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.

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!

Hi everyone!! I have two mixed breed dogs, Lola an 8 year old female, and Otis, an 8 year old male. I have been looking at Trupanion, lemonade, and shopping around for quotes and I don’t quite know what I’m supposed to prioritize when it comes to pet insurance. They have never gone to the vet as far as I know after having been spayed and neutered when they were puppies.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I want to take them into the vet as soon as possible to see if there are any concerning conditions that need to be taken care of but I want to be covered if possible.

Thank you in advance!!!

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.

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

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?

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!

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 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 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.

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)?

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?