Fun Friday Cat Fact of the Day 11-12-26… insurance

[Catzzzmeow]

Approximately 1% to 7% of cat owners in North America have pet insurance for their cats, with recent 2025/2026 data suggesting the figure is on the lower end (around 1–2%) for the total cat population. Do you have insurance on your cat? Feel free to answer yes or no in the comments.

TGIF Lairians

 

[Annejo12]

I never had insurance with my first kitty. I think I’ll look into it for my next two.

 

[Yoda mom]

awh! adorable Luchi-Chi's first FFF !!!

All adoptees here for 40 years and never had insurance personally. Everyone's circumstances is different for what is best for them and their nakids and furbabies.

With my zoo over the 40 years of pups and kittles adoptees and considerations for any "pre existing" conditions,
if I added up the cost of the monthly insurance premiums X times number of pets over 40 yrs and consider the insurance premium increases with age , and add up my out of pocket vet costs, ( diabetic pup, epileptic pup with cancer, HCM sphynx with cancer, sphynx with eye issue corneal sequestrum and a bengal adoptee with IBD and high blood pressure ) for me I am still ahead of the game.. luckily.

(My ex husband actually has a youtube video review from one of the insurance companies that visited his home where he praised the company. then the next year had problems with the company and reimbursement. ). every case is different.



I do a savings slush fund with automatic withdrawal out of my check into a savings account for the zoo. I also keep a care credit card on hand and never paid a dime of interest. charges over $200 get a 6 mos promo, but not all vets offices accept care credit , often the smaller privately owned practices do not accept care credit ..so always check provider lists ahead of time. Fortunately my long time vet accepts care credit.

* however with Care Credit, the minimum monthly payment does NOT pay off the promo amount.
I take the total amount of the promo, divide by 6 and make that and more my monthly minimum payment and pay on time.

** Care Credit : You have to watch the due dates and the *promo expiration dates or you may fall into compounding interest.

example, my regular care credit bill due on the 11th of the month but a promo expires the 18th.

I have to make the monthly payment due date and then make sure to pay the expiring promo too by its due date that may fall in the same month.

so, to make it easier, I pay the expiring promo balance in that month in full amount...
I set up for the 9th for my regular billing due date of the 11th.
never paid a dime of interest managing several promos at once with my crew this way. care credit is not for the faint of heart to manage with several promos at once.

*care credit is not good for those that do not manage the bills and promos meticulously or will eat you alive and accrue compounding interest of about 34%).


**With that said, If I were to purchase a sphynx kitten I would look into insurance options and read the fine print and do comparisons and see what works best for me.



hugs n head smooches.

 

[tuffysmommy]

Yes we do. What interesting statistics!!!. Right now I am struggling with getting a policy for my new 2 year old Sphynx. I have narrowed it down to one company I have been very pleased with for service including for sphynx related issues like blood tests and scans and another which includes medical visits and unknown service and ultimate coverage which are both about the same price for my 7 year old and 2 year old…with better deductible and % reimbursement for the 7 year old (because the old coverage is no longer available).
We just came off losing 3 kitties with another company that paid by cost per procedure and after 16 years of basically good health except stomatitis (dental) we were aghast at how useless it was during the 2, 4 and 5 months each of them were under medical care at the end of their lives. My percentages and deductibles were max at 90% and $100 but the limitation turned out to be $3000 with other deductible segments and other layers allowing for nonpayments like wild pre-existing condition determinations and regulations.
All of this to say, read your policy carefully, determine what you want covered well, ask others for recommendations and hope that you’ve chosen the best for your circumstances).
My friend in London suggested early on to save an equal amount of money monthly (as Yodamom does) at a high rate of interest (haha) with high liquidity,
Around the country, not NY, there is a credit card, Nibbles, which offers 3% rebates on all things pet and an included pet insurance policy with an online credit card. Beware of underestimating your income (as I thought it was too good to be true) and I wound up with a pitifully low credit line. They age out your animals so I never got to test the insurance on my 16 year olds but it saved me a bunch during the horrors of losing my last two. I use it for pet food, pet trinkets like T-shirts, and for burial and memorial.
All of that said, I am left with a full excel pivot table of rates, deductibles, percentage return, length of coverage terms plus special characteristics like HEREDITARY conditions, prescription food, dental, supplements, rehabilitation, behavioral help and alternative treatments like acupuncture. Oh yes and up front information on rate increases. I havent found a way to incorporate pre-existing condition coverage differences but I better get this moving before anyone develops one.

 

[tuffysmommy]

BTW, loving Luchi-Chi. We are all going to enjoy her modeling !!!

 

[Letitia]

We have always carried insurance on our cats. The premiums get painful as they age, but in the end my calculations show that it has paid off for us.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Letitia , do you mind sharing what company? hugs n head smooches