Getting a new kitten involves a bit of preparation: getting bowls of food and water, sorting out the location of the litter box and its bed, choosing a variety of toys. Poor health is not something you think about with a kitten, but prepare to be prepared for the unexpected. For that reason, pet insurance should be on your kitty to-do list.
Why insure a cat?
As a general rule, cats are less likely to have health problems than dogs and those that spend their lives indoors are less so. But there is always the unexpected factor and the disease or regardless of the injury, it can attack any animal, how safe is its environment.
The quality of veterinary service in the US is among the best in the world, but this does not come cheap. This means that a visit to the vet can be expensive, and unless you have a reserve of money saved for this, it can cause real problems. Veterinarians have known that cat owners have to stop receiving treatment or go into debt to pay a bill.
What does it cover?
Pet insurance is like many other types of insurance – there are a variety of products with different levels of coverage and different benefits. From one state to another, there may be changes in what is covered and of course in the price. In fact, apart from California, there are not even state regulations on this type of policy, so it is important to check the fine print.
The basics of coverage include items such as illness and accidents, but they do not cover annual check-ups or check-ups, as well as the cost of vaccinations. Some policies can cover if the cat goes missing or causes harm to a third party, as well as money to help advertise it if it escapes. But with most policies, you can pay as much as you need.
You can also get different levels of how much the policy pays; this can be 80%, 90% or 100% of the invoice. So the bill could be $ 1000 and if you choose the first level, the insurance company will refund you $ 800 or $ 900 at the second level. The more money you are reimbursed, the higher the premium the insurance company will charge.
Other options
If you don’t like the idea of pet insurance, you can always go for the idea of self-insurance. This involves opening a bank account for that purpose, putting a fixed amount in the account every month, and not touching it for anything other than emergencies or illnesses. Do not use it for normal check-ups or to buy things that the kitten needs; save it and hope you don’t need it until there is enough money in the account.
Whichever option you choose for your kitten, it is important to start the plan as soon as the kitten arrives. While that cute little face will bring you love and affection, it can also bring you a very large vet bill and it is best to be prepared for it.