Pet insurance in the US has grown and is seen as the new trend in employee benefits. Many companies now also offer pet insurance as part of your employment package. In the US pet insurance has jumped from 680,000 policies covered in 2008 to 1.4 million in 2014. This trend appears to be growing even though it is still less than 1% of animals in the United States.
If you have ever had to use a vet in the middle of the night or had a dog or cat that had an accident. They you will know what it costs in medical fees. Surgery to fix a torn ACL (tearing a knee ligament) can cost on average $3,300 to repair. Cancer treatments run on average at $5,000 for treatment.
Companies also offer different coverage such as Geico insurance offers coverage for dogs and cats while Veterinary Pet Insurance or Nationwide covers birds, rabbits, snakes, turtles, and other animals. Coverage will depend on many factors. Purebreds cost more to insure because they’re more prone to some hereditary conditions. Age is the same as you can compare pet insurance on this website by age.
Note that many pet insurance companies do offer accident only coverage. Accident and illness coverage on pet insurance per year averages $473 for dogs and $285 for cats being in 2014. Accident-only policies however are much cheaper and ran at $158 and $132, respectively.
Pet insurance might not appear to be a necessity until the day it is needed.