June 30, 2008

The cost of owning a pet has gone up in recent years. New technologies in medical treatment make it possible for pets to undergo similar treatments as humans for life-threatening diseases. And just as with humans, these treatments aren't cheap.

If you've never thought about buying health insurance for your pet, you might want to entertain the idea. From Liz Pulliam Weston at MSN Money, here are three reasons to consider pet insurance:

• More treatable diseases. Cancers and other once-fatal conditions for your pet can be treated and even cured. That's right. It's possible to have your pet receive radiation therapy or a kidney transplant. While this is great news for Fido -- he may live longer now - it's not great news for your wallet. These procedures can cost $1,000 and up.

• New medical technology. Vets have more tools handy to assess a pet's health. These tests and screens can be quite sophisticated. MRIs are just one example. Not only do these screens come at a price, they often turn up problems that otherwise would have gone undiscovered and untreated.

• Health-care inflation. All those medical and technological advancements have caused vet's fees to rise. Every time you bring your pet to the doctor, it's going to cost a little more every year.

Source :http://online.wsj.com