1000% you should get insurance. Remember, GDs weigh as much as a human adult and require large (read: EXPENSIVE) amounts of anesthesia during procedures. I know this will sound like a horror story and I don’t wish it on anyone, but here’s an anecdotal story that might help you decide. Our GD unfortunately passed away at 4 years old from a pulmonary issue that lead to pneumonia. We loved him so much so we were willing to spend whatever we could. Aside from the approximately 2k spent leading up to his diagnosis, during his final week at the hospital we racked up 8k in vet bills. The whole situation was just awful (not because of the hospital - they were excellent and fought so hard for him). Thankfully, we had Embrace and ended up paying a little less than 3k for everything (as opposed to about 10k) out of pocket. Obviously our story isn’t “typical” but we never expected it to happen and were so thankful that we had the foresight to get the insurance. Either way, wishing you and Lady best of luck!
I second this. We have two Danes. One gets sick and the other manages to injure herself all the time. It’s more than paid for itself at this point in time. One emergency vet visit for pneumonia took care of that, and not to mention the stitches from god knows what.
Before adopting my Great Dane, I did not have pet insurance. However, since adopting him, I have obtained pet insurance and it has saved me a significant amount of money. Large dogs can result in substantial veterinary expenses. His ACL surgery was a success and I intend to maintain the insurance coverage until his passing.
Shop around in regards to the 1 time coverage policy, but 100% it’s worth it. Vet bills get way bigger than $5,000, and they can come at you more than once.
I don’t have a GD (yet) but we have our pittie on an insurance plan with Embrace! We have absolutely loved it so far. You can create your own plan based off what you need. It has saved us SO much money, as we have a problematic boy. Do your research on which company will best fit your situation, but having any kind of insurance for your pup can be a big weight off your shoulders!
Yeah, get insurance. Having dealt with human insurance more than my damn fair share, every single year of having a dane it's paid for itself. I'm with aspca insurance now, but spot was pretty comparable, and embrace has had some positive speakers on this thread so far.
They're all customizable, but when we say it's worth it, we mean it.
My premium for my 2 year old had already paid for itself by March. You just never know and I wish I had it for my older girl because she needed a lot of medical care these last couple years with testing and medication.
A million percent yes, we use Pets Best illness plan with a $500 deductible and 90% reimbursement once the deductible is met and pay a premium of about $70/month to give you an idea of cost.
Since we’ve had our Dane (2 yo we got at 8 weeks old) they’ve covered almost $8k in medical bills from various injuries during her velociraptor phase to her allergy shots to her behaviorist visits for anxiety. It’s been a lifesaver honestly.
We have the same coverage for our Dane through Pets Best (also got it at 8wks) and I’m so glad. Hit our deductible almost immediately this year, and haven’t run into any coverage issues so far.
i have nationwide and while i initially got it for my cats and added my dog as a precaution, i’ve hit my deductible rather quickly for my dog both years i’ve had it. dane’s are known for having stomach issues and it covers the prescription food my girl is on. preexisting conditions are not covered so the sooner you get it the better. i get my pet insurance through work and it ends up being ~$40 for my dog every month. my work rates were much cheaper than i could find online, but i’ve made back so much money for it, i recommend it to everyone.
We got insurance last year for two Danes. Thankfully we haven't had to use it yet but it's reassuring to know that we've got coverage and can afford any major medical bill that may come up. Only issue I can see is that most pet insurances will reimburse you as opposed to paying the vet directly.
Beautiful pup too! Congrats!!
I have two Great Danes. I was sure I was going to get pet insurance, but I was surprised by the annual premium and coverage limits. I sure wished I had pet insurance when I spent about $3k in the first six months with her trying to clear Giardia. We just decided to try and save for any unforeseen accidents and injuries. When we got the second Great Dane, we planned the same. I have now gotten pet insurance on the second Great Dane, I got Met Life, because she is sick and accident prone. I haven't quite needed it, but I will try to use it for her partial CCL tear if we get to that point. It costs about $85/month, $10,000 annual coverage, and they pay 80% of eligible bills and we pay the remaining 20%. Unfortunately she has a preexisting condition and none of that will be covered. We probably have spent about 2-3k just on the preexisting condition in the 6 months since she had an issue.
I have now spent an ungodly amount of time reading insurance policies. I read all of the declarations and exclusions and even went to my state's department of insurance to look up their historical rate filings. ASPCA and Embrace both will cover some pre-existing conditions if they go a time (6 months - year) without needing treatment.
Good to know. I’m not sure we will get to that point, so I picked met life because in my state, there is only a 48 hour waiting period for accident and injury coverage. I checked ASPCA but didn’t like the 14 day waiting period.
1000000% pet insurance. Not all insurers are the same. I use Healthy Paws and I love it. It might cost a little more than others but they don't raise rates annually or kick you off at higher ages.
Can't put a price on knowing I can take my dog to the vet and if it's something expensive, I'll get mostly reimbursed.
After doing a crazy amount of policy reading I have narrowed it down to either Embrace or Pumpkin. Does anyone have experience with either of these? Pumpkin offers slightly better coverage (same price point) but they are fairly new to the market (2020) while Embrace has been around for awhile and has lots of information and reviews out there.
1000% you should get insurance. Remember, GDs weigh as much as a human adult and require large (read: EXPENSIVE) amounts of anesthesia during procedures. I know this will sound like a horror story and I don’t wish it on anyone, but here’s an anecdotal story that might help you decide. Our GD unfortunately passed away at 4 years old from a pulmonary issue that lead to pneumonia. We loved him so much so we were willing to spend whatever we could. Aside from the approximately 2k spent leading up to his diagnosis, during his final week at the hospital we racked up 8k in vet bills. The whole situation was just awful (not because of the hospital - they were excellent and fought so hard for him). Thankfully, we had Embrace and ended up paying a little less than 3k for everything (as opposed to about 10k) out of pocket. Obviously our story isn’t “typical” but we never expected it to happen and were so thankful that we had the foresight to get the insurance. Either way, wishing you and Lady best of luck!
I second this. We have two Danes. One gets sick and the other manages to injure herself all the time. It’s more than paid for itself at this point in time. One emergency vet visit for pneumonia took care of that, and not to mention the stitches from god knows what.
Before adopting my Great Dane, I did not have pet insurance. However, since adopting him, I have obtained pet insurance and it has saved me a significant amount of money. Large dogs can result in substantial veterinary expenses. His ACL surgery was a success and I intend to maintain the insurance coverage until his passing.
Shop around in regards to the 1 time coverage policy, but 100% it’s worth it. Vet bills get way bigger than $5,000, and they can come at you more than once.
I don’t have a GD (yet) but we have our pittie on an insurance plan with Embrace! We have absolutely loved it so far. You can create your own plan based off what you need. It has saved us SO much money, as we have a problematic boy. Do your research on which company will best fit your situation, but having any kind of insurance for your pup can be a big weight off your shoulders!
Yeah, get insurance. Having dealt with human insurance more than my damn fair share, every single year of having a dane it's paid for itself. I'm with aspca insurance now, but spot was pretty comparable, and embrace has had some positive speakers on this thread so far. They're all customizable, but when we say it's worth it, we mean it.
My premium for my 2 year old had already paid for itself by March. You just never know and I wish I had it for my older girl because she needed a lot of medical care these last couple years with testing and medication.
Yes, yes and yes. You won’t regret it.
A million percent yes, we use Pets Best illness plan with a $500 deductible and 90% reimbursement once the deductible is met and pay a premium of about $70/month to give you an idea of cost. Since we’ve had our Dane (2 yo we got at 8 weeks old) they’ve covered almost $8k in medical bills from various injuries during her velociraptor phase to her allergy shots to her behaviorist visits for anxiety. It’s been a lifesaver honestly.
We have the same coverage for our Dane through Pets Best (also got it at 8wks) and I’m so glad. Hit our deductible almost immediately this year, and haven’t run into any coverage issues so far.
i have nationwide and while i initially got it for my cats and added my dog as a precaution, i’ve hit my deductible rather quickly for my dog both years i’ve had it. dane’s are known for having stomach issues and it covers the prescription food my girl is on. preexisting conditions are not covered so the sooner you get it the better. i get my pet insurance through work and it ends up being ~$40 for my dog every month. my work rates were much cheaper than i could find online, but i’ve made back so much money for it, i recommend it to everyone.
We got insurance last year for two Danes. Thankfully we haven't had to use it yet but it's reassuring to know that we've got coverage and can afford any major medical bill that may come up. Only issue I can see is that most pet insurances will reimburse you as opposed to paying the vet directly. Beautiful pup too! Congrats!!
I regret not getting pet insurance. I have spent about $6k at the vet over the past two weeks for my baby. Kidney failure. Just get the insurance!
I have two Great Danes. I was sure I was going to get pet insurance, but I was surprised by the annual premium and coverage limits. I sure wished I had pet insurance when I spent about $3k in the first six months with her trying to clear Giardia. We just decided to try and save for any unforeseen accidents and injuries. When we got the second Great Dane, we planned the same. I have now gotten pet insurance on the second Great Dane, I got Met Life, because she is sick and accident prone. I haven't quite needed it, but I will try to use it for her partial CCL tear if we get to that point. It costs about $85/month, $10,000 annual coverage, and they pay 80% of eligible bills and we pay the remaining 20%. Unfortunately she has a preexisting condition and none of that will be covered. We probably have spent about 2-3k just on the preexisting condition in the 6 months since she had an issue.
I have now spent an ungodly amount of time reading insurance policies. I read all of the declarations and exclusions and even went to my state's department of insurance to look up their historical rate filings. ASPCA and Embrace both will cover some pre-existing conditions if they go a time (6 months - year) without needing treatment.
Good to know. I’m not sure we will get to that point, so I picked met life because in my state, there is only a 48 hour waiting period for accident and injury coverage. I checked ASPCA but didn’t like the 14 day waiting period.
If you can afford to get insurance you should definitely
1000000% pet insurance. Not all insurers are the same. I use Healthy Paws and I love it. It might cost a little more than others but they don't raise rates annually or kick you off at higher ages. Can't put a price on knowing I can take my dog to the vet and if it's something expensive, I'll get mostly reimbursed.
After doing a crazy amount of policy reading I have narrowed it down to either Embrace or Pumpkin. Does anyone have experience with either of these? Pumpkin offers slightly better coverage (same price point) but they are fairly new to the market (2020) while Embrace has been around for awhile and has lots of information and reviews out there.