On average, insured pet owners spent an average of $1,500 for unexpected trips to the veterinarian. That’s according to the 2016 claims data from Petplan pet insurance, which looked at how much each state pays. The top 10 states and their average annual expenditures for insured pets are: California; $1,521.18 District of Columbia; $1,515.97 Hawaii; $1,480.41 Louisiana; $1,472.36 New Mexico; $1,459.52 Colorado; $1,434.46 Maine; $1,417.52 Maryland; $1,417.34 Delaware; $1,414.29 Pennsylvania; $1,402.31 North Dakota and Arkansas tied for the state where pet parents spent the least on veterinary costs for their pets, at an average of $769.56 and $769.60 respectively. According to Petplan, some of the top conditions that land pets at the vet each year are cruciate injuries, which cost an average of $3,480 nationally; foreign body ingestion, which racks up an average $1,755 bill; and cancer, which averages $2,033 to treat. “If there’s ever a question about the benefit of pet insurance, all one needs to do is look at the data,” says Natasha Ashton, co-founder and co-CEO of Petplan. “When you consider that the average Petplan policy costs $440 annually, and that pet parents in all 50 states spent much more than that on trips to the vet, the numbers truly speak for themselves. It all adds up to what’s best for pets, and having a pet insurance policy in place to cover these costs is one of the easiest ways to ensure your furry family will always get the best.”
