Do You Need Cat Insurance? Look at My Numbers

When my family got Tiger and Snowy to me, they purchased cat insurance for each of them immediately. Being a Bengal cat and an Egyptian Mau respectively, we thought they might need some special care and knowledge regarding medical needs. We also assumed that cat insurance might help in expenses because of all the checkups, vaccinations, and neuter/spay during their first year. 

Our Bengal Cat at Six Weeks Old

We did some research about cat insurance before we purchased one. But there was not much information out there. Eventually we purchased one through our employer. The provider is one of the well-established insurance companies.

In this article, I will use Tiger’s expenses as an example to show you if it worth the money to get a cat insurance. Tiger did not have any pre-existing condition as he was only five weeks old when the plan started. Since then we have done all kinds of vaccines, blood work, and neuter operation. This would give us a good sense of the cost and benefits.

The Cost and Coverage of the Plan

          The insurance company offered three types of cat insurance coverages depending on how much copay we want to have and the maximum benefit amounts. We chose the one in the middle the Plus Plan (see table below).  

	Basic Plan	Plus Plan	Max Plan
Physical Exam: two exams per policy term	$50 $25 maximum per exam	$60 $30 maximum per exam	$80 $40 maximum per exam
Behavioral Exam and/or treatment	$30	$30	$30
Vaccination or Titer	$50	$75	$75
Heartworm or FeLV/FIV test	$30	$35	$35
Fecal test	$15	$25	$30
Deworming	$25	$25	$25
Nail trim	$20	$20	$20
Microchip	$40	$40	$40
Health certificate	$40	$40	$40
Flea control or Heartworm prevention	$50	$75	$75
One additional test: (1) Health screen (blood test); (2) Radiograph (x-ray); or (3)Electrocardiogram (EKG)	$50	$75	$100
Spray/Neuter	Not Covered	Not Covered	$200
Dental	Not Covered	Not Covered	$250

                        

For Plus Plan that we chose for our Bengal cat, here is the plan cost:

Annual Premium: $382.90 ($31.91/month)

Annual Deductible: $250 (No deductible for wellness care)

Actual Expenses and Reimbursement 

Our Bengal cat’s insurance plan started in December 2015, and was for one year. Since then he has been neutered and done all the needed shots and checkups. We do not expect any additional visit to the vet before the plan expires in December 2016. Below is our actual expenses and the reimbursed amounts so far.

Treatment Date	Submitted Amount	Reimbursed
2015 December	$149.57	$119.92
2016 January	$180.35	$65.85
2016 February	$138.26	$24.23
2016 March	$56.70	$56.70
2016 March	$343.34	$39.99

Our Bengal Cat at Six Weeks Old

Each visit included different items, and I separated them into three categories based on how much was reimbursed:

Reimbursed fully:

Home Again Microchip

Health Screen (Blood test)

Flea and Heartworm prevention (revolution)

Reimbursed Partially:

Flea and Heartworm prevention (prescribed generic)

Vaccination-Rabies

Physical exam

Feline Vaccination-FVRCP (had two shots, only covered one)

Feline Vaccination-FELV (had two shots, only covered one)

Not Reimbursed at all:

Neuter

So our total medical expenses so far was:

$149.57+$180.35+$138.26+$56.70+$343.34=$868.22

The total reimbursed amount was:

$119.92+$65.85+$24.23+$56.70+$39.99=$306.69

And, remember, we also paid $382.90 for the annual premium.

That means for this covered year, we have spent a total of $868.22+$382.90=$1251.12

But we only got back $306.69 from the insurance company.

Comparison: Is It Worth To Have a Cat Insurance ?

To make it simple: 

 (1) With the cat insurance, for all our Bengal cat’s medical needs, we actually spent: $1251.12-$306.69=$944.43

 (2) If we did not have a cat insurance, our total expenses would be $868.22

The conclusion:

Having the cat insurance plan cost $76.21 more than without one

Based on the above numbers, is it worth the money to get cat insurance? If your cat is fairly young and healthy, it may save you money not to have one. If your cat has some medical condition that requires more visits to the vet, it may be useful to have one.  

If you are interested at having a cat (or dog) insurance, besides getting quotes from regular insurance companies (those sell auto insurance, health insurance, and etc.) who carry pet insurance, there are also some companies that specialize in pet insurance such as Pets Best, a company that many people are using.