Posted on by Karie Herring

Kroger and National Pet Health Insurance

Did you know that September is National Pet Health Insurance month? I didn’t. But what a great month to spread awareness about Pet Health Insurance.

National Pet Health Insurance Month

September is nationally recognized as Pet Health Insurance month, and Kroger is inviting pet owners to learn more about policy options for their furry friends. This year marks the second annual celebration of the pet insurance month in the United States with pet insurance becoming more and more popular.

Vet care has increased significantly within the past few years. Pet owners can now seek treatment for their pets from dialysis to cancer treatments to surgeries, and pets are living longer than ever. But with the increased level of care comes an understandable increase in cost. According to the American Pet Products Association vet bills topped $11 billion across the nation in 2008.

Pet insurance is an option pet owners may want to consider. Pet insurance can allow owners to have coverage for the unexpected, and it can allow them to better budget for planned expenses. Some plans, such as the accident-only pet insurance plan covers treatment that results from an injury or accident, such as a car collision or unintentional ingestion. But with a more inclusive policy, pet owners can seek reimbursement for preventative care, such as teeth cleaning, flea control, annual exams and behavioral training. Pet insurance can provide peace of mind for pet owners, knowing they will not be stuck making a decision between proper care for their pet and possible “economic” euthanasia.

As a fur baby mama I will tell you that if we are willing to insure our children why not our furry children as well? Just last summer at this time our family was celebrating Big G’s birthday, a joyous of all occasions. But the occasion turned for the worse when we found our English Bulldog Ginger unconscious and unresponsive in our back yard due to heat stroke. The extreme summer heat of Arizona and all of her activity with the excitement took an unhealthy toll and she suffered heat stroke. The Chad and I rushed to her aide to cool her down as fast as we could without dropping her temperature too drastically resulting in permanent damage. We loaded her up and rushed her to the ER where she was treated and in a few days we had our beloved family pet back home with.

However, with that ER trip came a costly bill. The bill though was mitigated by the fact that we invested in pet health insurance for Ginger. While the entire bill was not completely covered a large portion of the bill was and all because we took the time, the small investment, and love of our fur child to adequately protect her in the event of this sort of catastrophic event. More so her general checkups are covered 100%.

While plans may differ in price and characteristic here are some helpful tips:

  • Get the coverage you want. Take the time to review what policies are available. Some carriers, like Kroger and PetFirst Healthcare, offer accident-only coverage, which pet owners may find more attractive than a premium coverage plan which costs more per month. Pet owners should examine how much they’re willing to spend on the monthly premium and match that with the benefits of each plan.
  • Buy early. Most, if not all pet insurance providers will refuse a pet with a pre-existing condition. Just like in humans, a pre-existing condition means the pet was diagnosed with an illness or disease prior to seeking pet insurance. It’s best to seek coverage from Day 1 to avoid the possibility of a pre-existing condition.
  • Know your coverage. Not all treatments will be covered, and what’s covered varies from policy to policy. Because pet owners pay out-of-pocket and then file a claim for reimbursement, some pet owners may not know a treatment isn’t covered until their claim is denied. Avoid that scenario by knowing the coverage benefits before walking into a vet’s clinic.

In addition to supporting pet health insurance awareness, Kroger provided me with a $20 gift card from its One-Stop Gift Card Shop so that I could select my pet-related products at Kroger, as well as a gift card for one of my readers so they could do the same.

Leave me a comment telling me about your fur baby and what you would get your fur baby with your Kroger gift card.

CONTEST ENDS SEPTEMBER 30TH

175 Replies to “Kroger and National Pet Health Insurance”

  1. I don’t know if you know this Karie, but one of my cats passed away two days ago. 🙁

    I had taken her into the vet a month ago because I noticed she was sneezing and her eyes were all weepy. The vet diagnosed her with an upper respiratory infection and also suggested thyroid meds as the blood tests showed hyperthyroidism. She recovered and was looking great and then in the short span of two days, she deteriorated so rapidly that we rushed her to the pet ER center. She would sit up and walk a bit but otherwise didn’t really want to move around or support herself. By the time we got there and they were doing further tests, she went into shock and slipped into a coma. The ultimate diagnosis was that she had FIV and it had been dormant in her for a long time and completely undiagnosed as they don’t routinely run tests of that sort unless there is a problem. The respiratory infection must have kicked the FIV into overdrive and she passed away at the clinic surrounded by our family.

    We’re having a sad time right now. The girls ask questions – which is good, but very hard on us.

    In a state of alarm, I went into our normal vet yesterday to have our other cat tested as FIV is highly contagious between felines. As our luck would have it, he does NOT have FIV. However, he DOES have Feline Leukemia. Yeah. What are the odds of two completely unrelated and incurable illnesses where the cats did not actually catch them from each other. I took him back in today for a further exam and bloodwork so that we will know what we’re dealing with and so that if at all possible, we can put him on super foods or something to prolong his life as he’s happy right now and doesn’t have the slightest clue that he’s sick.

    I’d have loved to have insurance for this. Between both cats, we’ve run up a bill of around $1,000 to date. Both cats we adopted around a year ago – one more, one less. One was vaccinated as a kitten for FeLV, the other apparently wasn’t by his previous owner. Both were outside cats before we got them.

    Two notes here for people that may have stuck with this to read this far…

    1) Neither disease would have prevented us from adopting them. It would have been nice to know, however.

    2) If you have a kitten, please, PLEASE vaccinate them to prevent FeLV. I don’t believe there’s a vaccination for FIV yet but there is a simple one for FeLV to prevent this illness in your cat.

    Anyway, just thought I’d share since this review/giveaway was coincidental with what is happening here. I’d love to know more about insurance options. Perhaps we will be able to get some for our next pets. And we’ll have more. I’m a softy for the furry kind. 🙂

    1. Oh Jenine I am so sorry. I know the loss of a pet OH SO well. We have had to put down two of our pets because we didn’t have pet insurance. We immediately put coverage on our bully to avoid another devastating family loss. You can email me anytime…you know I am here for you!

  16. I don’t have a fur baby, but my mom has 13 (cats). She is a low-income person, and I would use the Kroger card to get her cat food and kitty litter.
    Alicia Webster
    5webs@comcast.net

  17. My cat Oreo passed away a few years ago, so I don’t have a pet to get anything. Got to love them though, they become as family.

  18. have older furbabies and would get them harnesses/ Insurance is great if they start as young ones but for my age dogs it would be 88 dollars a month

  19. I would get WallE some treats and new toys! He loves raw hide! Me too.. it keeps him busy!

  25. I have two wonderful fur babies . . . I’d probably just get them a bag of dog food and maybe some real meat chicken breasts. They love it when I cook for them and add it as a small treat over the top of their dog food. And the vet says skinless chicken is the way to go, in small amounts. 🙂

  30. My furbaby is a dog and she loves tennis balls and any kind of treats so that is what I would get her.

  33. I don’t have a pet right now but I’m always buying treats for my niece’s dog, so I would get her some treats with the gift card.

  34. My dog Annie is an 11 year old rescue dog of the Heinz 57 variety and the best dog in the world! She loves rawhide treats, so I’d stock up on those. She HATES baths, but I’d probably get flea soap too.

  35. In addition to my very spoiled indoor cat Spooky, I’ve just ‘adopted’ a family of 4 kittens and mom cat in my yard. So, I’d be buying cat food, more food, and probably some litter!

  45. We currently have one kitty and are looking for the perfect best friend for him. I would get him a bunch of the little treats he loves.

  62. I’d get him some treats. He loves dog treats and we don’t get them very often as they are kind of expensive.

  70. My fur babies are all the dust bunnies under my furniture in the living room on the hardwood floor. I’d get them a swiffer (i only have the vacuum, and it doesn’t fit under the couch) to clean them up!

  72. I love my fur babies. I do worry about Marlow the cat (12) getting older but so far he’s in good health. Now if only I could teach him not to wake me up at 4am every night! Thanks for the chance!

  73. I have a few furbabies. Two dogs, each weighing 100lbs and 5 ferrets. I would use my gift card to get them some treats. I purchase pet food found only in specialty feed stores. I love to spoil them though!

  78. I have 4 rescues. 1 18year old grouchy gray and white tabby, 3 8 year old siamese. I would get my tabby some wet cat food. She has lost most of her upper teeth. I feed her wet every day,of course, but it would be nice to have a variety.
    twoofakind12@yahoo.com

  86. I have 7 dogs and 6 cats, I would get a new coat for a couple and some new toys and shampoo, thanks.

  91. We have a 5 year old dog named Missy who we adopted from our local animal shelter. I would buy her some new toys-:) thanks jfor the giveaway

  108. My chi Lucy is a little Diva who loves cookies (the doggie kind, not the people kind) so I would get her some Vanilla Woofers.

    susitravl(at)gmail(dot)com

  109. I adopted Lulu, my cat about 3 years ago. She was a outside cat before I took her in so it was difficult to keep her inside…but now she is comfortable with us, and is aware that she is a part of our family!

  115. We have puppy named Belladonna. Shes 4-5 months old and CHEWS everything so I would buy her some new chew toys!

  117. My daughter’s gerbil just lost its lifemate, so he’s pretty lost right now. My daughter would get him all the toys and gourmet treats with this gc!

  121. we have milkshakes, shes is the best cat in the world!! she doesnt scratch furniture or the kids when they play with her!! i would buy her food!!!

  127. My fur baby is a mutt from our local shelter, and his name is Radar. He loves getting new toys so he’d be happy if I won this 🙂

  131. We have 2 fur babies-a Schipperke pup named Shadow and a Morkie named Roxie! They would love some new food and treats from Kroger 🙂

  133. My “fur baby” is our beloved Shetland Sheepdog, Sadie, who’s the most loving, calm, pleasant, loyal dog you could ask for. I’d surprise her with some of her favorite rawhide treats and dog biscuits from Kroger if I’m the lucky winner. Thanks!

  147. My furbaby is a 16-year-old tabby cat. I’d get her cat food/treats and litter. annejk112233(at)yahoo(dot)com

  150. I have a wonderful dog and a cat, so I’d probably get them each something (my dog needs some dental bones lately!)

  158. Thanks for the giveaway…our Yellow Lab, Maxine, would love some treats from the butcher in the Kroger meat dept i.e. some meaty bones !

  174. I have a dog named Phrankly Bo! He’s super spoiled@! I would get him his favorite treat which is the waggon tails chicken jerkY!

Comments are closed.