How Much Do You Love Your Pet?

Howard Stern’s better half, Beth Ostrosky, recently used her boyfriend’s radio show to help a friend in need... of finding her pooch. When English bulldog Clara recently disappeared in midtown Manhattan, her owner, Jessica Kurland, reached out to Ostrosky. Soon after Stern's gal made an on air appeal, Clara was home safe and sound.

For those of us without easy access to the airwaves, however, pet mishaps like this don’t always work out so easily. Given the emotional and monetary investment of being a pet owner, and with the breadth and cost of veterinary care increasing every year, pet insurance is an increasingly popular option. While still far from the norm, less than one-half of 1% of U.S. pet owners enrolled in some form of coverage, pet insurance is a growing industry. There are currently ten major companies offering pet insurance, and pet-food giant Purina is launching their own plan this spring. “When larger brands come into the space you know it’s gaining some traction,” says Laura Bennett, CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance.

But does pet insurance make sense for you? It all depends on the attitude you have towards your furry friend. “There’s a subset of pet owners who treat their pets like their children," says Bennett. "If you’re the kind of person who would pay whatever it takes to make them better, pet insurance really is for you. If your pet’s disposable, then it’s not. You have to ask-are you a pet owner, or a pet parent?”

Bennett stresses that insurance is really intended for unexpected medical emergencies—the animal equivalent of “catastrophic coverage” for humans—and generally is not designed to cover routine check-ups or basic preventative care. For most pet owners, it makes more sense to pay out of pocket for these occasional visits. What becomes prohibitively expensive are the unexpected mishaps, like an infection or a broken limb. And as advanced treatments like CAT scans, prescription drugs, and specialized surgery are becoming more available for pets, it’s easy to rack up thousands of dollars in veterinary costs.