How much is Dog Insurance?
By Howard Young Jun 27, 2011
Dog insurance varies from state to state, from breed to breed and the age of your pet, so the best way to determine how much dog insurance will cost you is to get an online quote. Some insurance brokers such as 24petwatch.com allow you to enter your pet’s pertinent information like birth date and breed and give you a quote in complete anonymity; while Kroger’s dog insurance requires an email to receive the quote.
I used 24petwatch.com to get a few samples to see how much it would cost for a miniature dachshund puppy and for an older pet like Chloe. Both were surprisingly different in a sense that the puppy’s insurance cost was much higher.
The main difference between the quotes was the age difference plus they would not give a quote for full coverage on Chloe. That is, the only insurance I could get for an older pet was accidental and geriatric insurance.
Accident Coverage
Accident coverage for both types of dogs ran $10.95 per month. This basically covered foreign body ingestion, car accidents and bone fractures. It also covered poison ingestion, lacerations, burns and allergic reactions to insect bites.
The later was interesting to me since Chloe had a reaction to a bee sting one summer and her face swelled up like a balloon. The same thing happened to her when she had a reaction to a vaccine shot.
Senior dog insurance covered typical cases like stroke, seizers, heart disease and cancer. This ran about $33 per month. If your dog is over 6 (or 8 depending on breed) this is usually the only insurance you can get for your pet.
Illness Coverage
Younger pets from 8 weeks up to adult age of 6 (or 
can also be insured for illness. Unfortunately symptomatic or pre-existing conditions prior to enrollment cannot be covered. This most likely excludes diseases in dogs that are genetically disposed to certain aliments. In our case, back surgery would not be covered. One Dachshund owner who had ASPCA pet insurance found out the hard way when the insurance company would not cover their surgery claim.
Do I need Dog Insurance?
Dog insurance will run you a minimum of $120 per year so the question you have to ask is “do I need dog insurance?” While illness coverage sounds tempting, our experience with our dogs is that they are more prone to accidents. Molly loves to ingest dryer sheets, Chloe is allergic to insects. All three are underneath our feet and it is just a matter of time before they get stepped on and end up with a broken foot. It is up to you if you can afford the monthly cost or the cost of a major accident or illness of your best friend.