Pet owners who over feed their dogs are causing veterinary bills to skyrocket and, as a result, are forcing pet insurance rates to spike right along with them.
Insurers of pets have reported that pet obesity – especially in dogs – is causing the animals to suffer from a number of unpleasant and expensive illnesses. Just as is the case with people, dogs suffer from many related conditions when they are overweight.
However, because they are smaller than humans, the problems caused by the extra pounds are compounded and come on much more quickly, leading them to rapidly develop diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and problems with breathing. Every additional pound in a dog or cat is much more damaging than the same amount of extra weight on a person.
Petplan, a large pet insurance company, performed a recent survey that showed that 83 percent of pet owners aren’t worried about feeding their pets too much, and almost half of pet owners confessed that they feed their animals take-out.
This lack of concern about over feeding has meant that many pets have become obese, and so have the veterinary bills for their treatments. According to Petplan, for case of both cats and dogs with diabetes, it can cost almost $15,000 to treat throughout the length of the animal’s lifetime.
That said, the majority of insured animals will only be covered for that condition for the first year of treatments, as those plans are typically “time and benefit limited”. This means that some medical conditions have a maximum yearly dollar limit, and after that point the condition is called “pre-existing” so that coverage is no longer extended to it.
Some cover-for-life policies will continue the coverage throughout the length of the dog’s lifespan and/or condition, though the maximum payout limit usually remains for each year.
