When Pets Get Sick as a Dog, Insurance Helps on Bills : Animals: Policy eliminates dilemma for those who might have to choose between caring for pet and feeding family.

The Rev. Bradley Wirth considers the health insurance he bought for Oliver Wendell Wirth--a 15-year-old “terrier-poodle-cocker and, we’ve always said, Presbyterian”--almost providential.

The All Saints Episcopal Church priest, concerned about Oliver’s difficulty navigating steps, took the dog in for X-rays. Two large bladder stones were discovered, requiring surgery last January.

The $930 operation cost Wirth $176.

“In my role as a priest, I have seen people agonize over medical procedures for their pets,” he said. “(Insurance) was an absolute godsend for us, and I think it would be for other folks.”

Pet insurance costs an average of $75 a year, but it is unusual. Only one major multi-state carrier provides nationwide coverage, and a major insurer that had offered it quit because it sold few policies. Smaller plans, akin to HMOs, are springing up, however--which is how Wirth covered Oliver.

Without such coverage, an owner may have to choose between healing his pet and feeding his family. Dr. Scott Matheson, medical director for the Family Veterinary Hospital’s All Pet Complex in Taylorsville, Utah, noted that the cost of emergency veterinary medicine can exceed many clients’ budgets.

“A real common example is a dog or cat that gets hit by a car,” he said. “If it has a single broken bone, it would not be uncommon to have surgery, and that’s $800 to $1,000.”

“We find that the vast majority of pet owners don’t really take proper care of their pets,” Matheson said. “A lot of times, the option that people choose is euthanasia. “That’s frustrating when perhaps 80% of all euthanasias are unnecessary. We would rather be able to treat these animals and get them back to their families.”

In a country that spent nearly $7 billion on veterinary care for dogs and cats in 1991, pet health insurance might seem to be a logical growth industry.

“Basically, we think it’s a great idea,” said Katherine Brant, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Utah. “Many people deeply devoted to their companion animals will quite often put their companion’s health care needs ahead of their own.”

Last year, Family Veterinary Hospital launched a three-tiered dog and cat health plan. So far, more than 200 pet owners have signed up, and Matheson expects enrollment to reach 400 to 500 by year’s end. Wirth is one of the policyholders.

Here’s how it works: A $10-a-month plan offers vaccinations, other routine treatments and savings on spays and neuters. For $7.50 more, the plan extends discounts to medical, surgical, prescription and laboratory services. A $25 monthly payment covers the full cost of medical, surgical and lab work up to $500, and half the cost above that.

Matheson said the prepaid options are more akin to human health maintenance organizations than to traditional third-party insurance plans, dozens of which have failed in the pet care market in recent decades.

The latest to go under was the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.’s Medipet program, which quit writing new policies on April 4. John Kozero, spokesman for the Novato, Calif.-based firm, said less than 7,000 pet owners signed up during a three-year trial run.

“An awful lot of people showed interest, but after they received the brochures, very few sent in checks,” he said.

That left the nation’s largest pet health insurer, Veterinary Pet Insurance, without major competition. The Anaheim, Calif., company has issued more than 500,000 policies in 39 states since it was founded 14 years ago.

Premiums average $75 a year. “We cover accidents or illnesses. In that sense, it’s pretty much the same as regular (human) health insurance,” said Vice President Richard Stephens. “Elective surgeries, spays, neuters and routine care aren’t covered.”

That leaves plenty of room for small-scale, prevention-oriented pet health plans such as Matheson’s.

The American Veterinary Medical Assn. recently appointed an executive panel to explore the pet insurance issue. “Everybody seems to be very interested in this,” said spokesman Mike Walters, reached at the association’s offices in Schaumburg, Ill.

In 1991, the last year for which the AVMA has figures, Americans owned 52.5 million dogs and 57 million cats. Dog owners spent nearly $4.6 billion on veterinary care; cat owners more than $2.3 billion.

Walters argued that dogs and cats are better risks than people.

“If you consider that a lot of health problems may be the result of voluntary or discretionary but unsafe activities--drinking, smoking or riding motorcycles without helmets--animals don’t engage in those activities,” he said.