Recently Selena went in to the vet dentist for a dental cleaning. They wound up extracting 5 teeth, including 1 upper canine that had been broken. Poor baby suffered terribly afterwards as Mommy had to take away all her toys for 2 weeks while the stitches healed. See how miserable she is without her toys…
Anyway…
Selena is doing much better, but Mommy’s wallet was not. Ouch. With little hope, we filed our claim with Selena’s pet insurance. They spelled out quite clearly that dental cleanings aren’t covered, so we were prepared to pinch pennies to pay down the debt.
Yesterday, the claim EOB and a check arrived in the mail. They covered 67% of the costs! About 90% of costs were actually covered, when you factor in the deductible. The cleaning itself wasn’t covered (~$180), but the anesthesia, x-rays, pain killers, primary diagnosis (~$300) and 5 teeth extractions (~$660) were. It’s a miracle!
Now Rocky has been diagnosed with a new heart murmur and we will soon have to send him to the cardiologist, just like Selena, to get that baseline screening and clean bill of health before his dental cleaning. I know the cardiologist visits are covered, after deductible.
And now I know that any future teeth extractions will be covered as well. Such a relief! Today’s reimbursement made all the premium payments worth while.
So I say to you, if you have pets, the sooner you find them pet insurance, the better. I couldn’t get Checkers coverage because she was too old when I tried to sign up. But Miss Deita had insurance, which helped us when her Cushing’s diagnosis came in. And while Rocky’s allergies and subsequent skin issues are considered pre-existing conditions, Selena’s heart murmur and now Rocky’s heart murmur are not.
Money will not be as big a factor in determining whether or when we visit the vet. I wish everyone had such peace of mind when it comes to health care.
