Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Hereditary conditions and pet health insurance

I was recently thinking about human health insurance. If someone told me that my own health insurance didn't cover hereditary conditions, rightly or wrongly I dont' think I'd be all that fussed. I figure that if I had anything "hereditary" whatever that is, it would have shown up by now.

But for pets, particularly purebred dogs, you have to be much more aware of genetic conditions because they very well might impact your pet's health, no matter his or her age. If you are concerned about your family's pet health costs, you probably should think about the potential for your pet and your pet's breed to have a hereditary condition in the future and how that fits in with buying a pet insurance policy. 

A Genetic or Congenital Condition is an illness that is determined by hereditary factors, which may or may not be present on the policy effective date.

A Pre-existing or Foreseeable Condition is an illness or injury that first occurred or showed clinical signs before the effective date or within the policy waiting period.

Since insurance covers unexpected events only, pre-existing conditions are not covered in all pet insurance policies on the market at the moment.

So, how can hereditary conditions be covered by pet insurance since it looks like they may be pre-existing?

A dog (or cat but to a much lesser extent) can have a genetic predisposition for a particular illness, like hip dysplasia, but a particular dog may never actually get the condition. It's a bit like if your mother and your grandmother have had breast cancer, your chances of getting breast cancer are higher than a woman with no breast cancer in her medical history. The chances are higher, but you are not guaranteed to get breast cancer.

So, your dog or cat's breed can be prone to genetic conditions but your dog or your can might not actually ever get the condition.

And that's why Embrace Pet Insurance policies do not consider hereditary conditions pre-existing as long as you haven't seen any signs of the condition before you buy your policy.

Just what you would expect from your pet insurance policy, isn't it?

Questions?

Breed Focus: Dachshund

I must confess, for most of my life I never really liked Dachshunds. They just looked so ridiculous to me and seemed just wrong. Who could possibly like these dogs? How could anyone want one?

That is until I met a Dachshund in person and realized what delightfuland determined little characters they are. They aren't for every family, but those that have them certainly do love them.

As per our Dachshund breed profile on the Embrace site:

Famously described by H. L. Mencken as "a half-dog high and a dog-and-a-half long," the Dachshund ranks among the most popular dog breeds in America. These short-legged, long-backed dogs are brave, bold and sometimes reckless, willing and ready to take on the badgers they were bred to hunt. To the surprise of their many fans, a 2008 study in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science named the Dachshund the most aggressive of all dog breeds.

But along with that elongated body comes some health issues, in particular back issues.

Because of their long, low-slung spines, normal canine behavior like jumping off the sofa may result in a slipped, pinched, herniated or ruptured disc. Dogs can be injured even in relatively mild play, and will sometimes show defensive or apparently aggressive behavior at other dogs – or children – who are nearby. In fact, a study done at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Ohio State University approximated that Dachshunds are 57 times more likely to suffer from a herniated intervertebral disc than all other breeds.

Dachshunds are also particularly prone to several hereditary conditions such as Cushing's Disease and corneal dystrophy, not inexpensive conditions to treat.

 To read more about this fascinating breed, check out the Dachshund breed profile on the Embrace site.

March is Hereditary Conditions Month at Embrace Pet Insurance

One of the biggest areas of impact on your pet health insurance policy is coverage (or lack of it) for hereditary conditions, also known as genetic or breed-specific conditions.

Questions you should ask yourself when look at pet insurance policies are:

• are hereditary conditions covered or not by my pet insurance policy?
• what exactly is a hereditary condition and is my dog or cat likely to get one of these conditions?
• if I have a mixed breed dog or cat, should I care about coverage for hereditary conditions?

This month, I'm going to answer these questions and more.

But to put it right out there to start with, Embrace Pet Insurance covers unknown genetic conditions for dogs and cats as long as you haven't seen any clinical signs of that condition before you buy your policy or in the waiting period.

Just so you don't have to wait in suspense for that particular answer :)

Do you have any specific questions about hereditary conditions you'd like to talk about?