After a $550 bill from the vet – for an exam and tests, not surgery — I began thinking about getting insurance for our cat. (The one that’s legally ours, that is – the other is just living with us in long-term foster care, and has her bills paid by the humane society.)

When I began researching insurance companies, it looked like a good deal – typically about $18 a month for the first level of coverage above “accident only”. That seemed like a small price to pay to avoid another huge bill.

Then I did the math.

$18 a month is $216 a year; we’d be paying that much even if nothing happened to the cat. Then, every insurance plan I checked out had a $200 deductible for illness (less for accidents). So, if we’d had insurance this time, we’d still have to pay at least that much.

Of the other $350, the plan would pay 80%, or $280, leaving us with $70 to pay, for $270 in all.

Add this to the monthly premiums and we’d be paying $486 a year in pet health costs – only $64 less than the original, uninsured bill. Now, I’m not saying that $64 is nothing. But is it worth the effort of getting the insurance, or having one more monthly expense, or carrying one more card around in my wallet? I’m still thinking about it.

Of course, all this is assuming the cat doesn’t have to go the vet again this year. That may seem like a risky assumption, but this was the first time he’d had to go in his whole 4-year life (apart from his neutering, which was covered by his adoption fee). Without insurance, two visits would cost $1100. With insurance, a year with two visits would be only $756 – saving $344.

Insurance may be the best thing to do when our cat is older, but for now, I think we’re going to bank on his staying healthy.