Maty is a purebred Bichon Maltese. He is very spoiled by his human mommy who is very proud to have him near her at all times. He enjoys longs walks in the park and playing with his dog friends. Little did mommy know when she adopted him, this breed is prone to unpleasant genetic conditions. Things got upsetting for both of them when they discovered he developed dyskinesia, which implied loss of coordination and the ability to walk. It is a common opinion of specialists and veterinary practitioners that purebred pets are more likely to develop certain genetic conditions, like Maty, compared to other pets.
This happens because of a defect in certain genes, inherited from the four-legged buddy’s parents that is not noticeable at birth. This implies that purebred pets, since they are more likely to develop certain illnesses that are, in some cases, very expensive to treat, present a higher risk in terms of their health. That is why all pet insurance companies ask you if you have a purebred pet and charge a higher rate on policies for such pets.
Despite their predisposition to develop conditions that are expensive to treat, insurance companies do offer insurance plans for purebred pets at higher prices. However, they will exclude preexisting conditions.
Preexisting conditions are illnesses or injuries that developed prior to starting the insurance policy or the end of the waiting period. This implies that, for example, if Maty had shown signs of his condition before his mommy opened a pet insurance policy or before the end of the policy’s waiting period, the insurance company would consider it a preexisting condition and would not reimburse his human parent for the treatment of dyskinesia.
In other words, in order to be reimbursed by the insurance company, the pet has to start showing signs of its condition after it’s been insured and after the end of the waiting period.
Another thing to watch out for when insuring your purebred cat or dog is the firm’s policy with regards to curable or incurable illnesses, since sometimes this can prevent your pet’s treatment from being covered by the insurance policy. A lot of pet insurance companies do not cover chronic issues, and since numerous genetic diseases qualify for this category, they aren’t reimbursed.
Short answer, yes. Even though the prices of such policies are higher compared to other pets, these pets will surely, sooner or later, develop some kind of condition that requires expensive treatment. And this is where the pet insurance kicks in, allowing the parents to be reimbursed for most of the expenses spent on such treatments.
Now that his illness was treated (with very high costs), mommy insured Maty in order to cover any future problems unrelated to his dyskinesia. Fully recovered, Maty walks proudly along his mommy in the streets of Copenhagen during the holidays.
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