Pet Insurance for Birds

[Squirt]

Does anyone have pet insurance for their bird. VPI is the only one (as far as I know) that offers a plan for birds. It's relatively cheap, only about $10/mo. I was talking with a vet (non-avian) and he says the pet insurance is really good to have and it helps people a lot. He is more familiar with dogs and cats.

I am planning on getting it. You have to have your bird for 60 days before you can purchase it. I was curious if anyone had any experience.

 

[Mayden]

Personally, I always recommend it for people because it's the best way of ensuring you've got them covered by just paying a little each month. You never know whats around the corner.

But we ourselves don't have it as we have credit cards, overdrafts, etc, that add up to the amount an insurer would cover our pets for. That and my MIL always has a stack of savings that we could, if we needed to, dip in to.

Merlin also has a splayed leg, so any 'leg related' or arthritis (even if it's not leg) wouldn't be covered and stuff. So instead of the stress of fighting with insurance companies when one of my pets is fighting for their lives, we can just pay ourselves.

Our rabbits are the same, covered by our credit cards, overdraft, etc, but our vet lets us pay monthly if it's a large bill. Annie our last bun cost us around £500 at her normal vet (then more at an OOH's) and we were allowed to pay monthly at her normal vets. (we didn't but the choice was there which made it more manageable had the bill climbed astronomically). And we believe our Avian Vets are the same as we're 'regular' customers and so are trusted not to just get the treatment and disappear.

So I think pet insurance is definitely something that should be considered on each individuals merits.

Have you got the funds to hand if something were to go wrong - what about multiple pets getting sick?
Have you got experience of fighting with insurance companies if it's a 'debatable' type condition?
Does your vets have some form of care plan?
Discount on bulk buying meds for chronic conditions, or pay monthly if it's a huge bill?

Depending on your answers - insurance may or may not be the best thing for you and your babies!

 

[MenomaMinx]

I had it on two of my dogs, and the insurance forms ended up being too complicated to submit when disaster struck – I ended up paying out-of-pocket many hundreds of dollars on that first incident alone. My premiums were also a lot higher than $10 a month. I could've put that money into a savings trust set aside for vet care for the two years I was paying before I made a first claim, and never spent a dime of my own money above the premiums for that particular incident.

I'm not familiar with the $10 plan – can you link it here?

 

[Squirt]

It's through VPI. The site says you need to cal for rates and I did. I have spoken to people who have had it for dogs and cats that were happy with it (and yes, those premiums are more.)

 

[301bird]

Hi!

I use PetFirst for my Parrot and it has been a charm so far. There are a lot of pet insurance plans out there that aren't so.

However, PetFirst has always come through for me.

 

[BruceV]

Hmmm...I just checked PetFirst and I could only do dog or cat. How did you do your bird?