Policies for Pets

When pets need expensive medicine or surgery, many owners have them killed to avoid big veterinary bills. Now some people are circumventing that painful decision by taking out health policies for their pets.

Under Veterinary Pet Insurance, a program started by a group of 700 California vets, dogs and cats up to 15 years old can be covered against accidents such as poisonings and auto injuries (cost: $19 a year). For complete health coverage, a major medical plan runs from $44 to $109 a year, depending on the pet's age. The policies will pay for surgery, dental work, X-rays, even chemotherapy treatments for animals with cancer.

A typical beneficiary of the new insurance was a black-and-white tomcat named Jober, who owes one of his nine lives to a $19 accident policy. When Jober was hit by a car and suffered a fractured skull, the policy covered $200 of its $354 hospital bill. Jober's owners, Lou and Fran Bruno of Costa Mesa, Calif., admit they would otherwise have had second thoughts about having the expensive treatment. Said Bruno: "We were so happy to be able to tell the vet to go ahead and do what he could."

Veterinary Pet Insurance recently paid a claim of $750, the maximum, on a $1,600 bill to perform open-chest surgery on a Gordon setter. Since the company started in April 1982, it has collected more than $850,000 in premiums from 15,000 policyholders. About 75% of customers have renewed their policies. Among the pets insured are the video dog Lassie and Hugh Hefner's pair of English sheep dogs. Veterinary Pet Insurance so far does not cover Hefner's bunnies. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.