Insurance and vet costs

[Saravp]

I'm thinking of buying/adopting a galah and getting insurance for it. The only insurance company i could find was petcover and they say incase of an emergency they cover up to $6000. would that be enough to cover the worst case scenario emergency vet bill? What's the most expensive bill you've had to pay?
Im in Australia by the way
Thanks

 

[Zara]

Im in Australia by the way

It may be helpful to include the state. Though even at that each practice will vary.

@fashionfobie @Shezbug @AussieBird

 

[Saravp]

It may be helpful to include the state. Though even at that each practice will vary.

@fashionfobie @Shezbug @AussieBird

Western australia

 

[Sparkles99]

I’m in Canada, but IMO that’s not enough. It wasn’t me & it wasn’t a bird, but the worst sudden vet emergency I know of was over $20,000. This was a close family member’s pet.

I personally prefer to have an emergency vet fund instead of insurance. If you pay into insurance, it’s generally for such extreme situations, so a blanket max would bother me.

 

[Zara]

@Saravp Is there more info in the fine print? Any excess to pay? IF the excess is high, it might be cheaper to just pay the vet visit depending on what it is.

A good idea is to ring your local vet (s, plural if there's more than one) and ask how much for bloodwork, how much for an x-ray for a Galah - those are common things with emergencies as well as the consult fee for emergencies. See if they have emergency 24hour vet assistance and what the cost is to take a bird in in the middle of the night.

 

[fashionfobie]

I'm in QLD here. I can understand the want for pet insurance however when I looked at plans, mind you I haven't looked in 5 years, I didn't find a plan that suited birds at all. And most dog plans were very expensive for the little that was actually covered. Avian vets didn't seem to be covered. Sadly pet insurance usually ends up costing more out of pocket than what they will cover.

I personally keep a chunk in my savings and hope to never need it. It removes a lot of stress. When I have needed to take my birds in for unexpected things the cost isn't that bad if you make an appointment. Touch wood I have not yet had an emergency that required same day care.

However if you are adopting a bird now and don't yet have a veterinary care nest egg, insurance may be a good option. I strongly encourage that you check all the details. There are usually very specific things and types of care they cover. Make sure birds are specifically listed and that they list what kind of bird care is covered.

 

[Shezbug]

When I checked (also many years ago) it wasn’t worth the hassle with how little they covered and the limited conditions/issues they’d pay out under.
From some comments I’ve seen recently on FB I think there may be more places that do pet bird cover than there were when I checked.
I just have a side account for any bird emergency or vet bill that I add to weekly.

 

[Saravp]

I’m in Canada, but IMO that’s not enough. It wasn’t me & it wasn’t a bird, but the worst sudden vet emergency I know of was over $20,000. This was a close family member’s pet.

I personally prefer to have an emergency vet fund instead of insurance. If you pay into insurance, it’s generally for such extreme situations, so a blanket max would bother me.

Wow...
Yeah that's what i thought, ill look into a vet fund, thanks

 

[Saravp]

@Saravp Is there more info in the fine print? Any excess to pay? IF the excess is high, it might be cheaper to just pay the vet visit depending on what it is.

A good idea is to ring your local vet (s, plural if there's more than one) and ask how much for bloodwork, how much for an x-ray for a Galah - those are common things with emergencies as well as the consult fee for emergencies. See if they have emergency 24hour vet assistance and what the cost is to take a bird in in the middle of the night.

Yeah if the bird is referred to a specialized vet, the excess is 30%. for diagnostic examinations its 50%. So if the treatment was say $10,000 we would have to pay the extra $4000 plus 30% or 50% of the $6000 thousand that they account for.
I emailed our vet and asked them how much was a safe amount to put aside and they responded $1500 but imo thats not much

 

[Saravp]

I'm in QLD here. I can understand the want for pet insurance however when I looked at plans, mind you I haven't looked in 5 years, I didn't find a plan that suited birds at all. And most dog plans were very expensive for the little that was actually covered. Avian vets didn't seem to be covered. Sadly pet insurance usually ends up costing more out of pocket than what they will cover.

I personally keep a chunk in my savings and hope to never need it. It removes a lot of stress. When I have needed to take my birds in for unexpected things the cost isn't that bad if you make an appointment. Touch wood I have not yet had an emergency that required same day care.

However if you are adopting a bird now and don't yet have a veterinary care nest egg, insurance may be a good option. I strongly encourage that you check all the details. There are usually very specific things and types of care they cover. Make sure birds are specifically listed and that they list what kind of bird care is covered.

The savings idea imo is probably the best one but im still living with my parents and dont make nearly enough even if i put it all aside to pay for vet bills and its a lot easier to convince them to pay an insurance than put aside money and not use it.

 

[Saravp]

When I checked (also many years ago) it wasn’t worth the hassle with how little they covered and the limited conditions/issues they’d pay out under.
From some comments I’ve seen recently on FB I think there may be more places that do pet bird cover than there were when I checked.
I just have a side account for any bird emergency or vet bill that I add to weekly.

Tbh the insurance is more for peace of mind, though of course if it doesnt cover much, it's not really worth it, but from what this insurance says it seems like they really do cover most injuries and illnesses.

 

[Shezbug]

Tbh the insurance is more for peace of mind, though of course if it doesnt cover much, it's not really worth it, but from what this insurance says it seems like they really do cover most injuries and illnesses.

It was quite some time back when I looked into it and there was only one place I could find that offered insurance for pet/companion birds and my vet had said she had never had anyone successfully claim through it. Please share any information you come across about insurance for birds, I am interested but way too lazy to call around or search the net to see what changes have been made since I last checked.

 

[Sparkles99]

Not having successful claims due to the fine print is why I didn’t go with insurance to begin with. A former coworker went through an absolute saga with her dog many years ago. They paid faithfully for years & had no claims. When they needed to make one, they were denied & wound up paying out of pocket.

 

[Saravp]

It was quite some time back when I looked into it and there was only one place I could find that offered insurance for pet/companion birds and my vet had said she had never had anyone successfully claim through it. Please share any information you come across about insurance for birds, I am interested but way too lazy to call around or search the net to see what changes have been made since I last checked.

i got a quote from pet cover, all the information is here Exotic insurance quote, depends where you live, this is for australia.

 

[Saravp]

Not having successful claims due to the fine print is why I didn’t go with insurance to begin with. A former coworker went through an absolute saga with her dog many years ago. They paid faithfully for years & had no claims. When they needed to make one, they were denied & wound up paying out of pocket.

Yeah ive heard of that kind of thing happening

 

[fashionfobie]

i got a quote from pet cover, all the information is here Exotic insurance quote, depends where you live, this is for australia.

Thank you for supplying the link. That is better than what I had found last I looked, as I said many years ago. It is great they are including some bird care.

I found this PDF (linked below) related to the cover. It is from last year, but I imagine it is still relevant. Things to consider:

-You must pay for all care at the time of treatment, then apply for reimbursement. From a search on product reviews the reimbursement seems to take a bit of time, 6-12 weeks or so, based on what I gather in the reviews.​

-They only cover birds that are over three months and under 25 years, so it may not be an option when your bird is in their elder years. If it is a rescue bird they could also argue you can't prove age and refuse funding.​

Link: https://www.petcovergroup.com/de/wp...2021/05/Petcover-AU-PDS-Exotic-V124032021.pdf

 

[Saravp]

Thank you for supplying the link. That is better than what I had found last I looked, as I said many years ago. It is great they are including some bird care.

I found this PDF (linked below) related to the cover. It is from last year, but I imagine it is still relevant. Things to consider:

-You must pay for all care at the time of treatment, then apply for reimbursement. From a search on product reviews the reimbursement seems to take a bit of time, 6-12 weeks or so, based on what I gather in the reviews.​

-They only cover birds that are over three months and under 25 years, so it may not be an option when your bird is in their elder years. If it is a rescue bird they could also argue you can't prove age and refuse funding.​

Link: https://www.petcovergroup.com/de/wp...2021/05/Petcover-AU-PDS-Exotic-V124032021.pdf

Yeah the vet mentioned that we would have to pay on the day.
Thanks for the pdf ill check it out

 

[Saravp]

Im thinking that maybe im better off waiting until i have at least $5000 set aside and then get a bird and keep adding to it. Do you think $5000 is enough or should i wait till i have more?
Idk but the whole insurance thing seems a bit shady.

 

[Zara]

Do you think $5000 is enough

It will all come down to local vet costs and treatment costs. Call the vet, get some quotes for things and then go from there. For eg, factor in an emergency consult fee, 7 days and nights hospitalisation, blood tests, gram stains, x-ray, aneasthesia etc. Add it all up and you hav your average total needed to be kept aside, from there, the more you have in the fund, the better.

 

[Saravp]

It will all come down to local vet costs and treatment costs. Call the vet, get some quotes for things and then go from there. For eg, factor in an emergency consult fee, 7 days and nights hospitalisation, blood tests, gram stains, x-ray, aneasthesia etc. Add it all up and you hav your average total needed to be kept aside, from there, the more you have in the fund, the better.

Good idea, i will thanks