Kitten Insurance: Plans, Cost, and Coverage

Sometimes, being a pet parent can mean unexpected costs when your kitten gets sick.

Getting pet insurance for kittens when they’re still young can help you prepare if your cat ends up needing expensive vet care later. 

Kitten insurance is available by many providers and plans vary considerably. They usually work quite differently than human insurance. 

Let’s explore kitten insurance more in depth. 

Do I Need Kitten Insurance?

As a new pet parent, you may be wondering—do you need kitten insurance? 

Thankfully, most kittens manage to get to adulthood without major health problems, but some risks are quite common in this stage of life, including: 

• Feline distemper, feline leukemia, and some types of upper respiratory infections while they are in the process of receiving their first vaccines. It’s not until a couple of weeks after their last set of vaccines that they can be considered fully vaccinated. 

• Ringworm, as a kitten’s immune system is still a work in progress. They may be unable to fight off diseases that don’t affect adult cats as frequently. 

• Intestinal worms, coccidia, ear mites, and fleas. These parasites can make them miserable and even dangerously ill. 

• Getting into things they shouldn’t, like string or poisonous plants. Kittens are curious—they may get themselves into situations that lead to injuries or they may eat things that make them sick. 

Purchasing kitten insurance as soon as you can maximizes your ability to pay for whatever treatment your feline friend might need. 

The sooner you get it, the less risk of a health problem being classified as a pre-existing condition that won’t be covered. 

How Does Kitten Insurance Work?

It’s important to understand how kitten insurance works before you get a policy. You may be surprised to find out that most pet insurance policies don’t pay for care up-front. 

You pay your veterinarian when your kitten is treated. Then you send a copy of your bill (the claim) to your insurance company, and they’ll reimburse you for anything that’s covered under your policy. 

First, they will subtract your deductible, and then they will pay a portion of the bill according to your reimbursement percentage. 

Let’s say the bill was $200. You pay the vet $200 and send the claim to the insurance company. Your deductible is $100, so now the amount left is $100. The reimbursement percentage on your policy is 90%, so the insurance company pays you back $90. 

Another point to note is that wellness care for your cat—things like vaccines, checkups, and routine blood work—are usually not covered by traditional kitten insurance. 

The two types of traditional plans are accident-only and accident and illness, and wellness plans are available either as standalone policies or as add-ons to these types of plans. 

What Does Kitten Insurance Cover?

So, what does kitten insurance cover? 

The answer varies from policy to policy, but when you first start your search, it’s helpful to organize your options into three main categories: 

• Accident and illness plans are the most common type of kitten insurance. They cover things like diagnostic tests, prescription medications, treatments, hospitalization, and surgery when they’re needed due to illness or injury. 

• Accident-only plans are cheaper than accident and illness plans, but they won’t offer any benefits if your kitten gets sick. And sometimes the insurance company doesn’t consider an event an accident, even if it’s something that you would. 

• Wellness plans cover preventive care, not expenses associated with a kitten becoming sick or injured. Wellness plans are available as an add-on option if you’re purchasing traditional kitten insurance or as a standalone policy. A few companies cover wellness care as a part of a more all-inclusive insurance plan. Products and services that are often covered by kitten wellness plans include: 

  • Routine checkups 

  • Commonly recommended vaccinations 

  • Testing for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)

  • Heartworm, flea, and tick preventives 

• Fecal tests and deworming for common intestinal parasites 

• Microchipping 

• Spay/neuter surgeries 

How Much Does Kitten Insurance Cost?

Kitten insurance policies are available at many different price points. 

In general, the more you pay, the more that will be covered. However, there are ways you can tweak your coverage if your monthly budget is tight: 

• Raise your deductible. The deductible is the amount you must pay before the insurance policy’s coverage starts to take effect. Higher deductibles usually mean lower monthly premiums. 

• Lower your reimbursement level. The reimbursement level is the percentage of your kitten’s care that the insurance company will cover (90% versus 70%, for example) after your deductible is met. A lower reimbursement percentage will reduce your monthly premium. 

But don’t overlook the benefit of spreading out your expenses. It’s much easier to budget for a recurring monthly premium than having to deal with large, unexpected veterinary bills. 

There’s no way around the research needed to find a kitten insurance policy that’s right for you, but the satisfaction that comes with knowing you’ll be able to care for your feline friend is worth the time it takes. 

Choosing the Best Kitten Insurance

There is no one company that has the best insurance plan. Choosing the best kitten insurance will depend on your individual goals and budget. 

There are many different plans out there. Some have higher costs per month but cover greater percentages of your bill and have lower deductibles.  

Most plans marketed are for accident and illness. Talk with your veterinarian about which companies their clients have had good experiences with as it may vary by region. 

When it comes to adding on wellness plans, you might want to do some math first.  

Ask the clinic you plan to take your kitten to about routine wellness costs and calculate how much you can expect to spend on your kitten in a year for their regular care when they’re healthy.  

In the beginning, you can expect your kitten to be in and out of the vet several times over the course of the first year. After that, there will be annual visits. 

You can divide the total of the first year by 12 to calculate how much per month you are spending when they’re healthy.  

Repeat this calculation and divide the total of their annual wellness visit by 12 to have an idea of how much you spend per year on routine care when they're healthy.  

Consider this number when you're looking at adding on a wellness plan. Keep in mind that most veterinary hospitals expect payment up front.  

Is this something that you can afford? Or is it something you would rather stretch out? 

Unforeseen costs associated with your cat getting sick or injured are more difficult to assign a cost to. If your budget is tight, you might be better off with a plan with a higher deductible and lower monthly payment.  

Remember, this means that you will have to come up with the cost of care when it happens and be reimbursed later after the company has subtracted the deductible and decided what they will cover. 

If your budget is more flexible, a plan with a lower deductible and more expansive coverage can be wonderful.  

As your cat ages, or if they develop conditions requiring work ups by specialists, good pet insurance can save you a lot of money.  

Same goes for if your cat is injured or develops a medical condition that requires expensive surgery.