05/28/2026
Today's topic of discussion, the importance of pet insurance. Meet Miss Bacardi aka Cardi B. May 7th she had an accident and broke her leg. I have no idea what she did. I just knew it was bad and we needed to get to the vet. After xrays and an exam by her primary vet, they determined she need a specialist due to the complexity of her break. So off to Ohio State Veterinary Hospital we went. After evaluating her, it was discovered she had a significant break in her ankle which needed surgery as well as a grade 3 heart murmur. Not only did she have a ct scan of her leg, she had an echocardiogram of her heart. She needed the echo to make sure her heart would be ok through surgery. Both tests are expensive on top of the cost of her surgery. We found out she has very early heart disease. Luckily she is not a breeder, she's my pet and she is not related to any of my breeders. This girl was originally planned on being a breeder, but developed fip as a kitten. I treated her successfully thank goodness. She's been through a lot in her two years of life.
Cardi had her surgery and has an external fixator attached by pins to her leg. It had to be left on for 4-6 weeks and then surgically removed. It's not been easy keeping her from movement but we're three weeks in and she's doing wonderfully.
Now the breakdown of cost. Lemonade is the insurance I go through for my pets. They are affordable at $25 per month and cover everything at 90% include office visit fees and vaccinations. The total for my home vet was $400. I had to meet my deductible of $250 . I paid $275 for that appointment. The bill for thei initial surgery, hospitalization, echo, and CT scan was $4505.00. I paid $500. We have several more appointments plus xrays and surgery coming up. I will only pay 10% of those which will be expensive. If I did not have insurance, I'm not sure how I would be able to afford $5000 but I would have found a way.
Pet insurance is important because you never know what will happen. The monthly premium is a small amount compared to what you could be looking at. I send all my babies home wirh trupanion insurance. They're a great company. I have preferred Lemonade for my animals because the coverage is wonderful and it's more affordable than trupanion. I stress the importance of maintaining coverage to all my pet parents. This is the 2nd broken leg with surgery I have had to deal with in my cattery. The last one was out of pocket and cost over 2k. That was 8 years ago. The costs have significantly risen since then.
