The 5 Most Common Chronic Conditions in Cats and Dogs

A chronic condition is an ongoing injury or illness that can last a lifetime. Chronic conditions in pets often require regular medication and frequent visits to the vet’s office for monitoring.

When it comes to chronic conditions, Embrace sees a lot of claims. Because of the ongoing care required for many of these conditions, it’s not unusual for a pet parent to send in an invoice once per week. Diabetes often requires daily shots and frequent monitoring – that means lots of syringes and insulin. Embrace covers both of these items for insulin-dependent dogs and cats. We reimbursed more than $50,000 for cats with diabetes mellitus in 2017.

A chronic condition isn’t always just an illness. A cranial cruciate ligament tear can be caused by an accident that leads to long-term care. And dogs who have torn their cranial cruciate ligament on one side are at much higher risk for the other to tear as well – up to 50% higher! Once they’re covered by Embrace, we do not exclude coverage of that bilateral injury either, we’re talking two potential surgeries, rehabilitation, and medication – covered. We reimbursed more than $2 million for dogs with cranial cruciate ligament tears in 2017.

Many companies have specific rules in place for pet insurance that covers chronic conditions, like only paying up to a certain dollar amount for it – or dropping coverage for that condition once the policy renews. If you’re in the market for pet insurance for dogs or cat insurance, keep your eye out for companies with no chronic condition exclusions.

Common Chronic Conditions for Cats*

1. Kidney disease

2. Hyperthyroidism

3. Diabetes mellitus

4. Inflammatory bowel disease

5. Lymphoma

Common Chronic Conditions for Dogs*

1. Allergies

2. Cranial cruciate ligament tear

3. Arthritis

4. Skin mass

5. Seizure

*This information in based on 2017 Embrace claims data.