Banfield pet insurance cost vary for different types of treatment including official visits, vaccines, dental care, etc. and preventive care of your pets. It starts by offering $21.95 a month for cats and $29.95 for dogs for the wellness plan but it is just the starter, cost increases with the facilities.
What is Banfield?
Banfield is a pet care hospital established in 1995 for the first time in Portland taking care of the pets in local residency. After four years they make their way up and expand their business to PetSmart location. Now Banfield is controlling over 1000 vet hospitals in United States.
Most of the people consider it as a pet insurance but in reality it is just a wellness plan made up for your pet’s quality care. It is a private company operating several veterinary clinic providing the best preventive health care measures to your pets.
Summary: Banfield veterinarian believes upon the wellness of pets by coming up with high quality treatment and solutions for the pet owners.
What Banfield Pet Hospital offers?
This pet hospital offers non-insurance preventive care of your pet by proposing five different wellness programs. Each of which are distinguished in their terms and conditions and also with the age of your pet.
In general number of visits to the office in a year is not limited but once you exceeds the limit of yearly exams you have to pay for your visits too. All wellness plans do share some handful of common things which are:
- Provide physical exam fees twice.
- Vaccines are given to the pet.
- There’s also a facility of diagnostic testing in every plan.
This is the initial and the most simple plan applicable only for puppies and kittens younger than six months offering following coverage:
- ■■■■■ exams are conducted for puppies and kittens for at least three years.
- De-worming is also carried out for 5 years for puppies and 4 years for kittens.
This type is almost same as that of ‘Early Care’ only having the difference of two features which are:
- Surgery of spay or neuter surgery will also be covered which would cost more than you think if paid without discount.
- Providing behavioral treatment.
This wellness plan is specifically for dogs and cats over 6 months presenting the following distinguishable features:
- ■■■■■ exams are conducted up to 2 years.
- De-worming is also offered for 2 years only.
- Behavioral treatment is allowed to have too.
The active care plus is the extended form of active care plan with the addition of:
- Dental cleaning and
- Urine testing
This special plan as per the name indicates contain some special features making it expensive over others but at the same time more authentic. Besides the common features it contains:
- Offers additional testing for diagnosis but for cats only.
- Eye pressure tests are also available twice for dogs only.
- Urine testing is provided for both of them for 2 years.
- Electrocardiogram facility can also be availed for dogs.
Summary: The pet care hospital provides as much as it can under its wellness plan. It works as an insurance company without being called as one because it is more into pet’s health improvement than providing money.
What is not Covered in Banfield’s Wellness Plan?
Despite of the fact that it can act as a good substitute of pet insurance, there are some major things not covered by this plan some of which may be mandatory for the pet:
- The foremost problem is not having the coverage for accidents or illness, the customer have to separately pay for them with or without having discounts from the hospital.
- This plan is restricted to dogs and cats, excluding out all the other pets.
- The wellness plan is offered only to those who are at Banfield’s location, people far from it or not being covered in the specific location would not be getting any advantage from this plan.
- Because not being an insurance policy, the things which are not included in the plan would be costing much more if your pet has some serious health issues.
Summary: Thus, not being an insurance program sometimes may have a drawback but other than that this Wellness plan is so far so good for pet owners who are fulfilling all the conditions.
Banfield Pet Wellness Plan Cost
The cost of wellness plan depends on various factors which are:
The wellness plan cost will of course vary depending upon the type of it because each type offers different features causing the variation in price range.
| Type of Plan | Price for Puppy or Dog | Price for Kitten or Cat |
|---|---|---|
| Early care | $35.95 | $32.95 |
| Early care plus | $45.95 | $39.95 |
| Active care | $31.95 | $24.95 |
| Active care plus | $42.95 | $37.95 |
| Special care | $54.95 | $45.95 |
There are different types of vaccination necessary for dogs and cat which are provided by the wellness plan affecting the cost differently:
For Cats:
| Name of Virus | Cost of Vaccine |
|---|---|
| Feline distemper FVRCP | About $30 |
| Feline Leukemia Virus | About $30 |
| Rabies | About $25 |
| For Dogs: | |
| Name of Virus/ Vaccine | Cost of Vaccine |
| — | — |
| Canine bordetella vaccine | About $30 |
| Lyme disease | About $38 |
| Distemper parvo DAPP vaccine | About $34 |
| Leptospirosis 4-way | About $21 |
| Rabies | About $25 |
Some other facilities and features included in the coverage may vary in their costs depending upon the pet.
| Type of Facility | Cost for Cat | Cost for Dog |
|---|---|---|
| Office visits | $45 to $65 | $45 to $65 |
| Dental prophylaxis | $300 to $400 | $300 to $400 |
| Microchip | Around $40 | Around $40 |
| Spay | Ranges from $250 - $300 | Ranges from $350 - $400 |
| Neuter | Ranges from $180 - $210 | Ranges from $350 - $400 |
| Feline snap test | Around $50 | — |
| Lyme/Anaplasma test | — | About $40 |
Summary: Banfield does not have any fix amount to be given, the prices may vary. Although they have 10, 15 or 20% discounts on all of their services, this may become expensive at times.
Comparison between Pet Health Insurance and Pet Wellness Plan
This comparison could be much more difficult than you think. Because sometimes your pet might have an accident or injury for which health insurance is mandatory whereas to have your pet’s disease diagnosed earlier and to prevent costly treatments to have, the wellness plan is required. Therefore it is a tough call.
| Sr. No. | Features | Optimum Wellness Plan | Pet Health Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Injury and illness |  |
|
| 2 | Preventive Health Care | |
|
| 3 | Proactive for veterinary care | |
|
| 4 | Pre-existing conditions | |
|
| 5 | Monthly payments | |
|
| 6 | Comprehensive plan | |
Summary: Comparison between the two may be easy but to choose between them both is quite difficult since in their own perspectives they are both worthy. It totally depends on the situation you and your pet are facing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Banfield plan worth it?
This could be tricky because it do offer free office visits, and 10 to 15% off on most of the services and when your pets get sick this option is worth considering. But if your pet doesn’t get sick this won’t even be an option.
Is Banfield cheaper than a regular vet?
Usually the private vet clinics are more cheaper than the private Banfield like hospitals. Because they would also compensate the cost of their own infra structure.
Does Banfield offer pet insurance?
No, it does not offer pet insurance actually. The wellness plan is more of a discount plan for the preventive health care services applicable only in Banfields vet clinics
Conclusion
Banfield pet insurance cost variously from $20 to $60 depending highly upon the type of pet you have and the facilities you want to avail. At time it can be costly But all in all Banfield pet care hospital is worth trying.
