Is Pet Insurance Necessary For Huskies?

You might be wondering, do Huskies really require pet insurance, or are they robust enough to dodge this additional monthly cost?

This article covers whether pet insurance is really necessary for huskies and provides a few options if you think it is for you.

Is Pet Insurance Worth It: A Realistic Answer

More and more pet owners are becoming increasingly worried that they may not be able to afford an emergency pet medical bill if ever in that situation.

This plays on the heartstrings because our pets are our family. We love our pets like we love our humans, which is why this topic is not just financially tough, it’s emotionally tough too.

Veterinary science has made leaps in the last decades and we are now able to perform an array of life-saving treatments, surgery and we can help our furry friends with nearly all health issues. But these services come with bills, and they’re not cheap.

So is pet insurance the answer?

The main argument surrounding pet insurance is the monthly costs, compared to the chances of your husky needing a costly procedure.

If you magically knew your husky will never need any serious procedures, of course, you wouldn’t opt to pay $40 a month for insurance for the next 12 years or so. But unfortunately, we don’t know what will happen.

Another way to put it, is how much do you want peace of mind? We all want peace of mind, but affording it is something else.

Everyone’s financial situation is different and this plays probably the most important role. If you are lucky enough not to have to worry about an extra $40 per month, then it’s almost a no brainer, and pet insurance will be worth it. But if $40 is an extra cost you can’t afford, it’s understandably harder.

Do you already know you want pet insurance?

If you already feel like you do want to get pet insurance but another $30-$50 monthly bill isn’t possible, then maybe you can accumulate this money elsewhere.

I was talking about this with my pawfriends and as it happens, they save money together in a few relatable ways! For example, they share a single Netflix account, a single Prime account, they cut back on a few unnecessary supermarket purchases, and before long, they all found the extra $40 quite quickly. One of them sold an old wooden table for $80 (that’s two months paid for already) P.S This is actually what they did to afford pet insurance!

One of my friends mentioned something that resonated with me, and it’s actually what inspired me to write this post. It was about how much having peace of mind was worth to her. Not only will her husky now be able to have any procedure that comes up, but she feels happier and less worried about her husky on a daily basis.

Generally feeling more at ease has even had a positive impact on her own relationship with her husky. I thought that was quite profound.

Of course, those examples may or may not apply to you, but hopefully, you see my point. If you really want that peace of mind, earning an extra $40 can be achieved if you put your mind to it.

What Are The Chances of Your Husky Needing an Expensive Procedure?

Now, technically speaking, what makes pet insurance actually worth $400-$500 per year, is whether or not you will ever incur health issues.

Siberian huskies are in general a healthy breed. So there’s a chance that the big scary bills all pet insurance companies are so quick to remind you of, will never actually happen.

It’s hard to say whether or not any individual husky will develop health problems later on in life. As a small indication, you can look at the bloodline of your husky. If the parents of your husky had a hereditary condition that can be passed down, then you may be more concerned. But even that is never certain.

Take a look at the graph below, It is not completely accurate, but the information has been taken from a number of reliable sources. It also doesn’t cover all health conditions.

Health Condition	Percentage of Husky population	Procedure costs (Estimations from pet medical websites)
Cataracts + Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)	Cataracts affect around of 10% of the entire husky breed. PRA is not as common, but just as expensive.	$1000-$5000 per eye
Gum Disease	By age two, 80% of all dogs have some form of dental disease	$500 – $1500 depending on disease
Hip Dysplacia	The number of cases are reducing but still classed common amongst huskies. Can be inherited from parents	$1000-$6000
Corneal Dystrophy	It can be inherited from parents. It can affect huskies of any age. Is classed as common amongst huskies but no estimations are available. Listed as one of the top health issues with huskies	$500-$3000
Follicular Dysplasia	A common health issue in huskies and can result in abnormal hair growth, hair loss, patchy skin, or infectious skin.	No treatment
Arthritis	This isn’t too much of an issue for young dogs, but arthritis can affect nearly 1 in 5 dogs during old age.	Variable. Inexpensive joint medication, or even expensive surgery.

As you can see, there are many health conditions that require costly procedures, but it’s never certain whether or not your husky will ever develop one.

After becoming familiar with some of the costs, it helps to do some quick maths to put it all into perspective. If you pay an average of $40 per month, for let’s say 10 years. That’s a total of $4800. Which is still less, than some of the treatment options for common health issues.

Is Pet Insurance Worth it for Older Huskies

Some pet insurance companies have a fairly low age limit and others like Embrace, do not. Embrace, for example, offers full cover for dogs 14 years and under, and dogs older than this can be approved for accident-only cover.

The issue with insuring an older dog, like with people, is that it’s considerably more expensive. And whether or not the costs become justified is even harder to answer.

I can’t say what’s best to do here and it all depends on your own beliefs and personal situation.

This can be a very sensitive topic and not what this article is about. But as our canine companions get older, in many cases, illnesses and health conditions can often cause so much discomfort, that euthanasia may be sad, but a better option, than to prolong pain and discomfort.

It’s hard to make a decision when it’s both emotional and financial, and only you will know what’s within reason, for you.

Is Pet Insurance Worth it For a Husky Puppy

When you first get your fluff ball the last thing you’re thinking about is pet insurance, but should you be? let’s take a look at this frequently asked question.

When you first get your pup, veterinary check-ups and vaccines will be quite frequent, and they cost a pretty penny. Nearly all pet insurance policies never cover routine-check ups or vaccines, so you won’t save anything here.

Not only that, but many companies have limited plans available if you’re trying to insure a very young puppy. This is because health conditions have not yet been discovered and in the eyes of a pet insurance company (who conveniently never cover pre-existing conditions) isn’t a sensible bet.

So, because of the advantage you get by covering your pup completely (before discovering any would-be health issues) Pet insurance companies often charge quite a lot, or give you limited options.

If you can afford the extra cost without having to worry about it at all, then I would say insuring your puppy as soon as possible is the best thing to do.

It’s important to remember that a significant amount of health issues in dogs often show themselves in the first three years. So if you are going to go down the pet insurance route, it makes sense to take out pet insurance before health conditions arise.

What Do I Think? | Summary

Personally, I think pet insurance is worth it for the just- in-case moments in your husky’s life. You never know what’s going to happen and being able to afford the procedure could be the difference between a short life or a long one. When I think of it like that, it makes clear sense.

But, A $40 or $50 bill every month is significant and it’s understandable if that cost is currently not practical for you.

Although, just like my friends who couldn’t afford it, they found ways to make it happen, even if that meant selling their table or skipping their fortnightly dominos ($34!) for the foreseeable future. They now have the extra $40 a month to cover their husky.

What about pet insurance companies?

I reviewed the top pet insurance companies a while back, and throughout creating this article did more checks on the companies to see if anything had drastically changed. Nothing had changed.

You may want to check out that article here, I review the companies and explain a little more about pet insurance as well.

For those who want to dive straight in, I recommend Embrace Pet Insurance. They are one of the most well-known pet insurance companies in the USA and not only offer competitive prices, but they have great customer reviews. You can get a free quote from them here or visit my pet insurance article to read more about them.

The goal of this article was to help you think about whether pet insurance is worth it for you. I hope this has helped with that! If you have any comments, drop them below!

Helpful Resources Used:
https://www.comparethemarket.com/pet-insurance/content/is-it-worth-it/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43916934/ns/business-consumer_news/t/pet-insurance-good-deal-or-rip/
https://www.valuepenguin.com/pet-insurance/is-pet-insurance-worth-it

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