Pet insurance has allowed me to make emergency medical decisions for my pets with little thought about the costs involved. Veterinary costs are constantly rising like everything else.

Yet last year, when my cat Bonzo suddenly became dehydrated and diagnosed with early onset kidney failure, he was treated immediately. The last thing on my mind was the thousands of dollars in vet charges about to be incurred.

Today Bonzo continues to be happy and healthy because of pet insurance. Pet emergencies can cost thousands of dollars.

Several years ago my sister’s dog ran out into traffic, fracturing several bones. It was a very traumatic experience for everyone involved. The kids were crying, the dog was crying, bystanders were crying.

Making sure the dog wasn’t suffering was everyone’s type priority. Like me, my sister had pet insurance and so the issue of the thousands of dollars likely needed for treatment wasn’t even discussed.

He was rushed to the vet hospital, where he was treated for several days. When he came home, the smile on my nephew’s face as he ran up and welcomed his best friend home was truly priceless.

What is pet insurance?

Pet Insurance is a policy that covers your household pets such as cats and dogs as long as they’re healthy. Whether your dog or cat is mixed breed or pedigree most insurers will cover the animal for the whole of its life.

That means if an emergency medical situation arises, I can make the best choices for the comfort and health of my friend, rather than what best suits my pocketbook of the day.

What does pet insurance cover?

Pet insurance usually covers more than just the vet bills. It can also cover emergency kenneling costs, theft and travel.

Vaccinations and routine treatments such as worming and flea treatments are also excluded. Millions of pet owners treat their animals like family.

I have four cats, who are members of my family. I have had pets my entire life. I cannot imagine the distress of being in a situation where my pet’s problem is curable but the cost is too high and I put my animal to sleep.

Or, I opt for less than ideal treatment again because of cost constraints.

I would never do that to my own children so why would I do that to my pets?

Pet insurance can give you the piece of mind that you are covered against unexpected bills. Pet insurance can take away the financial worries when a pet is seriously ill.

Knowing this, when I first discovered pet insurance in the late 1980’s (while renewing my life insurance) I jumped all over it. At that time, $25 per month to cover three cats seemed like peanuts. Today, I pay $60 for 4 cats.

When should I get pet insurance?

I have insured all of my cats within the first six months of life. It is often difficult to get insurance for older pets. Usually pre-existing illnesses will not be covered. That’s why it is important to think about insurance as soon as possible.

It is now possible to pay a monthly premium to insure your pet against veterinary fees.

Are there different levels of pet insurance?

Just like the different coverages on your life insurance policy, pet insurance plans are the same.

There are usually different levels of coverages available where different values or events are covered. Usually the higher the monthly payment, the greater the value of coverages.

Different aspects of coverages you need to review include: Vet’s Fees, Coverage for Life, Accidental Damage, Death from Illness, Death from Accident, Advertising & Reward, Theft or Straying, Third Party Liability & Legal Expenses, Boarding Kennel Fees, Holiday Cancellation Costs and Overseas Travel.

Photo by Chris Abney on Unsplash.

Interested in parrots? Welcome to the world of the flying feathers. All types of parrots are brightly colored with a few exceptions. Some types of parrots are small, cuddly and cute. Others are bigger and grander than their smaller relations. The most common types of parrots are green in color and make wonderful pets. They are usually small in size and have amazing talking abilities.

There are some types of parrots that are multi-colored. They come in bright blue, yellow, green, white and mixtures of two or more of these colors. They are often nicknamed winged rainbows. Some of these types of parrots are wild while some are docile in nature. Some make wonderful pets while some are too independent to be bound down by humans. Some types of parrots are as dependent on us as our children would be. They love company and love to mimic human voices.

Almost all types of parrots eat fruits, vegetables, chicken and a lot of seeds. Most types of parrots tend to become moody and begin to pluck their feathers if they are not in the right state of mind or if they are unhealthy. There are many species of parrots available. The most common types of parrots can be grouped under the following heads:

Parrots

Parrots are a very popular group of birds. Parrots are intelligent animals that depend on some degree of socialization and will not be good pets unless they are taught and patterned to be good pets.

Macaws

Macaws are flamboyant, colorful, intelligent and captivating birds. However, like ill-trained children, macaws can be a major embarrassment if they are not well trained.

Conures

In the wild conures are friendly, peaceful birds and seldom fight with each other. Conures are known for their sweet dispositions and playfulness. They definitely have a mind of their own.

Cockatoos

Cockatoos make wonderful pets because of their sweet nature. Cockatoos love to be cuddled and bond very easily with their human owners.

Parakeets

Parakeets have as many variations of their breed as there are varieties of their color. Parakeets actually means small parrots.

Cockatiels

Cockatiels are ideal for the first time pet owner. They are characteristically happy and cheerful birds, never moody or demanding.

Budgies

The word budgie is short for budgerigar which is a native green and yellow bird in Australia. They make wonderful pets because of their relatively gentle, gregarious and entertaining personalities.

It is no secret that people get excited about their pets. And, that feeling does not go away when it comes time to doing some estate planning for the family, because pets are part of the family too!

Unfortunately, until recently, there just wasn’t a whole lot that could be done for pets. In most cases, a loving family member would just take over after the owner’s death. That worked in many cases, but not always. In fact, in far too many cases there were no loving family members willing or able to step up to the plate and take on that responsibility. The end result: the pets ended up on the street or in local animal shelters.

Many times, an owner would sweeten the offer by leaving some money for the pet’s care under his or her will. However, since there was no legal obligation to use the money for the pets, you can guess what happened. In many cases, the family member or friend took the money and put the pet in the shelter.

One way that pet owners tried to solve the problem was to place money in trust for the care of the pet, with the family member or friend acting as the trustee. While this technique looked official, there was a real problem with it – pets are not people, and the law only recognized trusts when people were the beneficiaries. The legal effect of these so-called honorary trusts was not very satisfactory. Since no one was able to enforce these trusts (i.e., the pets couldn’t defend themselves), the trustees were free to do as they pleased. If a trustee was also named as the beneficiary of any money left over after the pets died, guess what happened. The Trustee took the money – and put the pets in the shelter.

In 1991, the Uniform Probate Code was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (ULC). Section 2-907 of that Uniform Probate Code provided that a pet trust could be enforced if an individual was designated for that purpose in the trust instrument

or if an individual was so appointed for that purpose by the court. In 2000, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the Uniform Trust Code, Section 408 of which authorizes pet trusts under a provision very similar to the Uniform Probate Code.

The breakthrough with these two pieces of model legislation was that, for the first time, there was legal authority for the existence of a pet trust and there was a mechanism to enforce the provisions of the trust if the trustee did not carry them out as instructed. In other words, the trustee could now be forced to actually use the money for the care and protection of the pets!

While this was great news for pet owners, these two pieces of model legislation are not governing law. Instead, they are simply models that may be considered for legislative enactment, in one form or another, by each of the 50 states. The intent, of course, is that all 50 states will adopt the model legislation so that all states will have identical laws.

As of this date, close to half of the states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation authorizing pet trusts, based in whole or in part on the Uniform Probate Code and the Uniform Trust Code, and at least 6 states have similar legislation pending.

If you happen to live in any of the states that have authorized pet trusts, you may want to expand your estate planning horizons to include a provision for your pets. That’s what more and more people are doing now that there is legal authority for pet trusts.