An in-depth look at the cost of pet insurance in Canada and the value offered. Is it really worth getting or can you live without it?
Pet Insurance: Where To Start
To start off with, insurance is just that - protection from accidents, not coverage of your pet's day-to-day expenses. Additionally, expected costs such as shots, checkups, neutering, among many other expenses, are paid out-of-pocket simply to qualify for insurance.
With that out of the way, pet insurance normally seems to be limited to either dogs or cats. Birds, rabbits, muskrats, and baby elephants need not apply. For animals such as horses there are certainly ways to get insurance for them, however for the scope of this post we'll just focus on regular household pets that qualify for regular pet insurance - dogs and cats.
Cats are generally cheaper to insure than dogs. Dogs, evidently, are more worthwhile, at least in the eyes of the insurance industry. I'm not sure the exact rational behind this - perhaps typically dogs are more prone to illnesses than cats, a little like how women drivers are cheaper to insure than men. Which is not to say men are dogs. Well, some aren't anyway.
All the companies I researched had several plans to choose from so you could decide the coverage you want and the price you're willing to pay. Most plans for cats range from $10 a month to $50 a month. For dogs the plans range from $10 a month to $110. Most of these plans are very similar to each other so that brings up the question: which plan is right for me? The thing you need to consider when shopping around for pet insurance is that you're thinking long-term. Pre-existing conditions won't be covered under a new plan so it's a better idea to start your coverage from a young age. Also, as pets get older it is harder to insure them. If you buy into a package when they're a puppy or kitten your coverage won't change.
Methodology
For this post I chose to look at the four major pet insurance companies in Canada: PC Pet Insurance, PetSecure, Pet Care, and Trupanion. I looked at what plans they have, the coverage they offer and the associated costs.
When getting the quotes I include in this post I used a 3 year old male Irish terrier named Connor as my sample dog. In fact, Connor does exist and was at one time this young. And in truth, given his behaviour, he still may be, despite the calendar indicating he's 12. My sample cat was my 5 year old male of unknown breed named Hershey. Both live in Kitchener. The premiums listed are monthly amounts.
PC Pet Insurance
PC offers four different plans for both cats and dogs: accident; value; choice; and ultra. The accident is the base plan offered and covers accidents only to a maximum of $1500 per year. The value plan covers $1500 per illness per year and $1500 per accident per year. The choice plans also covers accidents and illnesses but up to $2500 per accident/ illness per year. The same goes for the ultra plan which covers up to $5000 per accident/illness per year. Below is a break down of the costs for these plans.
| Type | Accident | Value | Choice | Ultra |
| Dog | 10.95 | 23.21 | 38.01 | 47.54 |
| Cat | 9.95 | 18.20 | 26.88 | 34.57 |
Regardless of which plan you choose all of these plans come with the same "free extras". They are:
- $100 towards the cost of cremation or burial through loss of life to a covered accident/ illness.
- Emergency kennel fess if your pet is hospitalized more than 2 days, $25 a day, up to a maximum of $500.
- Up to $1000 towards cancelled accomodation and travel expenses due to a pet's illness/ accident.
- $300 towards advertising and reward for a missing pet.
Petsecure
Like PC, Petsecure offers 4 different plans for both cats and dogs: Secure 1, 2 , 3, and 4. Secure 1 covers $1000 per illness and accident per year, as well as $200 towards dental coverage per year. The Secure 2 gives $2500 per illness and accident per year and $300 of dental coverage a year. The Secure 3 offers $5000 coverage per accident and illness per year and $400 of dental coverage. The Secure 4 has unlimited coverage of illnesses and accidents and $600 of dental coverage a year. Each of these plans also comes with $350 per year in alternative therapy coverage. Similarly to PC there are also additional member benefits included with every plan:
- $1000 towards boarding kennel fees if you are hospitalized
- $1000 holiday cancellation
- $1000 for lost pet advertising
- $1000 for cremation or burial costs
- $50 in memoriam donation in the name of your deceased pet
| Type | Secure 1 | Secure 2 | Secure 3 | Secure 4 |
| Dog | 33.81 | 44.88 | 60.97 | 92.11 |
| Cat | 19.44 | 25.23 | 33.23 | 48.68 |
Unlike other plans Petsecure 4 includes coverage of some preventative care costs. Under these plans 80% of your costs are covered after a deductible. For dogs the deductible ranges from $100 to $500. For cats the deductible ranges from $100 to $300. These deductibles are comparable to PC Pet Insurance.
Trupanion
Unlike the other pet insurance companies Trupanion has only one plan that covers 90% of actual veterinary costs with no dollar limits. Cost is determined by your pet's breed, age, gender, and your geographic area. With a $500 deductible coverage for my dog Connor would cost $49.15 a month. With the same $500 deductible coverage for my cat Hershey would cost $28.10 a month. This 90% coverage is also minus exam fees and an optional deductible. My guess would be that if you choose to have a deductible your monthly premium goes up.
Pet Care
Pet Care offers the widest range of plans of the companies studied. They have the following plans: QuickCare for Indoor Cats, QuickCare First (Young cats and dogs), QuickCare Senior (Senior cats and dogs), MasterCare (Pure-bred cats and dogs), QuickCare Plus (Dogs), MasterCare 80% (Cats and dogs), TenantCare (Cats and dogs), and EmergencyCare (Cats and dogs). Whew.
QuickCare for Indoor Cats gives about $2000 in accident and illness coverage for specific accidents and illnesses.
QuickCare First gives $500 in accident coverage and $1000 in illness coverage.
QuickCare Senior gives $2000 in illness coverage and $500-$2000 in illness coverage for specific illnesses.
MasterCare has three different levels that gives increasing amounts of coverage. It ranges from $2000 to $6000 in accident coverage and $2500 to $6500 in illness coverage. There is a lifetime limit on illness coverage.
QuickCare Plus for dogs gives $500 to $2000 in accident coverage depending on the specific accident. $2000 a year is given in illness coverage with a lifetime cap of $12000.
MasterCare 80% has the same coverage amounts as MasterCare, but it only covers 80% of total costs.
TenantCare gives $500 in illness benefits and $1000 in accident coverage.
EmergencyCare gives $3000 in emergency treatments if the pet is lost. There is a $50 deductible and this costs $19.44 yearly. Choosing a plan may be more complicated than choosing a pet.
| Plan | Dog | Cat |
| MasterCare Premiere 90% | 105.45 | 51.70 |
| MasterCare Premiere 80% | 99.35 | 49.15 |
| MasterCare Plus 90% | 89.95 | 49.85 |
| MasterCare Plus 80% | 74.75 | 39.60 |
| MasterCare 90% | 69.75 | 34.35 |
| MasterCare Complete | 68.95 | 44.95 |
| MasterCare 80% | 52.95 | 27.35 |
| QuickCare Optimum | 38.15 | 31.25 |
| QuickCare Plus | 34.95 | N/A |
| Tenant Care | 24.50 | 18.50 |
| QuickCare First | 19.35 | N/A |
| QuickCare Senior | 36.25 | 24.25 |
| QuickCare Indoor Cats | N/A | 14.50 |
Each of their plans comes with very specific coverage for different types of illnesses and accidents. If you're interested I would suggest reading through them yourself.
Comparison
These four companies that I've looked at are the major players in the pet insurance business in Canada. They are all competing with each other so they need to do something that sets them apart. PC offers the lowest prices for coverage. Petsecure offers low prices and lots of coverage. Trupanion offers one simple plan with lots of coverage for a consistent price. Pet Care offers a lot of different plans in order to customize your coverage.
Having looked at all of these companies I believe that my first choice would be Petsecure. They offered the combination of low insurance premiums with good coverage. Pet medical expenses can be costly so I would feel more comfortable personally having greater coverage there. The included dental coverage is also a decided plus. Not to mention the extra features like coverage for trip cancellation and cremation costs. My second choice would be Trupanion because they have a great combination of coverage and cost. They also cover 90% where other companies only cover 80%. PC would be my third choice because of their low prices and decent coverage. I don't think I would chose Pet Care simply because I'd rather play with my pet than spend the rest of my life trying to figure out their plans for pet insurance. They offer too many different plans and I would worry that whatever illness or accident I happen to claim would not be covered simply because I didn't choose the right plan.
It's hard to get exact numbers on the cost of accidents and illnesses for pets. But from my experience I can tell you that a basic emergency visit to the animal hospital will cost you about $1000. Last year Hershey was hit by a car and we had to take him to the animal hospital. He spent the night there and we found out he had only chipped a tooth and bitten his tongue. This cost us $1000 to find out - I can only imagine what the costs would have been if there had actually been something wrong with him. I've heard stories of people with dogs that require special treatments for cancer that range in the thousands of dollars a year.
The important thing to ask yourself is: how much can I afford on my own? For me it was $1000. Anything more than that would have been too much. So I wouldn't get a basic plan covering my pet only up to $1000 because I would be comfortable doing that on my own.
Insure Your Pet Yourself
If don't want to pay premiums to an insurance company for coverage, consider paying them to yourself. If you set aside $25 a month for 17 years, which is the average lifespan of a cat, you would have $4500. For your dog, setting aside $50 a month for 12 years would net you $7200. Additionally, you'll accrue interest on the money while you're at it. Think of that like an emergency fund for your pet, that you can use if you need to. Now you're banking on the fact that your pet won't need thousands of dollars of expensive medical treatments, but if they don't you're set. Consider this as an alternative to costly pet insurance, but remember you have to be responsible and set aside enough money.
There's an additional advantage to this. Spunky may qualify for coverage for a medical condition, but if it's just one of many medical conditions he's likely to encounter at the end of his life, you may decide that it would be better for him to pass on to the next world. If you have insurance, you have sunk all that money into that pet and you can't get it back. But if you save for yourself, then Spunky 2 can be the lucky recipient of $7200+ of personal pet insurance right off the bat.
Conclusion
Having looked at all the different plans I would definitely go with PetSecure if I had to get pet insurance. I like the amount of coverage they give and the premiums they charge. I also like that they include dental coverage, something no other company offered. I would go with either the Secure 2 or 3 because I want more than $1000 worth of coverage as I previously discussed.
However, personally, the only reason I would decide to get pet insurance is if I had only one pet that I loved a lot. For people with a beloved animal as their constant companion, I can see this being a very appealing option. While most of the companies offered a multi-pet discount it starts to get costly to pay multiple premiums every month. In that case I would set aside an amount every month for emergency pet care costs.
Ultimately you have to look at your own situation and figure out what your goals are. If you love your pets more than anything else in this world and you're willing to stop at nothing to help them out, then you should get the most comprehensive insurance plan out there. If you have a pet and simply want some coverage in case of accidents or illness you should get a low-cost plan with moderate coverage. Think about what you have, what you want and what you're comfortable spending and I know you'll figure out the right answer.
