A pet wellness plan may be worth it, especially if you have a young puppy or kitten because often, you’ll get more use out of your preventative pet insurance if you start your pet young. Even basic pet care is cheaper than surgeries or cancer treatmentin the end, you will spend more on preventive care throughout your pet’s life if you don’t have a health plan.
According to health care financing company Care Credit, veterinary exams, basic vaccinations, and procedures like spaying or neutering and microchip implantation can total $2,800 in a puppy’s first year. The first year’s cost for a cat is about $2,500.
Without a wellness plan, pet owners should plan to spend $7,600 to $19,000 on veterinary care over the lifetime of their cat or dog. An add-on wellness plan can help offset the cost of annual preventive healthcare for your dog or cat through a low monthly fee added to your pet insurance premium. While this won’t cover all the costs, it will help spread the cost over time.