Does pumpkin pet insurance cover heartworm prevention?
Additional Coverage Options
Routine medication — such as heartworm prevention, flea and tick medication and vaccinations — isn't typically covered unless you purchase a wellness care add-on for your plan. Medication is also excluded if it's for non-covered procedures such as spaying, neutering, microchipping or cosmetic procedures.
| Pumpkin Pet Insurance | |
|---|---|
| Eligible Ages | 8 weeks and up |
| Maximum Benefit | Annual limit of $10,000 for dogs, $7,000 for cats1 |
| Reimbursem*nt Amount | 90% |
| Deductible | $100, $250, or $500 |
Pumpkin plans don't charge extra to cover take-home Rx medications. Pumpkin insurance plans cover take-home medication prescribed by a vet to treat a covered accident or illness.
Pumpkin pet insurance offers an optional wellness package called Preventive Essentials. Expenses covered by this plan include: Annual wellness exams. Parasite screenings, such as heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, ticks and whipworms.
Paws 4 A Cure may provide financial assistance for owners in the United States that cannot afford veterinary care for their pet's illnesses or injuries such as insulin, Heartworm treatment or medical equipment. Grants are one-time only for a maximum of $500. Pet Assistance Inc.
Why is heartworm treatment so expensive? Heartworm treatment is expensive due to several factors: Heartworm medications are relatively new, and their high price is attributed to research and development costs. Moreover, the medication is often imported, making it more expensive to obtain.
For example, heartworm preventatives are labeled as "prescription-only" because it's critical that your veterinarian makes sure the medication is the right one based on your pet's health status.
Pumpkin plans do not cover annual dental cleanings and certain cosmetic or elective services. For a full list of what Pumpkin insurance plans do and don't cover, check out a sample policy.
Pumpkin makes good on its promise to provide comprehensive care, offering pet insurance at a 90% reimbursem*nt rate to all pets regardless of age.
Does pumpkin pet insurance increase every year?
Yes. Pumpkin premiums do tend to increase each year as your pet ages. Pets become increasingly susceptible to illness and injury the older they get, so Pumpkin tweaks your monthly premium to reflect that higher liability.
Claim processing times: Pumpkin guarantees that each submitted claim they receive will be reviewed and processed within 30 days from the moment of filing.
Pumpkin is a relatively new entrant in the pet insurance market, having started its services in 2020.
Pumpkin seeds are an extremely effective deworming agent because they contain an amino acid called cucurbitacin. This paralyzes the worms making them easily eliminated from the intestine. They can be fed whole as a treat or you can grind them into a fine powder and add to Fido's food.
If your pet is found to have heartworms and has been on regular, documented preventative – Heartgard, Interceptor, and Trifexis will cover the cost of heartworm treatment. This is how much heartworm prevention you can buy for the cost of the average heartworm treatment. It is much cheaper to prevent than to treat!
Does Heartgard Plus Kill Tapeworms? Heartgard plus ingredients include Ivermectin and Pyrantel Pamoate. The Heartgard Plus Ivermectin Pyrantel tablets offer protection against heartworms, roundworms, and hookworms. Unfortunately, Heartgard Plus doesn't offer protection against tapeworms.
Although there are fewer mosquitoes in the winter, there is still a risk that your pet could get heartworms if you stop giving heartworm prevention medication during this season. That's one reason veterinarians strongly recommend pets receive heartworm prevention medication year-round.
Prognosis: heartworm treatment success rates
With the three-dose adulticide protocol described above, in conjunction with doxycycline and macrocyclic lactones as recommended by the American Heartworm Society, 98% of dogs will be cleared of heartworm infection.
ProHeart 6 is a heartworm prevention shot that lasts six months ($50 to $150 per six months), and ProHeart 12 is a shot that is given annually ($75 to $350 per year). It's generally recommended that heartworm medications be administered year-round to best prevent against these deadly parasites.
The number one vet-recommended heartworm prevention is a class of medications called macrocyclic lactones, which includes ivermectin-based preventatives such as Heartgard and Sentinel and other options like Milbemax and Interceptor.
What is the number one heartworm prevention for dogs?
Often considered the gold standard of heartworm preventatives, HeartGard Plus uses the proven combination of Pyrantel and Ivermectin to completely destroy any heartworm larvae before they can mature into adults, as well as two different species of roundworms and three different species of hookworms.
The monthly heartworm preventative we prescribe only lasts in a dog's or cat's body for one to two days, not 30 days, due to the lifestyle of the heartworm, it is only necessary for the pet to take the heartworm preventative every 30 days.
If it has been more than two weeks, this lapse increases the likelihood that an infection can occur. And the longer a dog is off their routine preventative, the higher the risk of them getting heartworm disease. At this point, you'll want to contact your veterinarian promptly.
Most of the monthly heartworm medicines have a safety factor of at least 15 days of protection if a dose is missed. This means that if you're just a week or two late, your pet is likely still within that window of protection and would be unlikely to become infected during that time.
- A dry unproductive cough. ...
- Inactivity or laziness. ...
- Weight loss and loss of appetite. ...
- Shallow and rapid breathing. ...
- Distended chest. ...
- Allergic reactions. ...
- Collapsing or fainting.
