What Happens if You Don't Apply for Pet Insurance as Soon as You Adopt a Pet?

When my family adopted our dog Champ about three years ago, we were excited to welcome him into the fold and were eager to do everything we could to make him feel safe and cared for. We knew that as a rescue dog, he had been bounced around a lot before he got to us, and we wanted to make it clear that he'd found his forever home.

We did make sure to take Champ to the vet the week we got him to check for any pressing health issues. But one thing we didn't do right away was put a pet insurance policy in place. And that wound up being a big mistake.

Pet insurance is something you don't want to wait on

Changes to human health insurance have made it so that companies cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or refuse to pay to treat them. But pet insurance works differently.

If your pet has a pre-existing condition, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be denied coverage entirely. But what's likely to happen is that your pet insurance policy will not pay for treatments related to conditions your pet already has.

And that's why it's so important to get pet insurance as soon as you adopt a pet. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that health issues will come to light that your insurer will then have the option to exclude.

That's precisely what happened with Champ. Because he hadn't been walked or exercised much before we got him, we didn't realize (and neither did our vet, at first) that he has some joint issues and arthritis that require ongoing medication.

Champ also needed expensive diagnostic tests to get to the root of the problem. Because we didn't have our insurance yet, we had to pay for those out of savings. And now, our insurance policy does not cover the cost of Champ's medications. It also won't cover future treatments he might need to manage his condition.

Pet insurance may be more affordable than you think

There can be a number of upfront costs associated with adopting a pet, like having to purchase food and supplies. With a dog, for example, you might need bowls, a leash, a bed (unless your pup takes over yours like ours did), and more. So you may not want to take on the expense of pet insurance right away.

But if you don't put a policy in place quickly, you might regret it. So contact different pet insurance companies and see what rates they quote you.

As a starting point, Forbes says that pet insurance costs an average of $44 per month for a dog for $5,000 of annual coverage. Meanwhile, pet insurance costs an average of $47 per month for a cat for unlimited annual coverage.

You may be looking at very different numbers, depending on the pet you bring home. But either way, you should know that pet insurance may be more affordable than you think it is. And it could spare you from having to bear the cost of horrendously high bills in the course of caring for your pet.