Pet Insurance - Pre-existing Conditions

[fungrzz]

Hello All!

My little 5.5 y/o Maltese was diagnosed with immune mediated hemolytic anemia a little over a month and a half ago and a blood transfusion and many vet specialist vet visits later, she seems to be winning the battle, with her PCV at 38 during the last check Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to get her Pet insurance as that vet bill was quite a shocker to say the least.

I know that she will not be covered in the event of a relapse in IMHA, but I am cautious of the fact that the high dose of prednisone she is on can cause long term damage and makes her more susceptible other illnesse and complications which she does not have symptoms of at the moment. Given this scenario, do you think the potential secondary complications fall under the definition of "pre-existing condistions"? The definition provided in PIA's PDS is:

• any Condition(s) or symptoms or signs of that Condition occurring

or existing in any form prior to the Commencement Date, or

• a latent infectious condition that manifests itself within a known incubation

period following the Commencement Date indicating clear evidence

that the condition had existed prior to the Commencement Date. or

• any Illness or symptoms or signs of that Illness occurring or existing in

any form during the Waiting Period.

It doesnt really sound like they will be caught by the definition but I'm just not 100% sure...

Thanks in advance for your help!

Fungrzz

[Lemonlime]

I can't help you but just wanted to say its nice to here of a success story with IMHA. I hope your girl continues fighting the battle. I lost a dog to IMHA in Feb so I know how hard your little dog had to fight to be here today.

[westiemum]

fungrzz I'm really pleased to hear your dog has pulled through - thats terrific.

However at this age and with this sort of medical history I would be very wary of relying on pet insurance for the future. I tried to insure my 6.5 year old west highland some years ago who, as a puppy farm rescue dog had a significant history. They were happy to insure him as long as all but his right big toe was excluded (eg had had an ACL repair so the healthy right leg was excluded!!). Anyway I decided with all these exclusions to not insure him but save for his expenses by upping my mortgage repayments and drawing down if I needed it. And I'm glad I did - as his last threee ops since November last year would all have been excluded under the policy.

So I suppose its a case for you of ask the questions, read the small print, understand the exclsuions (there will be a heap of them I bet) and then decide whats best for you.

Generally, I think pet insutrance for older dogs with chronic health history is often a waste of time.

Pet insurance works well with puppies or young dogs with little history of health problems IMO.

Hope that helps.

ETS

Edited July 19, 2010 by westiemum

[Deelirious]

I've been thinking about this also. How do they check the prior history? do they just contact the vet that you nominate?