Preventative Care

When we’re talking about pet insurance, preventative care describes treatments, services, or procedures that promote your pet’s health and maintain their general wellness, to help keep them healthy.

What is preventative care for a dog or cat?

Preventative care for your pet includes a wellness visit, which gives your vet the chance to screen for things like parasites or heartworm, or identify any early-stage health issues. 

There are also proactive treatments, procedures, and prophylactics (like vaccines, flea and tick medication, heartworm prevention, and dental cleanings) that can help keep your pet from getting sick in the future. These tend to save you money in the long run, since reactive treatments are usually more expensive than proactive ones.

Wellness exams also allow your veterinarian to monitor your pet’s diet, their physical activity, their weight, and more. But keep in mind that not all treatments that promote your pet’s health will be covered by your pet insurance.

What do basic pet insurance plans cover compared to preventative care?

A basic pet insurance policy will help cover the costs of emergency care and standard treatments for your pets, but most accidents and illness insurance plans don’t include preventative care in a base policy. 

Certain pet insurance companies will give you the option to customize your coverage by adding preventative care, helping reimburse you for the costs of some routine care. Think about how much you pay for things like heartworm tests, vaccinations, wellness checkups, fecal tests, and bloodwork. Or how much puppy and kitten care procedures like microchipping, spaying/neutering and vaccinations cost.  You’re probably already paying more for your pet’s medical care and annual wellness visits than coverage for preventative care would cost.