We know that life is getting far too expensive lately, and we’re all doing everything we can to pinch those pennies. Pets are, unfortunately, expensive, and a large part of this is the cost of veterinary care. We’ve discussed why vets are expensive before, so let’s today focus on pet health plans; a scheme many vet practices offer to help save you money. But are they all they’re cracked up to be? What are the benefits? Will I really save money?
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What is a Pet Health Plan?
A pet health plan is basically a subscription service for your pet covering routine healthcare. They vary massively from practice to practice, so we will describe some common features. By paying in monthly instalments, or a single annual payment, your pet receives their routine annual vaccines, flea and worming treatments, nail clips, health-checks and more at heavy discount or free. Many may offer discounts on medication or surgical procedures for your pet too. Some even offer free appointments to see your vet, meaning you only have to pay for medication. Most practices offer them for dogs and cats, and some even for other animals like rabbits.
The best comparison is using the gym as a pay as you go customer and paying every visit, versus getting a membership that includes all visits for free and often includes bonuses too. Remember that every health plan differs from practice to practice. So please speak to your local vet about what they offer and if it is suitable for your pet.
Is it like Insurance?
Health plans are definitely not like insurance, and it is important to distinguish between these.
A health plan covers the routine treatment that every pet should have to keep them healthy. Insurance helps cover the cost of veterinary care if your pet has an accident, develops an illness, needs surgery, and so on. Most insurance is purchased from external companies, not veterinary practices themselves.
We highly recommend getting insurance for all pets to help manage sudden costs should your pet get sick, ensuring they get the best care they can. We also recommend health plans for most pets for a number of reasons.
How Will My Pet Benefit from a Health Plan?
Almost all health plans cover annual vaccinations. The diseases that we vaccinate dogs, cats and rabbits against are some of the most dangerous infectious diseases pets can catch. Luckily, the UK has a great vaccination scheme, and the rates of these diseases are relatively low. To help keep it this way, pets need a primary course of vaccines as puppies or kittens. Then usually yearly boosters after that to maintain protection. By being vaccinated, both your pet and the wider pet population are less likely to pick up these diseases and become ill.
Ectoparasite treatments are also commonly covered by health plans. These monthly spot-on, tablet, injections or collars protect your pet against fleas, ticks, mites, lice and other nasty creepy crawlies that live on their skin. These parasites cause a number of problems; ranging from simple irritation and loss of fur, to skin infections and even the transmission of deadly diseases. Regular flea treatment kills and prevents these parasites, meaning your pet is protected for longer.
Wormers are important to keep all pets healthy, but especially young and old animals, as they are more vulnerable. Luckily, health plans tend to include these for free. Being infected with worms can lead to vomiting, diarrhoea, blood in the stools, weight loss, blood loss, coughing and even heart disease in some rare cases. As they are commonly picked up from the outdoors, most pets are vulnerable. So regular prevention with a tablet or spot-on reduces the risk of becoming ill with worms.
Most health plans include a vet check of your pet at a discount or free
Aside from allowing your pet to be protected from infectious diseases, ectoparasites and worms (which require veterinary examination before prescribing the most effective drugs), seeing a vet regularly has many other benefits. The more frequently a vet checks your pet, the more we will know what their normal is and the more likely it is we will spot early warning signs of disease. This is especially true with ageing animals. That simple cough could be heart disease, those stiff legs might be arthritis, or maybe that lump is something nasty. Many diseases are easier to treat if identified early. So seeing your vet at least once a year provides a better chance to spot these problems before they get serious.
It also provides a good opportunity to grill your vet with any husbandry questions you might have; that’s what we’re here for! On top of this, we know that many pets are afraid of the vet. So regular visits where there is only gentle examination and nothing nasty encourages your pet to think of the vets as a positive experience. This makes them less stressed when they visit, makes them easier to examine, and helps keep human and animal happy! Puppies especially benefit from this socialisation early on.
So, Will I Really Save Money?
As with all things, it depends. If you ensure that your pet always gets their yearly boosters, is regularly treated for fleas and worms, and sees your vet often, then you will likely make a massive saving with a health plan! All of this will now be cheaper or free, and you may save in other aspects of veterinary care too. Other pets that may benefit would be those with long-term diseases who need regular check-ups, or very old and very young pets.
However, if your pet is one that only really sees the vet when they are ill, then you may not save any extra money on your veterinary care with a health plan. This is because the cost of the plan itself may be more than your normal vet bills. If you don’t take advantage of the benefits, then you may not see the savings.
But for pets like this, perhaps a health plan is the perfect excuse for you to start seeing the vet more? As we discussed above, vaccines, health-checks and appropriate parasite prevention are very important for all pets. And if being on a health plan means you are more likely to get your pet covered, then it is a saving! Remember that prevention is often better than cure. The cost of a monthly health plan to vaccinate your pet will likely cost far less than emergency treatment for a nasty vaccine-controlled disease like Parvovirus or FIV. You may not realise how much of a saving you could have made until it is too late.
Final Thoughts
Remember that health plans are highly variable and offer different perks vet to vet. So please speak to your local practice about their scheme. But we do feel that most owners can save money with a health plan. They also will encourage you to see your vet more regularly, helping your pet to be healthier, safer and happier for longer!
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