I adopted two kittens from the shelter I work with...

I adopted two kittens from the shelter I work with. The shelter has a partnership with PetFirst and provides 30-day insurance certificates on all new adoptions, which include coverage with zero waiting periods (this was confirmed and was used as a huge selling point by the salesperson who sold me my policy!) I took advantage of the offer and purchased a permanent plan from them.

My kitten, Rocket, began limping. It got worse as as the day turned into the night, so I took her to the emergency vet, reassured by the fact I had insurance. The vet determined it was likely a reaction to Rocket s FVRCP vaccine, which was administered in the same limb, just a few days prior. (Rocket s brother, George, also began limping a little, on the same leg, a few days after his vaccine. Rocket wouldn t bear any weight on her arm, but George would, so I did not feel like there was an emergency).

I submitted a claim for this incident, and it was later denied due to 6 month orthopedic waiting period.

1) The salesperson, and the flyer they pay the shelter to hand out, said there were zero waiting periods.
2) Upon reading my policy and consulting with an attorney friend, I discovered that it reads:
Waiting Period means the time period where policy Coverage is restricted. For this policy, the time period is one (1) day for Injuries and fourteen (14) days for Illnesses, except for orthopedic conditions for dogs, where the Waiting Period is six (6) months.
3) This wasn t orthopedic - actually an adverse reaction to a vaccine - but I m surprised they wouldn t have just assumed it was an accident and classified it as such (kittens are rambunctious). If George hadn t also started limping, I would have assumed she had jumped off her cat tree wrong, or wrestled too hard with her brother.

Note that the waiting period is for ORTHOPEDIC CONDITIONS FOR DOGS. DOGS.** I have a cat. Nowhere does the policy indicate that cats have an orthopedic waiting period.

I had high hopes for this company. I ve heard horror stories about pet insurance plans denying everything. I didn t think I d have these issues, being that I was insuring two creatures who are new to the earth and had health certificates from the shelter. I was wrong - this company doesn t want to pay claims, even if it means denying a cat s claim under an exclusion that is specific to dogs.

Buyer beware. I will not be recommending this company to anyone, and I will be reaching out to the shelter to encourage them to discontinue their partnership with PetFirst.