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Is Your Pet Eligible for Pet Insurance?

By Colleen Williams
published: October 9, 2012 - updated: June 7, 2023 • 2 min. read
Dog and cat

Key Takeaways

  • You can typically enroll pets in an insurance plan between eight weeks and 14 years of age.
  • You can still enroll a pet in a plan if there are pre-existing conditions.
  • Healthy Paws does not cover preventative care.
  • However, our plan can help when your pet is sick or in pain.
  • Enrolling in a pet insurance plan only takes minutes and will give you peace of mind.

We want every pet parent to have access to the best veterinary care for their pet without having to make hard financial choices. We make it easy to know if pet insurance is an option for your dog or cat. Ask yourself these questions:

How old is my pet?

For both kittens and puppies, the earliest you can normally enroll is 8 weeks. The maximum age you can enroll your pet is 14 years old for cats and dogs. Once enrolled with Healthy Paws, you have coverage for the life of your pet.

It’s often a misconception that younger pets have fewer health issues. Our pet loving customers file just as many claims for younger pets, including puppies and kittens, as do those with older pets. It’s why we always suggest getting your pet insured as soon as possible to protect yourself from costly, unexpected health issues.

Protect your pet

Does my pet have any pre-existing conditions?

We define pre-existing conditions as one that first occurred or showed clinical symptoms before your pet’s coverage started (including waiting periods). Pre-existing conditions do not make your pet ineligible for pet insurance, its just that those health issues will not be covered. For example, if you’re looking at pet insurance as a way to pay for your pet’s existing diabetes medications, any treatments, prescriptions, and related illnesses are excluded from coverage.

Injured paws are covered by Healthy Paws
Injured paw? We have you covered for this and much more.

What type of pet health conditions do I need covered?

As a pet parent, protecting your pet from unexpected illnesses and injuries is a primary concern. These are things you can’t plan or budget. When your pet is sick or in pain, the last thing on your mind is how you’ll pay for his treatment. With Healthy Paws pet insurance, you can focus on what really matters – the health and care of your pet – and know that we’ll will have the costs covered.

Preventative care (also referred to as wellness), such as annual exams, vaccinations, and spay/neuter are not covered by Healthy Paws. We believe expected costs like annual check-ups are a manageable cost that you can plan and budget. If a pet insurance company offers coverage for preventative care, take a close look at what they are excluding from coverage. Most likely its something important that will leave you holding a very large veterinary bill.

How do I enroll my pet in a pet health insurance plan?

Simply get your free pet insurance quote and join our pet health plan. It takes just minutes and you’ll have the peace of mind of being covered by the team at Healthy Paws, the #1 customer-rated pet insurance company. When you join Healthy Paws, you’ll enjoy unlimited lifetime benefits, coverage for any accident or illness (except pre-existing conditions), and the best customer service.  Call us if you have questions at 1-800-453-4054.

colleen williams
By Colleen Williams

Over the past decade, Colleen has written about health, wellness, beauty, and even pets for The New York Times, The Cut, Refinery29, xoVain, Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, and Seattle Met Magazine, as well as many beauty brands. She has a BFA in Art History from the University of New Mexico and an AAS in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design in New York.

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