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Below are questions and answers posed to Ask the Vet. You can also view questions and answers on specific topics by clicking the links at right.

Submitted April 08,2009 -- NEW

Q.) What do you think of veterinary health insurance? I have checked into it some and my general impression is that I'm doing little more than "prepaying" for my veterinary care. Probably not a loss, but not much of a gain. However, with field dogs there seems to be so much that can happen that I still wonder if it's worthwhile. If you have any input on it I be very interested in hearing?

A.) I think your assessment of prepaying for care is pretty accurate. Over the years I have only had a handful of clients who utilize pet insurance at any one time. I think those who have it are happy with the coverage, and we haven't had any issues dealing with the different companies. In the end though, I don't think the policies are cheap, and the discussion always seems to come up after at least one of the owner's pets has had a major issue. I also know they are sticklers for pre-existing conditions.

A new popular trend that is emerging is the pet savings account that some vet clinics, banks and veterinary-related companies have started to set up. If you are a disciplined saver this method probably makes the most sense in the long run, as it allows you to put your money to use at your descretion.

You are probably correct in that if some major injury or health event, like cancer, would occur the insurance route would likely make a lot of sense, but that being said, if you started a pet savings account at the time of acquiring the new dog you probably would be hard pressed to outspend the account, even in the face of large medical expenses. In the end I think the Pet Insurance route is an okay choice, but the pet savings account is probably a little better.

At our practice we have not set up one of these accounts but will be looking to do something in the next year. Very likely this would be the company we will go with, Pawsitive Savings, a company started by another Iowa State alum.