Pet vaccinations are an important part of your pet’s preventive healthcare routine, but the costs for these bills can quickly start to add up. Find out about pet insurance benefits and vaccinations for your pet.

As a responsible pet owner, one of the best things you can do for the health of your pet is to have him or her vaccinated on a regular basis. This will protect your pet from a range of common and often deadly illnesses and diseases.

When you adopt a new pet, there’s a lot to think about and get used to. From creating a routine, finding food they like, creating a bond between the two of you, to finding the right vet. Vaccinations and other forms of preventive healthcare aren’t exactly top of mind.

Perhaps you decided to purchase a pet insurance plan when you were first faced with a vet bill and you quickly came to realise the costs of pet healthcare (which rival the costs of human healthcare).

Or perhaps, after you and your new furry member of the family are all settled, you are now starting to do some research into the kind of pet insurance plans that best suit your budget and your pet’s medical needs. 

Read: 3 Steps To Finding A Pet Insurance Plan That Is Good Enough For Your Pet & Your Budget. 

Regardless of where you find yourself in the journey of pet ownership, this article answers what a number of you have been asking…

Does pet insurance cover vaccinations?

The first thing you need to know is that no pet insurer was created equal. Each one has their own list of benefits and limits (the maximum amount your insurer will cover in the event of a claim).

Whether or not vaccinations are covered will depend on your chosen pet healthcare plan and your insurer. Some insurers include routine care benefits such as vaccinations and deworming at an additional cost.

Others, like Oneplan Pet Insurance, include routine care in two of their four pet healthcare plans. The cost of this routine care benefit is included in your monthly premium.

In knowing that Oneplan includes cover for vaccinations in their routine care benefit, I reached out to their team to get some more insight into this benefit and how it works. 

How does claiming for routine care work?

Oneplan is the only insurer I know of who front you with the cash you need before you see the vet.

For vet visits and routine care, you can preload your claim through the Oneplan Smartphone app and their claims team will preload the funds to your unique transactional Onecard within seconds. You then swipe your Onecard and insert your pin at your vet’s rooms, the same way you would use a debit card. This smart claims process is a great value-add for Oneplan’s clients.

What’s more, Oneplan also lets you go to any vet of your choice. So, instead of having your options of pet healthcare limited to a specified network of vets, you have the freedom to choose a vet based on your location and personal preferences.

What do vaccines cost?

*These costs are will be largely based on your chosen vet and location.

Cats

Cats will require 3 vaccines when they are kittens. The first vaccine which covers viruses, snuffles, feline panleukopaenia and the feline leukaemia virus costs R400.

The second vaccine costs R445 and includes vaccination against rabies.

The third vaccine costs R250 and also includes vaccination against rabies.

Keep in mind that this price will include a full physical exam (weighing your pet, examining their teeth, ears, eyes, heartbeat, lungs and temperature).

Dogs

Puppies need to be vaccinated at six to eight weeks, 10 to 12 weeks and 14 to 16 weeks.

The first vaccination costs R300 and vaccinates your dog against canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus, canine parainfluenza virus and canine infectious hepatitis.

The second and third vaccinations cost R350 and include vaccinations against rabies and other viruses.

This will also include a full physical examination.

The cost of not vaccinating your pet

You also need to take into consideration the cost and consequences of not vaccinating your pet. For example, if your cat gets snuffles, she will need a consult and antibiotics to start with. The consult costs between R300 and R500 and antibiotics can cost between R150 and R300.

If hospitalisation is required, then this can cost R2000 to R4000 (plus R2000 per night spent at the vet).

Parvovirus and distemper virus are commonly seen in unvaccinated dogs, the treatment for these can cost between R4000 to R15000. And the chances of your dog surviving are slim.

And keep in mind that most pet insurers will NOT cover the costs of illness and disease that are a result of not vaccinating your pet.

The bottom line

So, if you want vaccinations included in your pet insurance cover, make sure routine care costs are covered as part of your plan.

Until next time,

The Pet Insurance Team