For the pet owners: Is pet insurance worth getting?

• For the pet owners: Is pet insurance worth getting? - JenniMT
  • It's definitely been worth it for us... - ex animo
    • Thanks, I will get a quote on their website. (nm) - JenniMT
  • Insurance for Pets - anon
    • Illnesses, accidents, shots are covered.... - tons are online...... nm
    • Yes, VPI does! sm - ex animo
  • depends i guess - sm

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My daughter has 4 cats that live downstairs with her.  One of the cats has become sensitive to the food they're all eating and we need to feed her different food from the rest.   Any ideas how to keep her out of the other cats foods?   This cat can't be brought upstairs because my cat that is upstairs dislikes her strongly and beats her up whenever she has tried coming upstairs.  Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

My husband just traded in my Miata (a birthday gift 2 years ago) for a VW Beetle for me. I loved the Miata, but I couldn't take my daughter in it since she's still in a booster and it only seats 2. What fun is that? I had been wanting a beetle since the new ones had come out and I can't believe he actually got me one! I love it. It's so fun to drive. Anyone else own one and how do you like it so far?

DH and I are first time cat owners as of Christmas! We love our Sophie, she is a great cat. Since we are new to this, I'm looking for some advise.

We are leaving on vacation on Feb 23rd for Ireland and I'm just wanting to make sure I have everything in place for Sophie. Please let me know if I'm missing anything.

MIL will visit every other day (maybe everyday!) for litter box cleanings and playtime. I'm going to leave out 2 litter boxes.

I'll leave out lots of food and water, MIL will refill.

Leave the TV or radio on for some noise.

She is around 2 years old so she is still quite playfull. She has lots of toys laying around.

So am I missing anything? I just don't want her to freak out, but I think she will be ok with the MIL visits.

Thanks!

My car broke down this afternoon!  I heard a loud noise like I had run over something, pulled over and saw all the coolant and water pouring from my radiator.  The fan broke and a blade went into the radiator.  I pulled inrto the nearest repair shop (lucky for me one was really close) and they gave me an estimate of $1200!!!!  My husband had it towed to a mechanic he uses, but I am curious since my car is a VW how much should it cost to get this fixed??

Two weeks ago in my city, an elderly demented man was found dead at home by his daughter's boyfriend when he returned home from work.  Autopsy confirmed that his death was caused by his daughter's and her boyfriend's 3 pit bulls. I'm sure this lady loved her dear father and believed the dogs were companions to him as he was home alone during the day.  

I just can't understand the loyalty to this breed.  Why take chances when the outcome can be deadly?  This woman will be blaming herself for the rest of her life. 

All dogs bite, but pit bulls don't stop until they have killed. 

Yesterday, a lady was driving down our hill with her little doxie in the front seat of the van. I don't think the dog was even a year old yet. Anyway, she sideswiped a telephone pole which put her out of control, her airbags went off, and she couldn't see with all that white powder flying around, and she wound up in a drainage ditch. When the airbags went off, they struck her dog and killed him. Although our neighbor is a nurse and tried CPR, the poor thing had broken ribs which probably punctured his lungs.

So, what I'm saying is if you're going to take your dog for rides, please put them in the back seat, preferably with doggie seat belts, not the front seat.  I could barely sleep last night over this.  I feel so bad for the poor dog. It didn't have to happen. The lady was so upset over it and feeling so guilty, it took us over 2 hours to get her calmed down.

We bought a "perfect" car, ྙ Olds (in 2000) that only had 45,000 miles on it. Loved that car but it was a flood car.The engine was still good but everything power plus the frame gave out in 5 years. Wouldn't pass inspection and had to junk it.

Nothing on Carfax had any of this info. So I'll never pay for a Carfax report again.

She still ached the first 2 days but after that she seemed to bouce back faster than if she hadn't taken it.

We only have experience with Veterinary Pet Insurance (just go to Google and type in 'VPI' for their website), and we've been very happy with them.  It's more than paid for itself with our male Rottie who had bone cancer, and our little female Rottie who just recently had immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (!) of all things.  I guess if you're dog/cat never had any expensive illness or injury, it would'nt be worth it, but we're not that lucky. 

Our dogs are like our kids, so we will spend whatever is necessary on their vet care if they get sick or hurt.  Having the insurance gives me the peace of mind of knowing that no matter what the treatment costs, we will be reimbursed at least part of it, so that's what I like about it.  It doesn't pay for everything though.  It's not like an HMO where you just have a small co-pay.  LOL  You go to the vet you want, pay for services, then fax (or mail) the claim form and receipt and VPI mails you a check pretty quickly for part of the cost. 

We just pay for the policy once a year from out tax return, but you can make monthly payments if you want.  You can chose less coverage (lower cost) or more coverage (higher cost) and optional routine coverage for vaccines and stuff.  I think you can still get an online quote.  It is expensive if you want a policy on a senior animal, which is why I didn't have insurance for my senior dogs, but I don't think it would be that high for your 7 year old. 

My one regret is that I never had VPI insurance for my Siberian Husky, Wiley.  I spent so much on his vet care over the years with his chronic tooth issues and then cancer and joint disease.  I'll be paying off that credit card bill for (gulp) years...  Insurance would have saved me a fortune. 

the royalty money that will be flowing into the estate now. Amazon.com stated they had the biggest day in sales yesterday due to everyone buying up MJ's songs.

I haven't been on ebay yet but I'll bet that place is be-bopping with a bunch of sales not only for MJ for for FF.

When Elvis died, I had gotten a letter from the estate offering to SELL me one of his scarves at a very high price. Of course, I had to turn it down.

As parents pack their youngsters off to college, they might ask themselves whether it's worth both the money they will spend and their children's time. Dr. Marty Nemko has researched that question in an article aptly titled "America's Most Over-rated Product: Higher Education (www.martynemko.com/articles/americas-most-overrated-product-higher-education_id1539)."

The U.S. Department of Education statistics show that 76 out of 100 students who graduate in the bottom 40 percent of their high school class do not graduate from college, even if they spend eight and a half years in college. That's even with colleges having dumbed down classes to accommodate such students. Only 23 percent of the 1.3 million students who took the ACT college entrance examinations in 2007 were prepared to do college-level study in math, English and science. Even though a majority of students are grossly under-prepared to do college-level work, each year colleges admit hundreds of thousands of such students.

While colleges have strong financial motives to admit unsuccessful students, for failing students the experience can be devastating. They often leave with their families, or themselves, having piled up thousands of dollars in debt. There is possibly trauma and poor self-esteem for having failed, and perhaps embarrassment for their families. Dr. Nemko says that worst of all is that few of these former college students, having spent thousands of dollars, wind up in a job that required a college education. It's not uncommon to find them driving a taxi, working at a restaurant or department store, performing some other job that they could have had as a high school graduate or dropout.

What about students who are prepared for college? First, only 40 percent of each year's 2 million freshmen graduate in four years; 45 percent never graduate at all. Often, having a college degree does not mean much. According to a 2006 Pew Charitable Trusts study, 50 percent of college seniors failed a test that required them to interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, and compare credit card offers. About 20 percent of college seniors did not have the quantitative skills to estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the gas station. According a recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the percentage of college graduates proficient in prose literacy has declined from 40 percent to 31 percent within the past decade. Employers report that many college graduates lack the basic skills of critical thinking, writing and problem-solving.

Colleges are in business. Students are a cost. Research is a profit center. When colleges boast about having this professor who has won a science award or that professor who has won the Nobel Prize, very often an undergraduate student will never be taught by that professor. It is a "bait and switch" tactic and very often your youngster will take classes not taught by a professor but taught in large classes by a graduate student. Faculty who bring in large grants are more highly valued than faculty who teach well. Teaching excellence is so often undervalued that the late Ernest Boyer, vice president for Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, quipped that, "Winning the campus teaching award is the kiss of death when it comes to tenure."

Parents and taxpayers cough up billions upon billions of dollars to the nation's colleges and universities. Colleges make money whether students learn or not, whether they graduate or not, and whether they get a good job after graduating or not. Colleges and universities engage in "bait and switch," confer fraudulent degrees and engage in other practices that would bring legal sanctions if done by any other business. There is little or no oversight of the nation's over 4,000 colleges and universities that enroll over 17 million students. There are some colleges, such as Grove City College and Hillsdale College, that do a fine job of undergraduate education. Useful information about what colleges are doing what can be found in the Delaware-based Intercollegiate Studies Institute's "Choosing the Right College" (http://isi.org/college_guide/choosing_right_college.html).

a try.  Does your husband pay the bills or does he give you money to pay them?  Make a household budget, including allowances for gas and groceries.  Either add in a little extra for the allowances to cover incidentals that might come up or present him with the receipt after he pays. 

Another thing I would definitely do -- you might want to consult with a divorce attorney.  Don't let hubs know that you're doing this because he'll try to hide money.  Your attorney will tell you what you would be entitled to.  Depending on what state you live in, you may even get spousal support for a short time.  You should be entitled to have 1/2 of everything you've accumulated during your marriage, including his retirement.  The debt you have accrued will also be shared between him and you.  When you're married, it's both of your debt regardless who charges it.  As for your children, you can discuss that with your attorney as well.  Let him know your child's concerns and fears. 

Only after you are informed by a good divorce attorney, can you decide what's best for you.  Don't sit in fear of what may or may not be.  Find out first and then decide.  Most consultations are free or relatively low cost.  If you do pay for the consultation, make sure to pay by cash so as not to leave a paper trail.  It would be better to make a cash withdrawal on your credit card, if you need to.  Get your ducks in a row before he has a chance to start picking them off.  Good luck and keep us posted!