decision with fewer financial worries.

Understanding what’s behind vet bills can also help you decide on whether pet insurance suits your pocket. Vet tests and treatment require expert skillsets, high tech equipment, and ongoing training and equipment upgrades.

Importantly, vet treatments aren’t subsidised like human medical care. This means the full expense of a vet bill comes direct to you, the owner. When asking if pet insurance is right for both your pet and your pocket, these are useful facts to help you decide.

Find out more about vet bills and other pet care costs here:

• Are vet bills expensive in Australia?
• How to budget for vet bills and other pet care costs
• Pet insurance vs savings

4. Is a pet plan right for your breed of pet?

It’s worth asking if pet insurance is right for your cat or dog based on their particular breed. To begin with, let’s explore the often asked question of whether mixed breed dogs and cats have fewer health issues.

Purebred vs mixed

Part of the thinking behind this inquiry is that purebred dogs and cats by design tend to have a limited gene pool. Breeds are developed primarily through line breeding and/or inbreeding and that can have an effect on health.

However, even a mixed breed isn’t immune to the same hereditary and congenital conditions. Mixed breeds still have a mum and dad that could both pass on genetic conditions.

Getting and keeping healthy pets

Ultimately, you want to adopt a cat or dog and give it the best lifestyle. Exercise, playtime, socialisation, diet and pet insurance can all factor into this. And if you want to buy a pedigree pet, get it from an ethical breeder because they will place a lot of importance on health screening.

Ethical breeders use dog DNA tests to help prevent hereditary dog or cat diseases from being passed on from parents to litters.

A chance to put safeguards in place

Ultimately, having a purebred or pedigree pet is like a road map. It gives you landmarks (read health conditions) your breed is likelier to experience along the way.

This means you can plot your journey and plan ahead. Just like you’d pack food and water for the ultimate Australian road trip, you may decide to put safeguards like pet insurance in place for potential health hazards your pet is prone to.

Common health conditions

Read about dog health conditions by breed to get kick started for dogs. For cats, have a go at finding out what cat breed you are and check out the health points. This allows you to do a quick search on your own pet’s breed health needs.

Not sure what breed they are?

Then go with size for starters – big breed dogs and cats tend to be prone to heart and join conditions, for example. You can also take an educated guess based on your pet’s physical characteristics – after all knowledge is power and the more research you do, the better prepared you’ll be.

So, to answer the question of whether pet insurance is right for your cat or dog based on their particular breed? While there is no definite answer - since it's ultimately a personal choice, pet insurance can provide a safeguard for your peace of mind and your pet's safety. 

5. Is pet insurance right for pre-existing conditions?

Like human medical insurance, pet insurance in Australia generally doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions. If you think about it that would be like breaking your leg, then signing up for medical insurance to pay to go have it fixed.

However, if you’d already signed up when clouds were scarce and skies were blue, your insurance would be more likely to help cover the costs. In addition to getting pet insurance before things go wrong, also be aware of any waiting periods that must be completed before you can claim.

Learn more about when you should get pet insurance for dogs and cats.

6. Is a pet plan right for covering routine pet care?

If you’re wondering if pet insurance is right for your pet dog or cat with regards to routine pet care? To answer, feeding, grooming and all that falls under mum and dad’s jurisdiction.

Routine vet care that you can plan ahead for, such as vaccinations and desexing don’t generally fall under pet insurance. Although some insurers make these available as optional add-ons for an increased monthly premium.

Pet insurance is right for covering unexpected vet costs

Is pet insurance right for covering your unexpected pet treatment costs at the vet? This is exactly where pet insurance is designed to give a soft landing.

If your dog gets knocked by a car and needs surgery, medicine, overnight stays and ongoing treatment for example. Or diabetes in dogs and cats becomes a reality, leading to not one vet visit, but ongoing treatment and management.

Ultimately, pet insurance is the safety net for a myriad of accidents, injuries and illnesses you can’t predict will happen – depending on the level of cover you select. Thankfully, when you have pet insurance, you needn’t worry about a crystal ball. (Instead, you have your personal pet insurance profile and can log a claim anytime, 24/7).

7. Is pet insurance right for third party liability?

Is pet insurance right for covering third party liability? Ab-suh-lutely. Some pet insurance providers offer third party liability either as a benefit or optional add-on. PD Insurance includes third party liability in all our pet insurance plans.

That means we’ve got your pocket covered not only in your pet’s time of need but also for damage they could cause others and/or their property.

8. Is PD Pet Insurance right for my pet/s and me?

Is PD pet insurance right for my pet dog or cat? If award winning pet insurance is what you’re after, then PD Insurance could be what you’re looking for. But wait, there’s more… Read whether PD Insurance is any good for pet insurance too.

When you sign up with PD Insurance, we’ll help cover any switching fees you might have. We cover a wide range of pet health issues from accidents and illness to dental – simply choose which level of cover you want.

Get one or more months of FREE pet insurance when you buy your online policy with PD Insurance. Getting pet insurance is right for your pet dog or cat when skies are blue, before the storm arrives. Click below today to start your quote.