Becoming a pet owner for the first time can be an exciting period. You are totally flabbergasted by all the attention you and your pet are getting and are also taken aback by how quickly you’re forming a bond with the furry creature.
However, once you step into the realities of being a pet owner, you will soon realize there are additional costs, such as veterinary care and routine medical checkups to tend to as well. Depending on your financial situation, you could or could not be prepared for this extra financial burden. However, regardless of the former or latter, it is good to have insurance coverage for your pet in the long run.
Many current pet owners do believe that they could have saved quite a lot had they approached pet insurance companies for pet insurance coverage earlier. All of the bills you pay at the vet’s office for your pet’s medical care can be minimized through pet insurance.
Once you go to buy pet insurance coverage from a pet insurance company, you will realize that all of them have a common waiting period. The waiting period can vary but is mostly the same for all providers.
In this article, we take a look at the waiting periods for different pet insurance providers and whether there is a way around this conundrum. The waiting periods can vary from pet insurance company to company, but the general rule of thumb is that the insurance plan doesn’t start from the word go.
Are There Any Pet Insurance Policies That Come Without a Waiting Period?
As of now, there are no pet insurance policies that can be started without a prior waiting period. Almost all pet insurance companies come with waiting periods to look after and care for your animal. Your pet animal is only provided insurance coverage after the waiting period is over.
The rationale behind the waiting period is simple and clear – pet insurance companies do not want pet owners to buy insurance coverage when their pet falls sick. Instead, the waiting period ensures that people buy insurance coverage before the pet is sick.
A pet insurance policy is meant to provide protection against something that can happen or a problem that can develop with time, not a problem that already exists in your pet. Insurers play with risk to receive premiums from pet owners of healthy animals to be to afford and pay for recovery costs of severely sick animals.
The provision of pet insurance without a waiting period would mean that pet owners could wait for their pet to get sick or ill and then look for insurance plans for them. This would lead to severe losses for the company managing the pet insurance plans.
Since the waiting period will be involved in the process, it is best for pet owners to get pet insurance immediately after they become pet owners. This will make the waiting period seem less problematic and will give you coverage for whenever your pet animal falls sick.
Comparing Pet Insurance Waiting Periods
Now that we are clear all insurance companies have waiting periods in place, we compare different insurance providers and how their processes work.
Many Pets:
Many Pets comes with the following starting features:
- No medical exam is required at the time of enrolment
- The pet insurance company has a waiting period of 14 days for both illnesses and accidents.
- The insurance provider distinguishes between all non-curable, curable and pre-existing conditions.
Spot:
- Spot doesn’t come with any limitations or age cap on coverage
- A waiting period of 2 weeks for both illnesses and accidents.
- There is a differentiation between curable, non-curable, and pre-existing conditions
ASPCA:
- The renowned pet insurance company that has been operational for the last 15 years.
- Two weeks waiting period for all conditions covered by the provider.
- There is a differentiation between curable, non-curable, and pre-existing conditions
Typical Waiting Period
There are multiple pet insurance policy providers in the market, with varying lengths of waiting periods. The waiting period isn’t the same for all and can vary from provider to provider. All providers have a 14-day waiting period for illnesses, while Lemonade and Prudent Pet come with 2 and 5 days waiting periods for accidents, respectively.
Some pet insurance companies also come with six-month or one-year waiting periods for congenital conditions, ligament injuries, and hereditary conditions. Such waiting periods can be averted through prior medical checkups from a vet.
Beyond Insurance: Pet Care and Safety Tips
You have a new feline friend in your family and everyone is excited. The little kitty is quite a delight and is purring away rather excitedly, giving all of you the smiles of a lifetime. While it is easy for you to get blown away in your excitement, you should realize that your feline friend needs to be taken good care of.
You should realize that your feline friend is probably out of their comfort zone, so you should do all that is possible to make them feel comfortable without being overwhelming. Anyone becoming a new cat parent or looking to brush up on their pet care skills will find the following tips extremely helpful.
Look After Their Feeding
Welcome to the real world, where cats do not live by eating mice within your home. Instead, you need to feed them proper cat food brought through licensed outlets. You can easily find high-quality and branded cat food from any outlet near your home.
Before you go and buy these products, stop for a while and check the internet to select the right diet for your cat. While plump cats do look all cute and nice, they are extremely unhealthy. You would want to regulate and look over the eating habits of your cat so that they don’t look unhealthy in any way.
Many factors, including the age, activity level, and health of the cat, can influence the nutrition that a cat should be given. The amount of food that a cat eats should also parallel their daily activity. Also, make sure that you provide fresh milk and water at all times. Cats really do devour fresh milk, so try providing as much of it as possible to them.
Check Their Sleeping Patterns
Cats can often take some adjusting to a new place, which is why they aren’t really able to sleep well immediately. Unless or until they don’t feel comfortable inside a specific place, they will have sleepless nights and tiring days. The best way to kill their sleeplessness is by giving them a soft cat bed.
A soft cat bed will help stretch their legs and sleep for as long as possible. They might still have their tendencies of not adjusting to new places intact, but they won’t be able to resist sleeping on a soft bed.
Take Them Outside
We’ve seen a lot of pet parents being skeptical of taking their dogs outside because of the environment outdoors. While they might actually be protecting their dog, they can risk harming the relationship they share with their canine parent in the process.
You cannot seriously expect to keep your dog jailed inside and remain happy. To make them happy, you should go for routine walks and training sessions. Treat them with some games of catching a ball and walk them around a dog park where they can maybe socialize with some of the other canines.
Keeping them indoors inside a locked space is a key to disaster and will obviously lead your dogs into disappointment. Show them to the world and open the doors of all new experiences waiting for them in the world outside.
Treat Them with Toys
Just like small kids, dogs happen to love toys. They get all happy and excited at the thought of getting new toys and cannot really contain their excitement. Look for the best new dog products online and gift your dog a present that is actually trending. Be it a shiny ball or a classy bone that they can chew on, make sure that your dog is getting their fair share of new toys. New toys and products can boost your approval rating upwards, so do go for them.
Don’t Just Consider the Waiting Period
When buying a pet insurance policy for your pet friend, it is necessary that you consider a number of features other than the waiting period and effective date. Find out about coverage exclusions, deductibles, and the efficiency of the policy you’re considering. You should ideally get a policy that cuts down on your future expenses. Develop a broad perspective and choose a policy that best fits your needs.