Best Pet Insurance Companies for Dogs and Cats

Pet insurance is a way for pet owners to find peace of mind knowing that when an unexpected injury or illness occurs, they can expect part or all of the covered veterinary treatment to be reimbursed.

Unexpected veterinary care for dogs and cats can cost between $800 and $1,500 on average, depending on where you live, thus making financial planning an essential part of pet ownership.

Like any other type of insurance, pet insurance coverage and costs vary greatly based on your unique situation. Knowing this, our team compared our partner providers to identify the best for different needs. This way, all pet owners can find the policy and financial protection they need — whether that be an affordable premium or broader coverage.

Best pet insurance reviews

• Best value: ManyPets
• Best selection of annual limits: Spot
• Best diminishing deductible: Embrace
• Best added benefits: Fetch by The Dodo
• Best for an experienced company: ASPCA

ManyPets: Best value

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LendEDU Rating: 4.9 out of 5

• Covered conditions are reimbursed up to 100%
• No medical exam required to enroll
• 24/7 access to virtual vet consultations

ManyPets was founded in 2012 and began offering pet insurance in the UK and Sweden before entering the US in 2021. While it plans to be nationwide shortly, it’s not currently available in Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Vermont.

With its combination of affordable premiums and comprehensive coverage, ManyPets was our selection as the best value of all the companies we evaluated. Our team received quotes for four pets from these companies to compare policy costs. We then looked through a sample policy from each company to find out what was actually covered. In the end, it was clear that ManyPets was offering one of the most comprehensive policies at the lowest cost.

A policy from ManyPets includes coverage for exams, diagnostics, treatments, digestive illnesses, broken bones, cancer treatments, hereditary conditions, congenital conditions, prescription medications, and much more.

In addition to excellent coverage, policyholders can visit any veterinarian of their choosing with no network restrictions and access 24/7 virtual vet consultations from the comfort of their home.

>> Visit ManyPets’ website for a quick, free quote to get your customized policy.

Spot: Best selection of annual limits

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• Plans include an accident and illness or accident-only policy, and optional wellness coverage
• There are no per-incident limits or lifetime caps

Spot is one of the newer pet insurance providers. However, all of its policies are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company which was established in 1822 and began underwriting pet insurance policies in 2006.

Most pet insurance companies offer you the ability to customize your policy to find the coverage you need at an affordable cost. One of the terms you can customize is your annual benefit limit. This limit is the maximum amount a pet insurance company will reimburse you each year for medical care.

This term has a big impact on your premium and Spot offers the best selection of annual limits to pet parents. You can choose a limit of $2,500, $4,000, $5,000, $7,000, $10,000, or no limit. This range is the widest of any of the companies we reviewed.

You’ll also be able to customize your deductible and reimbursement rate for complete control of the financial terms of your policy.

>> Visit Spot’s website for a quick, free quote to get your personalized policy.

ASPCA: Best for an experienced company

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• Has insured over 400,000 dogs and cats, processing more than 1.6 million claims
• Plans include an accident and illness or accident-only policy and optional wellness coverage
• All plans include access to Anytime Pet Healthline to consult a veterinary professional in an emergency

Founded in 1866, ASPCA, also known as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is most widely known for its efforts to prevent animal cruelty. However, starting in 2006, a strategic partnership with United States Fire Insurance Company created ASPCA Pet Health Insurance.

United States Fire Insurance Company has, over the last 20 years, insured more than 400,000 dogs and cats while processing more than 1.6 million claims. So, experience is certainly not lacking from this team of over 1,000 employees.

Through ASPCA, pet parents can choose one of two pet insurance plans: a comprehensive accident and illness policy or an accident-only policy. There is also an optional wellness plan for those looking to be reimbursed for preventative or routine care that can be attached to your policy.

>> Visit ASPCA’s website for a quick, free quote on your personalized policy.

Embrace: Best diminishing deductible

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• Offers a diminishing deductible of $50 each year you don’t receive a claim payment
• Plans include an accident and illness or accident-only policy and optional wellness coverage
• Will cover curable pre-existing conditions that go symptom-free for 12 months

Embrace sold its first policy back in 2006 and has been an industry leader ever since. The company only offers pet insurance, ensuring that its customers and their pets get its full support.

The Embrace pet insurance plan was our choice for the best diminishing deductible because it offers a unique benefit where it lowers your deductible by $50 each year you don’t receive a claim payment. This means that if your pet is healthy for several years and doesn’t require medical treatment, you’ll be able to lower the amount you pay out-of-pocket before coverage begins.

An important term to be aware of with pet insurance is pre-existing conditions. These are conditions that occur before or during your waiting period, and many insurance companies won’t cover them. However, Embrace distinguishes between curable and incurable pre-existing conditions. Meaning that if your pet remains symptom- and treatment-free for 12 consecutive months, the condition will be covered in the future.

To help you understand what is and isn’t a pre-existing condition, Embrace offers a free Medical History Review after you enroll. With a 30-day money-back guarantee, you can rest assured that if anything comes up that you aren’t happy with, you have the freedom to cancel your policy and walk away with no incurred costs.

>> Visit Embrace’s website for a quick, free quote to get your customized policy.

Fetch by The Dodo: Best for added benefits

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• Fetch Forward™ helps you plan for your pet’s future health
• Up to $1,000 in virtual vet visit coverage
• An extensive library of pet content

Fetch by The Dodo is a new name in the pet insurance space, but its team isn’t new at all. Fetch is the rebranded version of Petplan, a leading pet insurance provider since 2003. While Petplan was known for offering excellent coverage, its rebrand to Fetch has combined that excellent coverage with improved technology and resources for pet parents.

That combination led Fetch to be our choice as the best for added benefits.

One standout benefit is Fetch Forward™. Fetch Forward™ is a unique technology available exclusively to Fetch pet parents that takes 150 million data points from 15 years of pet health findings to provide you with tailored insights and recommendations to improve your pet’s health. Access to this benefit is expected some time this year.

Other benefits include up to $1,000 in virtual vet visit coverage and up to $1,000 for boarding fees if you are hospitalized for four or more days.

>> Visit Fetch by The Dodo’s website for a quick, free quote to get your customized policy.

How we determined the best pet insurance companies

Our team conducted over 40 hours of research to compare all of our partners based on elligibility, policy terms, coverage inclusions and exclusions, quotes we received for different pets, added benefits, user experience, financial strength, and customer reviews to determine the best pet insurance companies.

Here is a brief breakdown of what we looked at and what we valued within these categories.

• Eligibility: Factors included age limits and state availability. We valued companies that offered coverage to young and old pets while being available nationwide.
• Policy terms: Some factors we considered included waiting period, deductibles, reimbursement rates, benefit limits, and discounts. We valued customization and pet insurance plans that clearly outlined what a policyholder could expect if they enrolled.
• Coverage inclusions and exclusions: This was where we dove into sample policies and company resources to identify what would and wouldn’t be covered for your pet. We valued comprehensive coverage.
• Quotes we received for different pets: We submitted at least five quotes for each pet insurance company to gather a picture of how affordable their premiums would be. We valued companies with fair pricing and premiums that wouldn’t break the bank.
• User experience: We went through the enrollment process to see how each company explained complicated terms to pet parents to make sure the experience on the company’s website was a good one.
• Financial strength: We checked the AM Best rating for each company to ensure that they had excellent financial strength ratings. Financial strength ratings are used to rate a company’s ability to pay claims made by policyholders.
• Customer reviews: We primarily used Trustpilot to see how customers felt about each company, the customer service experience, and the policies they offered. We valued positive customer reviews as happy customers are a good sign for any product.

If a company didn’t receive a 4.5 or higher in our ratings, it was not eligible for this page.

Now that you can better understand what we looked at when determining which companies were the best, here is a full list of the pet insurance companies considered in our review.

Helpful tips for taking the next step

Insurance companies typically avoid disclosing pricing information because it’s tough to accurately present pricing to all potential customers when each policy is designed uniquely for your needs and background.

For this reason, we recommend identifying the companies on this list that stand out to you and submitting a free quote with each so that you can get an accurate understanding of what coverage your pet will receive and what a policy will cost.

Nearly all of these companies allow you to customize the terms of your policy once you receive your quote so that you can find a monthly premium that meets your budget and offers maximum financial protection at that price.

We submitted several online quotes with each provider listed above, and each form took less than two minutes to complete. There were no accounts to set up, no verification requirements, and no obligations.

Pet insurance FAQs

How does pet insurance work?

Pet insurance reimburses you for unexpected accidents and illnesses suffered by your pet. Its purpose is to help pet owners avoid significant financial loss from hefty unanticipated veterinary bills. It’s also a way to avoid having to make a difficult decision on whether or not you can afford to treat your pet in an emergency.

Following enrollment and the completion of your waiting period, you’ll be responsible for all costs until you meet your deductible. Your deductible is a customizable term on your policy and typically varies between $50 to $1,000 per year. Those who choose a higher deductible will normally pay a lower premium.

Regardless of whether you’ve met your deductible requirement, make sure always to file claims for vet bills you receive.

Once your deductible has been met, you’ll start being reimbursed for vet bills incurred for conditions covered by your policy. These reimbursement rates are customizable and typically vary between 70% to 90% but can go up to 100% in some cases. If you have a reimbursement level of 80%, your provider will cover 80% of the vet bill, and you’ll be responsible for the other 20%.

The final customizable piece of your policy is your benefit limit. This limit is the maximum amount your provider will pay out in claims. Coverage limits are typically annual but can be per-incident or set for the life of your policy as well. These payout limits generally are between $5,000 and $20,000 but can be unlimited.

What is the best pet insurance?

Most pet insurance companies offer quality coverage with a few differences from the rest. These differences can be significant when it comes to lifetime costs for your pet’s care.

In our most recent evaluation of our pet insurance partners, ManyPets and Embrace received a rating of 4.9 out of 5, which was the highest of all companies reviewed. Here’s a look at how the two compare.

Benefit limit	Unlimited	$5,000, $8,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, or $30,000
Reimbursement rate	70%, 80%, 90%, or 100%	65%, 70%, 80%, or 90%
Deductible	$0, $100, $250, $500, or $750	$200, $300, $500, $750, or $1,000
What stands out	Excellent coverage for an affordable cost	Rewards healthy pets with a diminishing deductible
	Free Quote	Free Quote

Is the best dog insurance different than the best cat insurance?

All of the pet insurance companies we reviewed offered coverage to both dogs and cats. For that reason, our picks for the best pet insurance companies would remain the same for either a dog or cat.

It’s worth noting, however, that one difference we noticed was specific to preventative care options. Certain plans had benefit limits for vaccinations that, while the same in value, were reserved for different types of vaccinations (rabies vs. feline, for example).

When is the best time to take out pet insurance?

For the full benefits of pet health insurance, it’s recommended that you insure your pet when they are still a puppy or kitten. This is because younger pets are deemed to be at less risk for accidents or illnesses when compared to older pets. For an insurer, less risk is better, often leading to more affordable premiums.

Another benefit for younger pets is that they usually haven’t developed any pre-existing conditions yet. Pre-existing conditions are not covered by pet insurance providers, limiting the coverage options you can receive. Getting ahead of these risks is essential to maximize the value of a policy.

>> Read More: Is there pet insurance with no waiting period?

What does pet insurance cost?

The price of pet insurance is determined by several factors such as type of pet, breed, age, location, policy terms, and more. Nearly all providers allow for some form of customization to the policy, allowing you to receive different prices while many of the factors mentioned remain the same.

We received several quotes from the providers mentioned above, and prices varied from under $20 to over $130 per month. However, some providers do claim to offer policies with even lower premiums than what we received.

What does pet insurance cover?

Pet insurance is intended to cover unexpected accidents and illnesses. Coverage can vary by company, the type of policy selected, and any inclusion of optional add-ons.

Generally speaking, policyholders are reimbursed for accidents, illnesses, hereditary and congenital conditions, alternative therapies, behavioral issues, chronic diseases, cancer treatment, diagnostic testing, exam fees, prescriptions, specific dental work, hospitalization, surgery, and more.

>> Read More: What does pet insurance cover?

What does pet insurance not cover?

Excluded treatment will vary by company, but generally, most exclude the same things. Some of these items include pre-existing conditions, cosmetic procedures, experimental therapies, breeding costs, and preventative care.

To better understand how pre-existing conditions and preventative care are handled, check out the questions below.

What happens if my pet has a pre-existing condition?

Pre-existing conditions are excluded from nearly all pet insurance providers’ policies. The reason for this is simple. Providers don’t want pet owners to sign up for coverage only after their pet has suffered an unexpected injury or illness.

These pre-existing conditions won’t restrict your ability to enroll in a plan; it’ll just limit what claims your provider will payout. However, a new trend is growing in the pet insurance industry. Several providers have started to distinguish pre-existing conditions between incurable and curable.

A curable pre-existing condition is free of treatment and symptoms for a certain number of days. Once that period is met, the provider will begin offering coverage for that condition.

Learn more about how pre-existing conditions impact pet health insurance.

Does pet insurance cover routine care?

Pet insurance does not cover routine care. Providers offer this as an optional wellness plan that can be attached to your pet insurance policy. It typically comes with an added monthly cost, no deductible, and usually a set benefit limit each year.

Some preventative care items that can be covered with a wellness plan include an annual exam, vaccinations, blood screening, fecal tests, urinalysis, heartworm/flea prevention, spaying/neutering, and more.

>> Read More: Pet wellness plans vs. pet insurance

Additional readings to help with your decision

• Pet insurance that pays the vet directly
• Should service dogs have pet insurance?
• Pet insurance for adopted pets
• Pet insurance for senior pets