Does Pet Insurance Cover Spay and Neuter?

When you get a new pup or kitten, spaying or neutering them is likely at the top of your vet's to-do list. It's a safe procedure that helps reduce health risks and control animal overpopulation. But in some areas, fixing your pet can cost as much as $500, leaving many pet parents wondering: will insurance cover it?

Pet insurance companies offer preventive care riders that reimburse you for spaying or neutering your pet. The best pet wellness plans typically cover up to $200 for this procedure.

Pet wellness plan coverage

Wellness plans, sometimes called preventative care plans or riders, help pay for services and procedures that pet insurance doesn't cover, such as a full-body checkup, vaccinations, dental cleanings, routine bloodwork, parasite prevention, and deworming.

What pet wellness plans won't cover

Pet wellness plans won't cover grooming services such as baths, hair trims, nail clipping and other elective procedures like anal gland expressions, tail docking or declawing. A handful of plans may cover microchipping, behavioral exams and health certificates but most don't.

What pet insurance covers spay and neuter surgery?

Lemonade, ASPCA, Wagmo, Many Pets, Prudent Pet, AKC, Pets Best, Embrace, Nationwide and Spot pet insurance sell wellness plans that pay toward spay or neuter procedures.

When you’re shopping for pet insurance, you’ll find that some companies split wellness plans into tiers: low, medium and high coverage. A low-tier wellness plan typically won’t cover spaying and neutering. Medium-tier plans may reimburse you around $150, while the highest coverage option generally reimburses up to $200.

How far that dollar amount will stretch depends on where you live. For instance, neutering a pup in California can set you back over $500. The insurer will reimburse $200, and the remaining $300 comes out of your own pocket. However, $200 may fully cover the procedure at a low-cost clinic or in states where vet care is more affordable.

Once you've paid for the procedure, you can file a claim and get reimbursed up to the limit set by your provider. You don’t pay a deductible, but you're responsible for the difference if the vet bill exceeds the coverage limit.

An important detail to note about wellness coverage is that the limits for spay and neuter procedures are often shared with dental benefits. This means that — in a policy year — you can either file for reimbursement for a dental cleaning or for a spay/neuter surgery.

Here's how much you’d pay with different companies for pet insurance with and without wellness (preventive care) coverage.

What is the difference between a wellness plan and pet insurance?

If you're interested in comprehensive pet insurance, check out our guide on how to buy pet insurance to get the right coverage.

Is it worth buying a pet health insurance policy to pay for spaying or neutering?

If you're only looking into pet insurance to get spay or neuter coverage, remember that these procedures are one-time costs. You probably don't need an insurance policy with a wellness rider if you can pay for the surgery out-of-pocket and aren't interested in pet insurance.

According to the North American Pet Insurance Association (NAPHIA), an accident and illness policy with a wellness rider costs a little over $50 a month for cats. For dogs it averages around $100 a month. On average, you'd be spending over $600 to $1,000 a year in pet insurance premiums, much more than the cost of fixing your pet at a low-cost clinic such as The Humane Society.

However, beyond spaying or neutering, a wellness plan covers other routine care services that can easily average $700 to $1,500 a year. With that in mind, a pet insurance policy with preventive care could be a good deal, especially if your pet gets unexpectedly ill or injured.

Can you buy a standalone wellness plan?

Pet owners can purchase a standalone wellness plan if they prefer not to pay for accident and illness coverage. However, the choices for standalone plans are significantly more limited.

Banfield Pet Hospital and Petco offer wellness programs to their customers, while Wagmo Pet Insurance is the only insurer we evaluated that offers an individual wellness plan (as opposed to a preventive care add-on).

It's also worth looking into in-house wellness plans from local veterinary clinics or hospitals. These plans allow you to spread your payments over 12 months instead of paying upfront for each service. You also avoid the extra step of having to file an insurance claim and wait for reimbursement. The services are already paid for; you just bring your dog or cat in to get the care they need.

Summary of Money’s Does Pet Insurance Cover Spay and Neuter?

Standard pet insurance coverage only pays toward unexpected costs related to accidents and illnesses. Adding a pet wellness riders can help you pay the cost of spaying or neutering your pet, along with other routine care expenses excluded from pet insurance.

These plans can be a useful tool in managing your pet's healthcare needs and keeping those expenses within your budget. But it may not always be cheaper than just paying out-of-pocket so, before adding a wellness plan to your pet insurance policy, compare the cost of coverage against the benefits it offers. Whether pet insurance is worth it will ultimately depend on your finances and the care your pet requires over its lifetime.