Pet Insurance · Comparison Chart

Pet Insurance Comparison Chart: Coverage by Condition

Most comparison charts rank plans on price. This one is organized around the thing that actually decides a claim: which condition your dog develops, and how long each insurer makes you wait before it is covered. Eleven insurers, the two orthopedic waits that vary most, prescription food, exam fees and direct vet pay. It is educational information, not insurance or veterinary advice.

The chart

Most pet insurance comparisons rank plans on price and reimbursement percentage. Useful, but it is not what decides a claim. A claim is decided by whether the specific condition your dog develops was covered, how long you had to wait before it was, and whether the treatment it needs counts. This chart is organized that way: conditions across the top, insurers down the side.

Download this pet insurance comparison chart as a PDF to share or as a spreadsheet (CSV)

Waiting periods and food terms checked September 2026 against each insurer's published policy wording; exam-fee and direct-pay columns match the data on our main comparison, reviewed September 21, 2026 (Trupanion last verified June 2026, as its site could not be read). Several insurers publish shorter waits in specific states, so your state may be better than the default shown. Where a cell says Confirm, we could not find authoritative published wording and would rather say so than print a number. Always confirm current terms directly with the insurer.

How to read each column

Hip dysplasia wait and cruciate wait

These are the two largest spreads in the whole market, running from 14 days to 12 months, and they are genuinely different numbers at the same insurer. At Pets Best and Odie the well-known six-month wait applies to a cruciate ligament in the knee but not to hips, so hips fall back to the ordinary 14-day illness wait. At Fetch the exam waiver works the other way: it covers knees but explicitly not hips. Our full breakdowns are at pet insurance that covers hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament coverage.

Prescription food

The widest divergence on the chart and the one most owners never check. For a dog whose allergies end up managed by a hydrolyzed elimination diet, or a cat on a urinary diet, this column is the difference between a covered treatment and an indefinite monthly cost. ASPCA, Pumpkin and MetLife cover it for a diagnosed condition, Pets Best, Fetch and Lemonade exclude it outright, Embrace pays only through a wellness add-on, and Trupanion covers half for two months. See allergy coverage for the detail.

Exam fees

The charge for the visit itself, separate from anything done during it. Excluded at some insurers and included at others, and on a chronic condition that means a recheck every few months you are paying out of pocket for, forever.

Direct vet pay

Whether the insurer can pay the clinic at checkout instead of reimbursing you afterwards. Only Trupanion offers it as standard. It matters most in an emergency where the alternative is fronting several thousand dollars on a card.

Conditions not on the chart

Dental is a column we deliberately left off, because the honest answer for most insurers is the same: dental illness such as a fractured tooth or periodontal disease is usually covered, while routine cleanings need a wellness add-on. The variation is in upkeep requirements rather than in yes or no, so it reads better as prose than as a grid. Our dental coverage guide covers it.

Cancer is similar: essentially every accident-and-illness plan covers diagnosis and treatment when it is not pre-existing, so a column of eleven identical cells would tell you nothing. What varies is the annual payout limit, which is where a cancer year actually fails, so we broke that out separately in cancer coverage.

What this chart cannot tell you

Three things, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. It cannot tell you the premium, because that depends on your dog's breed, age and zip code, and the only way to know is to get quotes at matched settings. It cannot tell you what your dog's records already say, which is the single biggest determinant of what gets covered. And it is a snapshot: insurers revise policy forms without notice, and several of these numbers are better in specific states than the national default shown.

Use it to build a shortlist of two or three, then read those insurers' own sample policy wording for the condition you actually care about. If you already hold a policy, the free Insurance Checkup walks the five numbers that decide whether it would hold up in a bad year.

Questions people ask

Which pet insurance has the shortest waiting period for orthopedic conditions?
On published defaults, ASPCA, Pumpkin and MetLife apply their ordinary 14-day illness wait to both hips and knees, with no separate orthopedic wait. Several other insurers match that in specific states.

Why do two insurers show different waits for hips and knees?
Because several define their long orthopedic wait narrowly around the cruciate ligament in the knee. Hip dysplasia then falls back to the standard illness wait. It is the most common error in pet-insurance comparisons.

Does any insurer cover prescription allergy food?
Yes. ASPCA, Pumpkin and MetLife cover prescription therapeutic food when it treats a diagnosed condition. Pets Best, Fetch and Lemonade exclude it, and Embrace covers it only through a wellness add-on.

Is this the same as your main comparison page?
No, and they answer different questions. This chart compares coverage by condition. The main comparison compares policy mechanics: deductible type, reimbursement percentage, annual limit and direct pay.

Sources

1. Embrace: orthopedic waiting periods by state
2. Healthy Paws: hip dysplasia coverage and exclusions
3. Trupanion: coverage FAQ and prescription pet foods
4. Figo: sample accident and illness policy (Indiana)
5. Pets Best: policy booklet, formulary and hereditary coverage
6. ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: state documents and what is covered
7. Pumpkin: what pet insurance covers
8. Lemonade: pet insurance waiting periods
9. MetLife Pet: policy and food coverage
10. Fetch: prescription food and sample policy
11. Odie: sample policy (Trisura, January 2026)

This is educational information, not insurance or veterinary advice. Insurer details are gathered from public sources and change often, so confirm current terms directly with each insurer. Some links on this site may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes what we write.