How to choose the best health insurance for your pet

This brief guide will help you make a more informed choice when selecting health insurance for dogs and cats, as well as other pets, that best meets your needs.

What is pet health insurance for?

The main purpose of pet health insurance is to cover the costs of veterinary care for our companion animals. Therefore, the basic coverages that any insurance of this type should include are hospitalization, sedation, most surgical interventions, and general preventive treatments.

As we will see later, this assistance can be expanded depending on our specific needs, for example, if our pet suffers from a chronic illness or condition. Thanks to these coverages, the often expensive veterinary treatments become much more manageable for owners.

Differences according to pet type

The most common policy is health insurance for dogs and cats, as these are the most common pets in Spanish households. In this case, different offers are available on the market, such as Santévet's, which offers three different levels for dog insurance and four for cat policies.

Thus, owners can choose between coverages ranging from 50% to 90% of the costs generated by veterinary care, with annual maximum limits that can reach 5,000 euros. All of this is supported by a broad network of veterinary clinics and professionals available to provide the best service to policyholders, even when we are traveling.

Types of insurance

Along with the specific conditions for each type of pet, there are two main types of health insurance for our companion animals.

Veterinary assistance insurance is the most popular, as it is designed to cover all or part of the costs incurred from vet visits and the corresponding treatments or procedures our pet may need. This is particularly important because pet surgeries can represent a significant expense for owners.

The second type of insurance is reimbursement insurance. This modality has practically the same scope as the previous one, but in this case, the owner pays the cost upfront and then submits a claim to the insurance company to be reimbursed for part of it.

Most common mistakes

A very common confusion when talking about pet insurance is thinking about liability insurance, a concept that has become popular due to the enactment of various regulations on the matter. It is important to note that this is a completely different coverage, as it does not include any type of veterinary assistance.

Only if our pet is harmed by another pet could we benefit from liability insurance (taken out by the owner of the other pet). Therefore, it is still advisable to have a specific health policy.

In short, we will never stop worrying about our pets, regardless of the circumstances and irrespective of the coverages we have.

Having health insurance specifically tailored to our pet's characteristics is the best way to ensure that this concern translates into the effective well-being of these beloved members of our families.