is health insurance for dogs legit?

[JonnyNC]

Has anyone heard of a company called Hartville Pet Health Insurance, and if so are they legit?

I spend more money each year on my dogs' vet bills than I do for my personal health care. If I could figure out a way to reduce those costs I would jump all over it but I wanted to hear if anyone had used this service (or one like it) and whether or not it was actually worth the monthly payments.

Here's the website:http://www.hartvillepetinsurance.com/

Hope everyone's enjoying this beautiful spring weather,
J

[Karen]

Are you spending $$ on maintenance stuff like annual vaccines, HW preventative and flea and tick preventative, or on illnesses and injuries?

[Sharon]

You need to get the full plan before signing anything.
My vet likes me to bring in a new plan so she can see if it covers the basic expensive items.
You don't want a plan that covers toe nail cutting or only injuries received from a cougar.

[ROTTnBRITT]

After spending somewhere around 10k at the animal hospital for 2 different dogs I looked into dog health care. But it just didn't seem like it was worth the premiums. If you need emergency care it would be worth it. But for yearly vet cost I wasn't going to pay for it. Im just gonna take a chance on never needing to go back there.

[JonnyNC]

Are you spending $$ on maintenance stuff like annual vaccines, HW preventative and flea and tick preventative, or on illnesses and injuries?

Illnesses and injuries are the main expenses that affect me. For example, last month my britt ran into some barbed wire and had to get stitched up and then probably a week later my gsp got a puncture wound on her hind leg that needed treatment, don't know how it happened.

But I will say that the "annual vaccines, HW preventative and flea and tick preventative" aren't cheap either.

[Karen]

You can give annual vaccines yourself. Tractor Supply sells them or you can order from a dozen different online stores (Drs Foster & Smith, Jeffers....reputable stores). I use bovine ivomec for HW preventative. One bottle ($25 +/-) lasts a long time and is way cheaper than heartguard.

For Flea & Tick prevention, I buy Pet Armour at Walmart in the extra large size and split between 3 dogs, so it works out to be around $2.80 a dose.

Just some ideas to help keep your vet expenses down.

[1vizsla]

Haven't hear of that company but we have insurance and love it. Unfortunately had to use it twice and both times paid more than what we paid in premiums. PM for more info if you want.

Carla

[Grousewing]

You can give annual vaccines yourself. Tractor Supply sells them or you can order from a dozen different online stores (Drs Foster & Smith, Jeffers....reputable stores). I use bovine ivomec for HW preventative. One bottle ($25 +/-) lasts a long time and is way cheaper than heartguard.

For Flea & Tick prevention, I buy Pet Armour at Walmart in the extra large size and split between 3 dogs, so it works out to be around $2.80 a dose.

Just some ideas to help keep your vet expenses down.

I second this post, I give all my dogs their shots and use Ivomec for HW prev. The Ivomec can save you hundreds of dollars a year and I never have a heat worm test just another way for vets to make money. Just about everyone I know in the field trial world uses Ivomec, FYI I give one tenth of a cc per ten pounds of body weight given orally monthly.

[Sharon]

Question: I get the Heartguard from the vet after a blood test for heartworm appears negative. This test is required by law. Many folks here seem to give their own heartworm medication preventative. How do you know the dog is free from heartworm before you give it? Just wondering.

[Karen]

My vet said 1 HW test, then leave the dogs on preventative year round instead of just during mosquito season....then there's no reason to retest.

[Grousewing]

The way I understand it is the Ivomec works retroactive for the previous month to kill any heart worms. Also Ivomec kills all worms but tape worms I believe. Works great and my total cost for 4 dogs for the year is maybe $20-25 bucks depending on exp date of the bottle.

[jcbuttry8]

You can give annual vaccines yourself. Tractor Supply sells them or you can order from a dozen different online stores (Drs Foster & Smith, Jeffers....reputable stores). I use bovine ivomec for HW preventative. One bottle ($25 +/-) lasts a long time and is way cheaper than heartguard.

For Flea & Tick prevention, I buy Pet Armour at Walmart in the extra large size and split between 3 dogs, so it works out to be around $2.80 a dose.

Just some ideas to help keep your vet expenses down.

Thanks for the tips Karen. I never thought about Ivomec. I didn't think you can order or purchase injections in NJ. I know here in PA you can. I give all my own shots. I also use pet armour.

Looks like I will be getting a bottle of Ivomec today.

Joe

[Karen]

You can give all your own shots in NJ, except rabies. That has to be done by a vet. Luckily, where I lived in NJ (I moved to PA last June) they did free rabies clinics twice a year, so I didn't have to pay for that either.

Joe, check the expiration date on the Ivomec before you buy. It should be good for at least a year.

[Sharon]

My vet said 1 HW test, then leave the dogs on preventative year round instead of just during mosquito season....then there's no reason to retest.

Thanks. The vet and I are going to have a little chat .

[JIM K]

i had beagles all my life and never had wrom problems and never gave them worm pills.
i give toby my lab worm pill during the mesquito season here in pa .starting in june to october only.

[phermes1]

The way I understand it is the Ivomec works retroactive for the previous month to kill any heart worms. Also Ivomec kills all worms but tape worms I believe. Works great and my total cost for 4 dogs for the year is maybe $20-25 bucks depending on exp date of the bottle.

Heartworms have a 6 week larval stage during which Heartguard will kill them. We give our dogs Heartguard every other month as a result. Heartworm season is year-round down here.

We had pet insurance years ago and found that it wasn't worth it. Read the fine print on any policy you get as the companies find a way to exclude every little expense they possibly can. We paid premiums for a year and a half, then submitted a claim for $250 or so. When they were done picking it apart, we got a check for $20, which was slightly more than what we had been paying monthly. Yay.

[dog dr]

the reason that we recommend testing periodically, wether your dog has been on preventitive or not, is that there is a stage of the heartworm that ivomec wont kill, and that wont show up on a heartworm antigen test. so it is possible for a dog to test negative, be on heartworm preventitive for a prolonged amount of time, and still have adult heartworms. Personally, I recommend that people test, especially prior to starting preventitive, but dont require it. the competition down the road wont even consider selling you heartworm preventitive unless you test the dog first, even if it has been on it before. I love it when they do that.... sends more folks to me!

[Karen]

So exactly what does it cost to test for HW? My current vet has a published price of $50 for a HW test...that seems pretty expensive to me (and yes, I know what it costs to treat), considering he's been pretty reasonable with his other rates.

[dog dr]

So exactly what does it cost to test for HW? My current vet has a published price of $50 for a HW test...that seems pretty expensive to me (and yes, I know what it costs to treat), considering he's been pretty reasonable with his other rates.

HW test at our 2 clinics runs $22, i think. It might actually be just $20 at one of them. Probably something the owner should know, huh?

[RoostersMom]

On heartworms - from a non-vet. I don't test the dogs because, if I figure this right (feel free to point out the flaws), - the dogs I own are on preventative 10 months of the year. If they do get an infestation during January or February, but then are on Ivomec for the next 10 months, then it would just be the same as putting them on the Ivomec as a treatment, right? Maybe I'm not getting it right, but if you treat HW with Ivomec, why can't you just use it as a preventative and then assume if you had a small infestation, then it would eventually kill them all off?

If I had a new adult dog, I would test the dog, but since all mine have been on Ivomec since 8 weeks of age for 10 months of the year, then I feel like I'm being safe on the issue. Feel free to point out the flaws in my reasoning!

I have had a friend with two dogs that came up positive because he never used preventative - it was pretty costly in the long run to have them treated (both in time and in money). I would never have a hunting breed (especially kept outdoors) that wasn't on preventative. It's just too much of a gamble. All of our beagles and our birddogs are on preventative monthly (I use the cattle/swine Ivomec) - at a cost of about $50 per year total for all 11 dogs.

[rkappes]

So exactly what does it cost to test for HW? My current vet has a published price of $50 for a HW test...that seems pretty expensive to me (and yes, I know what it costs to treat), considering he's been pretty reasonable with his other rates.

The HW/Lymes test here in Fargo is $48.91.

JonnyNC - I posted the same question a while back. A fellow GDF member recommended putting the $$$ you would spend on premiums into an account and use that $$$ for vet expenses. Its worked well for me. I've saved a couple grand so far. If you never need the $$$ then great you have $$$ for a new pup, gun, trip, etc...The only drawback I see is if before you have a decent amount of $$$ saved and a large cost comes up you would have to use a credit card or something.

[Sharon]

the reason that we recommend testing periodically, wether your dog has been on preventitive or not, is that there is a stage of the heartworm that ivomec wont kill, and that wont show up on a heartworm antigen test. so it is possible for a dog to test negative, be on heartworm preventitive for a prolonged amount of time, and still have adult heartworms. Personally, I recommend that people test, especially prior to starting preventitive, but dont require it. the competition down the road wont even consider selling you heartworm preventitive unless you test the dog first, even if it has been on it before. I love it when they do that.... sends more folks to me!

That's the situation where I live. Being in Canada I do think having the test every Spring would be cheaper than keeping the dog on a preventitive all year. We only have 7 months of above O celsius all year.

[dog dr]

On heartworms - from a non-vet. I don't test the dogs because, if I figure this right (feel free to point out the flaws), - the dogs I own are on preventative 10 months of the year. If they do get an infestation during January or February, but then are on Ivomec for the next 10 months, then it would just be the same as putting them on the Ivomec as a treatment, right? Maybe I'm not getting it right, but if you treat HW with Ivomec, why can't you just use it as a preventative and then assume if you had a small infestation, then it would eventually kill them all off?

If I had a new adult dog, I would test the dog, but since all mine have been on Ivomec since 8 weeks of age for 10 months of the year, then I feel like I'm being safe on the issue. Feel free to point out the flaws in my reasoning!

I have had a friend with two dogs that came up positive because he never used preventative - it was pretty costly in the long run to have them treated (both in time and in money). I would never have a hunting breed (especially kept outdoors) that wasn't on preventative. It's just too much of a gamble. All of our beagles and our birddogs are on preventative monthly (I use the cattle/swine Ivomec) - at a cost of about $50 per year total for all 11 dogs.

nothing wrong with your prevention strategy. chances the dogs would be infected during jan-feb are slim to none. i think even if mosquitoes are out and about, the ambient temp needs to be at least 45(?) for them to pass on the larva.
However, Ivomec doesnt kill ADULT heartworms. So if the dog has adults, all the ivomec will do is render them sterile. they will still be in the dogs great vessels around the heart, causing damage, for their 4-5 yr lifespan. since they wont reproduce, after the adults die, the dog will be clear tho. the standard protocol now for heartworm positive dogs is to put them on 3 monmths of preventitive to clear all the microfilaria (juvenile heartworms), so that when you give the immiticide treatment, there isnt as big of a biological mass of things dying off inside the dogs body.

Sorry to the OP, we kinda hijacked your post. I cant really comment on pet insurance, as i dont have any clients that use it.

[rkappes]

You can give annual vaccines yourself. Tractor Supply sells them or you can order from a dozen different online stores (Drs Foster & Smith, Jeffers....reputable stores). I use bovine ivomec for HW preventative. One bottle ($25 +/-) lasts a long time and is way cheaper than heartguard.

For Flea & Tick prevention, I buy Pet Armour at Walmart in the extra large size and split between 3 dogs, so it works out to be around $2.80 a dose.

Just some ideas to help keep your vet expenses down.

Is the bovine ivomec an ingestible product or do you inject it?

[ezzy333]

Shoot into the mouth or put on a piece of bread. It is digestable so do not inject it.

Ezzy

[frontline]

The way I understand it is the Ivomec works retroactive for the previous month to kill any heart worms. Also Ivomec kills all worms but tape worms I believe. Works great and my total cost for 4 dogs for the year is maybe $20-25 bucks depending on exp date of the bottle.

I wouldn't count on Ivomec to kill any worms, it won't.

[Grousewing]

The way I understand it is the Ivomec works retroactive for the previous month to kill any heart worms. Also Ivomec kills all worms but tape worms I believe. Works great and my total cost for 4 dogs for the year is maybe $20-25 bucks depending on exp date of the bottle.

I wouldn't count on Ivomec to kill any worms, it won't.

You must be a veterinarian? All the vets I have used over the years seems to think ivomec is just fine. Vets used to recommend ivomec untill it started killing collies. I have many friends that use ivomec and have for years, and all of them on average have 8-15 dogs at a time. If you don't want to use ivomec then don't, its your choice. I don't think anyone here is trying to push it on anyone just posting what we know, also I have seen first hand how effective ivomec is for worming dogs.

[jwnissen]

I bought VPI, recommended by our vet, and it was the best thing I could have done. I pay 33 a month and it has already paid for itself. Had a 284 vet bill and after the 100 deductible, I got 184 back. Just about to file the next for 84 and I expect to get most of that back. I did a lot of research and found cheaper but VPI has been around for a long time. Most of the others havent been around that long and our vet said that they have a tendancy of going under and you loose everything. The one downfall is that you pay out of pocket and then submit your claim and it takes a couple weeks. Hope that helps.

[Red]

VPI, recommended by our vet

Our Vet told us NOT to use VPI...