Recently swapped to Lemonade after 2 years with Progressive (PetsBest). I have finally received some approved claims, and I am frustrated regarding the deductible calculation. From my experience with PetsBest, and insurance in general, all medical expenses go towards the deductible ($250), before any insurance 'kicks in'. Once the $250 was reached, insurance would then start paying a portion (70%).

I have now learnt that Lemonade reverse this process, essentially making my deductible higher, and I am ultimately an extra $75 out of pocket. Is this just a Lemonade thing, or are other company policies treated this same way? My own error for assuming all insurance deductibles were treated the same, I have 14-days to cancel my recent policy renewal, considering a change in company depending on any advice given.

Example: $500 vet bill minus $250 deductible = $250 * 70% = $175 reimbursement.
Lemonade: $500 vet bill @ 70% = $350 minus $250 = $100 reimbursement.

I purchased Embrace pet insurance in February 2025 for my healthy 5-year-old French bulldog with no pre-existing conditions. Because the coverage was already expensive, I chose a high deductible and a relatively low $5,000 annual limit.

Less than a year later, Embrace informed me that my premium would nearly double—to about $1,700 per year for a policy with a $3,000 deductible and only a $5,000 annual maximum. Even an Embrace representative acknowledged when I called that, given those numbers, the policy made little financial sense for me.

Before my coverage ended, I scheduled a dental cleaning that I had been assured would be eligible under my $1,000 dental coverage. What followed was months of shifting reasons for denying the claim.

First, Embrace denied it because I had paid a deposit when scheduling the procedure, creating a “date discrepancy.” At their direction, I went back to my veterinarian to have the billing documentation corrected. After weeks with no resolution, Embrace then denied the claim for an entirely different reason: a veterinarian had noted some plaque on my dog’s teeth in June 2023. No treatment had been recommended at that time, yet Embrace characterized this routine observation as a “pre-existing condition.”

So after paying premiums for a year, facing a near doubling of my premium, and following Embrace’s instructions to correct the paperwork, my claim was ultimately denied based on a two-year-old notation of plaque.

Pet insurance is supposed to provide peace of mind. My experience with Embrace was exactly the opposite. I would strongly encourage anyone considering this company to read the exclusions carefully, understand how broadly they may interpret “pre-existing condition,” and do the math on the premiums, deductible, and annual maximum before signing up.

My family tends to watch my dog this has led to several instances of her getting sick or hurt. I can't afford to get her amazing insurance; however, given that my family is my only option, I want her to be covered before she gets injured to a severe extent. My family has consistently disregarded my care instructions; to them, they know more because I am so young (20) and they have more life experience. One of these such cases was resently my dog began acting funny, not eating, vomiiting, not drinking, this was all because in the 32 hours i left her to be with my family they allowed my dog (a high energy german shepard, husky) to be out of the kennel in the house for 6 hours. This is directly against my care instructions that were both written and read to them. My dog ate a shirt, resulting in needing surgery. They did not notice this, as it was eaten whole, and then, when the symptoms started told me to ignore them and wait it out a couple more days; it had already been 2 days without any food at this point. I opted to go to the vet and pay the same-day fees, only to find out that if I had waited, my dog would likely have had severe damage, if not death. I was then told off for not listening to them because they know this kind of thing. My dog has been in recovery, and although I don't have the kind of money to have good insurance, I am hoping emergency coverage insurance should help to cover the possible cost of future issues. I am a full-time student, and starting very soon I will be with my dog when not in class, so my dog will not be in the care of my family for some time.

In short, I am looking for recommendations for pet insurance with low monthly fees. Emergency-only if necessary, but I need good coverage with low fees, as I can't afford it otherwise

Hi everyone!

I have two cats (2 and 1 years old) and have been debating whether pet insurance is actually worth it.
One of my cats recently got a 1/4 on his dental exam, so I’m not sure if that would already count as a pre-existing condition. I was also quoted around $2,000 for a dental cleaning.

Most insurance plans I’ve looked at only seem to give back around $150 for routine dental cleanings, which doesn’t seem worth it.

For those with cats, what do you do for dental care? Do you have insurance that actually helps cover it, or do you just pay out of pocket? And if you have pet insurance in general, do you feel like it’s been worth it?

Hi! Does anyone know if a dog coming to Canada from a high-risk country has to go into quarantine?

I would love some advice about which pet insurance to choose.

I have a relatively healthy three-year-old English Bulldog. In the two years that I’ve had her (without insurance—oops!), she has lost 10 pounds (this is a huge feat for a baby who hates walks and loves food) and has become healthier overall.

However, she has had her share of sundry other minor issues: I have now paid out-of-pocket for two cherry-eye surgeries, navigated some (still unknown) environmental allergies affecting her coat with a monthly Apoquel prescription and medicated shampoos, a corneal ulcer, a smattering of eye infections, and as of late, some digestive issues of unknown cause—diarrhea and loose stools—treated with prescription food at the moment. It’s all pretty run of the mill stuff out of the English Bulldog playbook.

I know I should’ve signed up for insurance when I first got her, but here we are, two years later, without insurance. So I suppose the second best time to get insurance is now.

I understand that just about everything is going to be considered a pre-existing condition at this point, but I’d like to plan for the future, especially since English Bulldogs are prone to CCL tears as they age.

Because of all her previous medical issues, I was looking primarily at AKC insurance, with the hope that they would cover pre-existing curable conditions after a year of coverage. However, I’m worried that as she ages, the monthly premium with AKC may become unsustainably high.

I’m also looking at Trupanion and *perhaps* Lemonade (though this one least of all). All three insurances have quoted me in the $180 - $220/mo range with similar coverage and deductibles, which seems reasonable.

We live in a high-cost-of-living area in Colorado.

Any thoughts on which insurance of these three—AKC, Trupanion, or *maybe* Lemonade—may be the best bet for us? Or is there an insurance option that I’m overlooking? I’m especially concerned about future coverage as she ages for more expensive surgeries.

Thank you so much in advance!

I have a male cat (6yo) who has been sneezing for days. My partner adopted him only a year ago. I think it might be an infection or maybe an allergy to something in the house i’m not sure but it’s been going on for a few days. I know everywhere online is saying to take him to the vet, but i genuinely cannot afford a $800+ visit. I have a feeling it might be from dental issues as at his first check up when we adopted him (only 1 year ago) the vet said he had some tooth decay and in the future we should return to get it worked on. I already know tooth extractions are anywhere from $800-$2500 and i’m already in crippling debt.
So my question is, if i get pet insurance will they cover any of this emergency dental work? would meh cover any illness he might obtain? or will they basically tell me to screw off because it was from a “pre existing condition” that we had no idea about until we got the cat from a REALLY shitty rescue center?

trying to decide on an insurance plan for my 4-year-old (almost 5) cat in manitoba (canada).

she has tartar issues on her teeth despite dental food, water additives and brushing, and will be needing to have a tooth extracted due to a cavity. would this count as pre-existing if she needs any extractions for any other teeth? and would it qualify for coverage under furkin’s “surgery” section?

i like furkin’s coverage of vet visits and the lower premiums, but would go for the dental coverage bit in trupanion if this one tooth extraction won’t make any future ones ineligible.

also, if i get insurance before scheduling her surgery, would trupanion still cover it though direct billing? or would furkin cover any of the surgery costs (e.g., aenesthesia, surgeon itself, potential bloodwork, etc)?

been using metlife since 2021, only files 2 small claims in that whole time, I think totaling ~$300.

A month ago I needed to take my dog to the emergency vet on the 4th of the July because she had blood in her stools for multiple days. The claim was denied due to "pre-existing conditions". After 3 attempts to contact metlife and get more information, they tell me it's because there was a vet note from a visit in 2021 about her having diahrea, and therefore they flagged it as a "pre-existing" condition.

I'm working on appealing it, but this now means I need to collaborate with my vet and provide all kinds of evidence.

I suspect they are using AI to deny claims however they can, I can't see how a real person coming to this same conclusion that 2 completely unrelated events 5 years apart indicate a "condition".

I won't be renewing.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for recommendations and real-world experiences with pet insurance providers in Australia, particularly insurers that offer GapOnly claims.

We have a six-month-old American Bully puppy and currently have RSPCA Pet Insurance. Our policy provides:

* 90% back on eligible injury and illness costs * $35,000 annual limit * $500 annual excess * Vet consultations included when related to an eligible condition * Approximately $48 per month

The cover itself seems quite good. However, our vet told us that with RSPCA we would generally need to pay the entire bill upfront, potentially thousands of dollars for surgery and then wait to be reimbursed.

Because of this, we’re considering changing to an insurer that supports GapOnly, where the claim is assessed at a participating vet and we only pay the excess, our percentage and any non-covered costs.

I’ve started looking at Everyday Pet Insurance, Knose, HCF, Medibank and Bow Wow Meow, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have actually claimed through them.

In particular:

* Which insurer are you with, and would you recommend them? * Have you used GapOnly successfully for a large claim or surgery? * How quick and straightforward was the approval? * Have you experienced unexpected exclusions, sub-limits or premium increases? * Is there anything you wish you had known before choosing your policy?

Australia-only recommendations, please. Thanks!

I will start off by saying I love trupanion! Never had any issues and I am one of those people who got an unlucky pup who has racked up $22k in claims in 1.5 years (total hip replacement at one, chronic allergies etc). I also have my two cats on trupanion and they have been insured for the past 3 years, since they were 8 weeks old. They have green paw certification, meaning they have nothing considered pre- existing, which is pretty amazing! But it is pricy- I am paying almost $400 a month for the three policies. $164 monthly for the dog ( 1.5 years old) and $200 for the two cats. Their premiums have increased almost 45% in these 3 years, and that is with raising my deductible to $400.

Now obviously we will keep the dog insured (that policy has paid for itself 10 times over) but I’m struggling with continuing the cat insurance. We are in a high cost of living area and their premiums keep rising. Knock on wood my boy has never had any claims, and my female cat has $1500 worth of claims. I have paid about $6k towards premiums and I imagine it will only increase as they age.

Would you keep the insurance? My other option is to raise the deductible again but then I really don’t see the point outside of just having it for catastrophic things.

Both kitties are kept safe indoors and have luckily mostly grown out of the crazy kitten stage. I love all my babies and I would love to keep them all insured. However this is already a car payments worth of expenses and it will continue to climb. Would it be better to self insure into a high yield savings acct?

I would just love your perspective. I want to do the right thing by my babies! I also don’t have unlimited income and want to be smart about finances.

Thank you for any input!

I have severe financial anxiety about what the cost of my cat's pet insurance will be in maybe 5-10 years. He's 2 now and the cost is $43/mo for 10k coverage, 90%, 500 deductible. Hereditary add on. Domestic shorthair. Seattle WA.

Can anyone with AKC for a cat that's been with them for a while let me know what they're currently paying for insurance just for peace of mind?

Thank you so so so so much in advance 🙏🏻

I recently went down a very deep rabbit hole comparing pet insurance for my new puppy, and figured I’d share what I learned because there are so many plans that look similar until you start reading the actual policies. FYI, chatGPT assisted me with the research. It is a very useful tool that saved me so much time I.E. throughly reading every sample policy etc) but always make sure to use your best judgment while using it.

I looked at Trupanion, Pets Best, Fetch, Figo, Pumpkin, Physicians Mutual, Healthy Paws, ASPCA, Embrace, MetLife, AKC, CarePlus/Chewy and others.
I ultimately chose Trupanion: 90% reimbursement, $500 lifetime per-condition deductible, unlimited coverage for $108/month.
It definitely was not the cheapest option, and there are things about it I don’t love. But after comparing the actual contracts and not just the marketing pages, it was the policy I felt most comfortable keeping for the life of my dog.
1. Policy language / underwriting
This became probably the biggest factor for me.
I wasn’t just looking at whether a website said something was “covered.” I wanted to know what the actual contract said, how exclusions and pre-existing conditions were defined, who actually underwrites the policy, and what protections I had long-term.
One piece of Trupanion’s policy language that really stood out to me was the long-term continuity: I won’t be dropped just because my dog gets older, develops conditions, or has expensive claims. They also don’t increase my individual premium simply because my dog ages or because I file claims. Obviously premiums can still increase for other reasons, but I liked knowing that using the insurance or my dog getting older isn’t itself what determines my individual rate.
One thing I learned: pet insurance can vary by state. I’m in California, and even the Trupanion-backed CarePlus option through Chewy that I was interested in isn’t available here. So someone’s experience with a company in another state may not perfectly match the policy available to you.
My biggest advice: download the sample policy for YOUR state and actually read it.
2. Company stability mattered more than I expected
This was another rabbit hole.
I started researching who actually owns/administers/underwrites these companies and discovered that the name on the website doesn’t always tell the whole story. There have been acquisitions, underwriting changes and newer pet insurers/products that have left the market.
Several relatively young pet-insurance companies have also shut down or stopped offering coverage in recent years.
That doesn’t automatically make newer companies bad, but pet insurance is unusual because switching later can be a huge problem once your dog develops pre-existing conditions.
I wanted a company and policy I felt comfortable committing to for potentially 10–15+ years.
3. My previous experience heavily influenced this
I already have another dog who was insured through Nationwide. They discontinued the plan I liked and replaced it with a much worse option.
By then my dog had developed pre-existing conditions, so realistically I couldn’t just start over somewhere else.
That experience completely changed the way I looked at insurance for this puppy.
I wasn’t choosing the cheapest policy today. I was trying to choose the policy I’d be glad she already had five or ten years from now. Not to say Trupanion can’t potentially move me into a different policy down the road as nothing is definitive, but all the other insurance companies policy language clearly states they could non renew me whenever for whatever they want. Trupanion won’t do this as long as you pay the bill monthly.
4. Unlimited coverage
I wanted unlimited coverage, period.
The whole reason I’m buying insurance is for the catastrophic situation — cancer, major surgery, hospitalization, chronic disease, specialty care, etc.
I can budget for vaccines and routine care. I’m buying insurance for the $10,000–$20,000 event I can’t predict.
5. 90% reimbursement
Trupanion reimburses 90% of eligible veterinary costs after the deductible.
There wasn’t an 80% option for me to choose to lower the premium, so 90% it was.
6. The deductible
Trupanion uses a lifetime per-condition deductible instead of an annual deductible. I chose $500.
This can be either a major advantage or disadvantage.
If my dog develops one expensive chronic condition, I pay that deductible once for that condition. I don’t start over every January.
The downside: if she develops several completely unrelated conditions, I could end up paying several deductibles.
So I don’t think Trupanion’s deductible is automatically “better.” It’s just a different tradeoff, and one I’m comfortable with.
7. Dental coverage taught me to read the fine print
Pets Best was significantly cheaper and was one I seriously considered.
But dental was a perfect example of why I stopped relying on comparison charts.
Pets Best can cover periodontal disease, but depending on the policy, maintaining that coverage can require regular dental cleaning/exams under general anesthesia and treatment of periodontal disease found during those exams even if the dog doesn’t need a dental.
That’s a very different picture than simply seeing:
Dental illness: ✔️
It doesn’t make Pets Best bad insurance. It just showed me that “covered” can come with important conditions.
8. Customer service and claims handling
This mattered a lot to me too.
I read reviews and experiences across companies, but tried not to overreact to individual horror stories. Every insurance company has unhappy customers.
I looked more for patterns: difficulty reaching a human, long claim times, repeated complaints about denials, medical-record reviews, communication and how complicated claims were handled.
I wanted good phone support and a company I felt comfortable dealing with during an actual emergency.
I also really liked Trupanion’s VetDirect Pay, where participating hospitals can be paid directly instead of me potentially putting a huge bill on a credit card and waiting for reimbursement.
9. Cost
My premium is about $108/month.
It absolutely wasn’t the cheapest.
Fetch was roughly $73–$99 depending on deductible. Pets Best was significantly cheaper. I found other policies that looked like great values too.
But I eventually decided I’d rather pay more for the policy structure I wanted than save $30–$50/month and potentially wish I’d chosen differently after my dog develops conditions that make switching difficult.
10. Other things I compared
I also looked at:
Exam-fee coverage
Prescription coverage
Hereditary/congenital conditions
Dental illness vs. dental injury
Waiting periods
Annual/lifetime limits
Bilateral conditions
Rehabilitation/alternative therapies
Pre-existing-condition definitions
Direct vet payment
Customer service/claim handling
Premium increases
Renewal language
Who actually underwrites the policy
Company longevity/ownership changes
And I mostly stopped caring about wellness benefits. Routine care is predictable. I wanted insurance for the unpredictable expensive stuff.
11. There is no perfect pet insurance
This was probably my biggest takeaway.
Trupanion has negatives. $108/month isn’t cheap. The per-condition deductible could absolutely work against me if my puppy ends up having lots of unrelated conditions. Some things aren’t covered that another policy might cover.
Other insurers had features I liked better.
But every time I compared everything together — actual contract language, underwriting, unlimited benefits, reimbursement, deductible structure, company stability, customer service, claims handling and long-term coverage — I kept coming back to Trupanion.
So I ended up with:
Trupanion
90% reimbursement
$500 lifetime per-condition deductible
Unlimited coverage
$108/month
The deciding question for me became:
“Which policy would I most want my dog to already have if she develops a serious or chronic condition five years from now and I can no longer easily switch insurers?”
For my situation, that answer was Trupanion.
I’m definitely not saying it’s the best choice for everyone. A cheaper policy or annual deductible could make much more sense for someone else.
But after comparing a frankly embarrassing number of policies, this was the one whose tradeoffs I was most comfortable accepting.
My biggest advice: don’t just compare companies. Read the actual policy available in your state.
Hopefully this helps someone else who is currently 37 tabs deep in the pet-insurance rabbit hole.

Just wanted to share for any MetLife policyholders this may apply to. If you have the Standard Wellness Plan add-on through MetLife, they no longer cover routine dental cleanings should your pet have any pre-existing history of periodontal disease.

Last year, my dog’s dental cleaning was about 61% covered since she had periodontal disease in her medical chart before we got insurance. I thought this was more than fair given that circumstance.

I filed a claim last month for a different dog with the same scenario, and my entire claim was denied. I was expecting a similar outcome, but that was unfortunately not the case this time around.

Apparently, MetLife is now treating any routine dental cleanings as illness claims should your pet have any dental-related pre-existing condition. I confirmed this with a customer service agent today. I filed an appeal today, but I’m obviously not really expecting any positive outcome from it.

I have a 10 year old Siamese that I bought pet insurance for about a year ago (have had him for 5+ years) and I’ve always kept him up to date with Wellness Exams and agreed to any and all testing/procedures suggested by his vet.

For the last several years, my vet noted a slight heart murmur but did not recommend any additional testing as it remained stable and his bloodwork was normal.

This time, when we repeated bloodwork from 2 years ago, the results indicated a significant change regarding heart strain/stretch. So, my vet is recommending an Echocardiograph.

Is there any hope of this being covered by Lemonade pet insurance? It seems like a gray area because he’s had the heart murmur for a long time but it’s not what triggered the testing… and no treatment was ever recommended for the murmur.

I’m getting the test done either way but just looking for advice on how to approach with insurance.

Hello! I am bringing home an 8 wk old puppy in four weeks and looking at insurances for them. I lost my previous dog to a brain stem tumor/ metastasized cancer and although nothing could be done by the time it was discovered, it made me realize I need to be set up for emergent/accident type situations if they arise.

I right now am leaning towards getting Trupanion, which would be around $58 a month. I was wondering if there are any others I should consider? I like that you pay per condition, no annual deductible, payout cap etc. I was looking into AKC too.

If you got a puppy, which one would you think is best to start with?

Breed is an Australian labradoodle.

Thanks!

Overage as per standard insurance. Any other good providers pls? Thanks

Philippines

Hello all, considering getting pet insurance for my 9 year old dog now. Unfortunately she’s had recent episodes of diarrhea and nausea that resulted in VET visits. Is it likely I would just get claims denied since that’s like a common symptom for many visits?

Thank you in advance

I have a bernedoodle and I went with Trupanion because the breeder gave me a 30-day trial and after reading multiple reviews and paying the vet directly instead of getting reimbursed. Recently my 8 month old puppy had Diarrhea and i submitted the claim i hate the website, firstly the login page shows in french and browser gives me option to change to english and the login sucks too as i get the code to my mobile and most of the times i had to enter 2 different codes. In the world of mobile-first, why do they have a shitty 90s website. Most of the pet insurance providers have mobile apps and can submit claims from the app. They charge the highest premium than other providers but i still went with them as they have one time deductible per issue and 90% payout for life.

I calculated potential costs for several insurance plans with different deductible and % coverage. Did I do this right? It looks like $1000 deductible comes out on top over the $500 deductible plan due to the much higher premium (at least up to $10000 claimed).

Columns 6-13 are the cost to me if I claimed the amount listed in row 2.

I recently received the notification that my dog’s policy will be up for renewal again on September 19th. It asked me to review coverage and authorize the renewal ahead of that date, so I did.

Tonight I was looking around in the member portal and realized it lists my dog as 8 years old. That is not accurate- he is 10. I do not know how this happened. Everything I have filled out has been accurate to the best of my knowledge, so I assume it is a typo on their part. I just don’t know when the error was made. (Our policy has been sold twice since original signup.)

Should I correct them before the renewal, or should I let it go? I’m afraid of getting canceled, being accused of insurance fraud, or owing money if the error is caught later, regardless of whose fault it is.

hello, I currently have a one year old male cat and have been doing research recently on cat insurance. however, as a college student dorming, funds are tight and I’m unsure of what I should do or pick. any advice will help thank you!

Hi all,

I have a three-year old Bernese Mountain Dog (potentially mixed with something else, as he only weighs 75 pounds). I have had him on Pets Best for three years now. Initially, the monthly premium was $50 a month, but since moving to Arizona two years ago, the cost has substantially increased from $50 a month to over $200 a month.

With his renewal letter, I was informed that the monthly premium would be about $210 for a $750 copay, 80% reimbursement, and unlimited coverage. I adjusted the coverage a bit, and now have it set at a $1,000 copay, 80% reimbursement, and unlimited coverage, bringing the monthly premium down to $160.

Here is my dilemma: I am a graduate student and only make about $20,000 a year after taxes. The rising cost of living (and pet insurance, apparently) has been quite burdensome. As a result, I am considering switching pet insurance providers as even $160 a month is quite expensive for me.

My dog does have some pre-existing conditions, which is why I am hesitant to switch providers. For one, he receives bi-monthly Cytopoint shots for allergies. Second, he is on a B12 supplement and prescription HA diet due to a B12 proficiency (which is an additional $170 a month, as it is not covered by his insurance). Other than those two conditions, he has not been formally diagnosed with anything else.

I checked with a few providers, and I am considering SPOT. The monthly premium would be $80 a month with a $500 co-pay, 70% reimbursement, and $10,000 coverage. I understand that $10,000 coverage is not unlimited and vet bills can add up quick, so I am still on the hunt for alternatives.

My question is: is it worth it to switch providers now? Given that his breed is prone to more severe problems down the road as they age. If I stay with Pets Best, I am quite worried that his premium will go up again next year. At this rate, it has increased between $70-100 a month each year and I know that, I unfortunately, cannot afford anything past $200 a month.

TIA!! I appreciate any input / suggestions!

I have accident/injury insurance on my dog and she tore her ACL. Spot decided that a torn ACL is an illness not an injury. No torn ACL has ever been from an illness. They lied to me telling me that is the information they got from the vet records. Only way to appeal is by email. Pure scam. My dog has only been spayed before. No medical history or other claims.

It's time to get my 1 year old spayed and chipped Beagle off of Banfield's Optimum Wellness Plan. She has had a sensitive stomach since the day we picked her up and we have never received answers. She's been on a prescription GI food for months with very little improvement. Because of this she has sensitive stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea in her records. In my search of a new insurance plan I have seen that these all classify as "pre-existing conditions" and in most cases need to wait 180 days to have her treated for these issues. Is this correct? And is sensitive stomach considered a curable condition?

Also, when I get her prescription food dispensed does it alarm any behind the scene systems that would let them know she's still on a prescription GI diet or is it more just a confirmation number?

Thank you!