Vetina Healthcare LLP, a leading Animal Healthcare products and value-added service provider, recently announced the launch of 'Pawtect', one of India's first pet medical cover for Dogs, the company aims to eradicate the burden of huge pet's medical expenses by offering a range of plans to help pet parents. The plans are applicable across multiple pet clinics across India.

Pawtect offers three different plans and covers medical expenses between the range of Rs 40,000 and Rs 150,000:

The blue ribbon plan covers major soft tissue surgeries, third-party liability, accidental injuries and major illnesses

The yellow ribbon plan excludes major illnesses from the four categories

The red ribbon plan excludes accidental injuries from the four categories

Benefits include consultation/examination fee, emergency care provided, surgeries carried out, laboratory tests for diagnosis, X-Rays, MRI, CT SCAN for diagnosis, hospitalization/boarding charges, drugs and medications. It covers the majority of the pet medical expenses excluding regular upkeep of the pet like vaccinations, deworming, regular check-ups and grooming. These plans also cover specialized therapies such as stem cell therapy, laser therapy, blood transfusion and platelet-rich plasma therapy under the major illness section.

The plan covers pets of 8 weeks up to 8 years with renewal up to 12 years. Medical cover can be transferred to the new owner during the cover period. No Cost EMI options are available with online admission, payment and claim settlement process along with dedicated customer service with qualified veterinarians for advice. One can also use VetCoins earned from Vetina loyalty program for payment of service charges. Service charges are based on the age of dog, breed, plan and maximum benefit selected.

Prakash Khaire, Founder and CEO of Vetina Healthcare LLP says, "In countries such as UK, Australia, Canada, US, etc. pet insurance is already a practice. However, as per a rough estimate last year, less than two per cent of pet parents in India have been taking health insurance for their pets. With the recent changing trend, Indians in metros, as well as Tier 2 cities, are slowly taking the wellbeing and even grooming of their pets rather seriously. With our Medical cover plans, we want to make treatment of a pet affordable which will be boom for the Pet Practitioners since those currently avoiding or delaying the treatments will come forward for the treatment."

He adds, "When it comes to pets, the medical costs for their treatments can be quite high. Pawtect hopes to offer continuous support for maintaining pets' health and hopes to be a strong back-support for the welfare of your pet friends."

COVID -19 is bound to impact the finances of many and the best solution to avoid regrets later is to buy risk cover for medical treatment of pets. This also will help Pet Practitioners to protect their practice revenue since when the pets are covered for medical treatment exigencies, the pet parents will freely undergo medical treatment of their pets.

A data released by Statista reveals that India has 21.42 million pet dogs. The number is likely to reach 31 million by 2023. As per recent social trends, people above 60 years have started keeping pets at home. Trends also suggest a rise in the number of hospitals, spas and F&B companies dedicated companies for pets. With such advancements, pet medical insurance will soon be experiencing massive growth in India.