Despite great efforts of pet owners to keep their furry family members healthy, accidents can happen. When these scenarios occur, dog insurance or pet insurance is meant to offer financial security and peace of mind, so you can relax knowing your pet will always have access to reasonable medical treatment.
Most frequent claims for pet insurance
1. Skin problems
Your four-legged pal is likely to experience one of more than a hundred pet skin disorders at some stage. The most prevalent skin conditions that afflict cats and dogs are listed here.
Skin concerns shouldn’t be ignored because they can make your pet very uncomfortable and result in other health difficulties. Take your four-legged buddy to the vet as soon as you detect excessive licking, biting, or scratching.
2. Infection in the Ears
Although they tend to affect canines more frequently than felines, ear infections in dogs and cats are a frequent cause of pet insurance claims. Otitis interna, otitis media, and otitis externa are the three types of ear infections that can afflict a pet, depending on which region of the ear is infected. While ear infections in the outer ear can be uncomfortable and painful; their spread to the inner ear, can cause hearing and even brain damage.
Pet ear infections can have many different causes, including bacterial overgrowth, allergies, rashes, mites, and even cancer. Each pet displays different symptoms; some animals barely show any signs at all. Therefore, be careful to frequently clean your pet’s ears to avoid infection, and get medical attention if you see any potential warning signs.
3. Seizures
Pets can experience seizures for a variety of causes, including heatstroke and brain damage. A non-seizure-prone animal may develop seizures after consuming poisonous chemicals including pesticides, plants, medicines, or certain human foods.
Epilepsy may also affect pets. Some dog breeds are more susceptible to the genetic condition known as idiopathic epilepsy than others.
Seizures and epilepsy are less frequent in cats than in dogs, and they are typically signs of conditions affecting the brain.
While certain seizure symptoms, such as immobility, modest body twitching, and half-closed eyelids, might be extremely mild, others, such as shaking, excessive drooling, flailing, and loss of consciousness, are more severe.
Make sure to call your vet right away if you think your dog or cat is experiencing a seizure. Your veterinarian may prescribe anti-epileptic medications like potassium bromide or phenobarbital if your pet starts to have a pattern of seizures.
4. UTI or Urinary Tract Infection
Any bacterial infection that can affect a section of the urinary system is typically referred as a urinary tract infection (UTI). Dogs commonly have UTIs, but cats experience them far more frequently. UTIs are more likely to occur in older cats as a complication of other diseases, most frequently diabetes mellitus, hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease), or chronic renal disease.
Which component of the urinary system is contaminated determines the symptoms, for example, the most common area of involvement is the bladder, which causes symptoms like including frequent urination, urgency, smelly urine, inability to retain pee, straining to urinate, blood in urine, etc. A bacterial urinary tract infection may less frequently affect one or both the kidneys.
5. Digestive disorders
Different gastrointestinal (GI) tract digestion diseases are common in both cats and dogs. This frequently results from:
- Dietary indiscretion
- Pancreatitis
- Parasites and worms
- Bacteria
- Viruses
Different gastrointestinal (GI) tract digestion diseases are common in both cats and dogs. The good thing about GI problems is that they are simple to identify. The most typical symptoms are loose, watery stools and diarrhea, but you may also notice vomiting, colitis, and abdominal bloating.
The intestine usually has to take its course when it comes to treatment choices for diarrhea in dogs or cats, but you should see your veterinarian if symptoms last longer than 48 to 72 hours. However, if the stool is black, tarry, or includes blood, they would likely want to inspect your pet and request a fecal flotation test. They may also provide litterbox guidance or suggest home cures for dog diarrhea. Prednisone for dogs and other oral steroids may be administered to animals with chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
Read more about dog insurance and cat insurance on Spot Pet Insurance
How Does Pet Insurance Work?
Your pet insurance covers unanticipated medical costs brought on by accidents, illnesses, and injuries. The best insurance companies will pay 80%, 90%, or even 100% of the veterinarian bill (post your deductible is met).
Similar to other insurance options, you must make a monthly payment to keep your coverage. Depending on your reimbursement rate, you may anticipate your insurance provider pay for your pet’s eligible expenses up to the value of your coverage once your deductible has been met.