Best Pet Insurance For Cats And Kittens

You never know when your cat may experience an unexpected health issue. Buying a pet insurance policy for your cat or kitten can protect it in case of accidents and illnesses and prevent you from paying expensive vet bills after an emergency.

Through in-depth research and a thorough analysis of the best pet insurance companies available, we at the Guides Home Team recommend the following eight pet insurance companies for your cat.

Top 8 Providers of Pet Insurance for Cats & Kittens

Here are the top 8 providers of the best pet insurance for cats and kittens:

Lemonade Pet Insurance

Lemonade, known for having the most affordable pet insurance plans, is an insurance provider that offers other products like homeowners insurance and renters insurance in addition to pet insurance.

It provides customizable plans with up to $100,000 in annual coverage limits, some of the lowest monthly premiums on the market and an impressive mobile app with AI technology to help you manage your cat’s health and get claims processed within minutes.

Lemonade currently doesn’t offer pet insurance for cats in 15 states, including Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Although the company is facing a class-action lawsuit related to its alleged biometric data collection, we still view Lemonade as a legitimate and reputable provider due to its charitable giveback initiative, user-friendly website and intuitive mobile app. You can learn more in our Lemonade review.

Coverage and Cost: Lemonade offers one accident and illness plan that covers your cat’s health emergencies, including broken bones, poisonings, stomach illness, cancer, heart disease, hip dysplasia, skin conditions and more. It doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions, elective procedures and behavioral treatments.

Optional Add-Ons: Lemonade also offers a preventive care add-on for coverage on vet bills related to your cat’s routine care. This package covers a wellness exam, heartworm test, fecal test, bloodwork and three vaccines. You can also upgrade this add-on to include routine dental care and flea, tick, or heartworm medication. It also offers a cheap add-on for vet visit fees in addition to an add-on for physical therapy treatments, since neither are included in the standard plan.

Lemonade Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $100, $250 or $500
• Annual coverage limits: $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Review Lemonade’s sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: Below are a few sample monthly quotes we received for a policy with a $5,000 annual coverage limit, a $250 deductible and an 80% reimbursement rate:

Get a Quote: Use Lemonade’s online quote tool to get a free quote for an insurance policy after answering a few questions about your cat.

To Learn More: Lemonade Pet Insurance Review

Spot

When purchasing your pet insurance plan for your cat, you can typically customize your coverage and pricing to fit your needs and budget. That’s where Spot stands out among competitors.

It provides seven annual coverage limits ranging from $2,500 to unlimited coverage and five deductible options. You can also choose between accident-only or accident and illness coverage for your plan and have acess to two wellness coverage add-ons to help fine-tune your policy.

Coverage and Cost: If you choose accident-only coverage, your pet insurance policy will help pay for costs related to injuries, swallowed objects, broken bones, cuts and bite wounds. To extend that coverage to illnesses, including cancer, digestive illness, congenital conditions and more, you’ll need to purchase Spot’s accident and illness coverage.

Spot’s standard policy also covers microchip implantation and vet visit fees, which are often excluded by many competitors.

Optional Add-Ons: Spot also provides additional coverage for preventative care. The Gold plan costs $9.95 per month and includes up to $250 total of per-item limits per year for treatments such as a dental cleaning, a wellness exam, vaccinations and more. The Platinum plan increases the total per-item limits to $450 and adds a few coverages for things like blood tests, urinalysis and a health certificate.

Spot Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $100, $250, $500, $750 or $1,000
• Annual Coverage Limits: $2,500, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $7,000, $10,000 or unlimited
• Reimbursement Rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Sample Quotes: Below are examples of monthly prices on accident and illness plan quotes for male cats with $5,000 of annual coverage, a $250 deductible and an 80% reimbursement rate:

Get a Quote: Visit the Spot pet insurance website to get a free quote for your cat’s policy.

To Learn More: Spot Pet Insurance Review

Embrace

Embrace is an ideal choice for cat owners who want additional savings opportunities when shopping for a policy. It offers the Healthy Pet Deductible benefit, which credits your policy’s annual deductible with $50 each year you don’t file a claim, meaning you could owe as little as $0 during a claim after multiple years of your cat staying healthy.

Embrace also offers a 10% multi-pet discount, 5% military discount and 10% discount to employees of companies that participate in its employee benefits program.

Coverage and Cost: Embrace offers one accident and illness plan, which covers your cat’s dental trauma, congenital conditions, cancer, genetic conditions, hip dysplasia and more. It also pays for exam fees and other vet bills related to those conditions, including prescription drugs, allergy testing, lab tests, surgery, hospitalization, alternative therapies and more. It doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions or elective procedures.

Optional Add-Ons: You can also purchase a wellness plan with your cat’s policy, which includes a 100% reimbursement for routine vet visits, spay or neutering, microchipping, grooming, teeth cleaning and vaccinations. This wellness plan has three annual limit options: $250, $450 or $650.

Embrace Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $200, $300, $500, $750 or $1,000
• Annual coverage limits: $5,000, $8,000, $10,000, $15,000 or $30,000
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Review Embrace’s sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: Here are some monthly quotes for an Embrace policy with a $5,000 annual coverage limit, $300 deductible and an 80% reimbursement rate:

Get a Quote: You can get a free quote from Embrace by filling out this online form.

To Learn More: Embrace Pet Insurance Review

Healthy Paws

With unlimited annual and lifetime coverage caps, Healthy Paws’ policies ensure that you’ll never have to pay excessive amounts out of pocket for your cat’s vet bills.

While some other providers, including Prudent Pet and Spot, offer unlimited coverage caps, Healthy Paws’ monthly premiums are generally more affordable than the monthly premiums with those providers’ unlimited coverage plans.

Coverage and Cost: Healthy Paws offers one plan with an unlimited annual coverage cap that pays for treatments and procedures related to your cat’s accidents and illnesses, such as cancer treatments, emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, X-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds, prescription medications and alternative treatment. It doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions, hip dysplasia during the first 12 months of the policy, exam fees and a few other items.

Healthy Paws doesn’t offer a wellness or preventive care optional coverage add-on, so it might not be best for cat owners who want help paying for routine vet visits and treatments.

Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $250 or $500
• Annual coverage limits: Unlimited
• Reimbursement rates: 70% or 80%

Policies for 6-year-old cats come with a 70% reimbursement rate and a $500 deductible, while policies for 7-year-old cats come with a 70% reimbursement rate and a $750 deductible. Cats that are 8 years or older are locked into a policy with a 50% reimbursement rate and a $1,000 annual deductible.

Review Healthy Paws’ sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: Here are some sample monthly quotes for a Healthy Paws policy with a $250 annual deductible and an 80% reimbursement rate:

*Policies that cover cats over 6 years old come with lower reimbursement rates (50%–70%) and higher annual deductibles ($500–$1,000).

Get a Quote: Fill out this quick form to get a quote from Healthy Paws based on your cat’s details.

To Learn More: Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Review

Figo

Figo is another top insurer for your cat or kitten that impressed us in our review. It provides flexible policies with unique add-ons and a resourceful app. The Figo Pet Cloud mobile app helps connect pet owners to other pet parents, keep track of their pet’s medical records and manage their pet insurance policy.

However, we found that Figo stands out the most for its reimbursement rate options, which include a 100% reimbursement percentage that’s not offered by any competitors in this review. Choosing 100% reimbursement means you won’t have to pay anything out of pocket during a claim aside from whatever’s left of your deductible.

Coverage and Cost: Figo provides one coverage plan for both accidents and illnesses. It pays for diagnostic tests, surgeries, prescription medications and other necessary treatments related to conditions such as injuries, hip dysplasia, general illnesses, chronic conditions and more. Its policies also come with a 24/7 live vet chat on the Figo Pet Cloud smartphone app.

Optional Add-Ons: You can add coverage for veterinary exam fees associated with a covered accident or illnesses. You can also add the Extra Care Pack, which includes coverage for cremation or burial costs, lost-pet advertising, vacation cancellation fees, emergency boarding fees, replacement costs if your pet is lost or stolen and third-party property damage liability.

You can also add wellness coverage at two coverage levels, depending on your needs. It helps pay for your pet’s spay or neither procedure, blood work, microchip implantation, deworming and more.

Figo Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: Four choices between $100 and $1,000 (options vary by your pet’s age)
• Annual coverage limits: $5,000, $10,000 or unlimited
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80%, 90% or 100%

Review Figo’s sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: We secret-shopped for the following Figo quotes for male cats with a $5,000 limit, 80% reimbursement rate and $250 annual deductible:

Get a Quote: Enter your information into this online form for a free quote from Figo.

Prudent Pet

If you’re looking for an inclusive coverage plan that reimburses you for a few extra costs that aren’t included in other providers’ policies, consider Prudent Pet.

Its Ultimate Plan has an unlimited annual coverage cap, and it covers up to $500 for advertising and reward money if you ever lose your cat and up to $1,000 for vacation cancellation fees as a result of your cat’s illness or injury.

Coverage and Cost: Prudent Pet offers three plans: the Accident-Only Plan, the Essential Plan and the Ultimate Plan.

• The Accident-Only Plan comes with a $10,000 annual coverage limit and coverage for bite wounds, broken bones, tooth injuries and swallowed objects.
• The Essential Plan also includes $10,000 of annual coverage for the accidents covered in the Accident-Only Plan in addition to illnesses such as hereditary conditions, hip dysplasia, digestive illnesses, cancer and more.
• The Ultimate Plan includes everything in the Essential Plan, but it comes with an unlimited annual coverage cap and offers a reimbursement for advertising and reward money for lost cats, boarding kennel and cattery fees, replacement for lost or stolen cats, mortality costs and vacation cancellation fees.

Optional Add-Ons: You can also add coverage for exam fees and wellness care, which covers wellness exams, vaccines, fecal exams and deworming. This coverage comes at three different monthly prices and coverage levels: Low with $210 of annual coverage, Medium with $315 of annual coverage and High with $460 of annual coverage.

Prudent Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $100, $250, $500 or $1,000
• Annual coverage limits: $10,000 or unlimited
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Review Prudent Pet’s sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: Here are some sample monthly quotes for Prudent Pet’s Essential Plan with a $250 deductible and an 80% reimbursement rate:

Get a Quote: Visit the Prudent Pet website to get a free quote for a policy for your cat or kitten.

To Learn More: Prudent Pet Insurance Review

ASPCA Pet Health Insurance

ASPCA Pet Health Insurance is one of the most well-known, experienced and trustworthy pet insurance providers, offering comprehensive policies for thousands of cats and kittens since 2006 and paying out more than two million claims.

ASPCA Pet Health Insurance is the result of a partnership between experienced pet insurance provider Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Coverage and Cost: ASPCA Pet Health Insurance offers two coverage plans for cats: Accident-Only Coverage and Complete Coverage. The Accident-Only Coverage plan covers accidents and injuries that result in emergency treatments or vet visits, while the Complete Coverage plan covers those accidents plus illnesses and conditions such as dental disease, behavioral disorders, hereditary conditions, arthritis, cancer and more.

Optional Add-Ons: If you want routine care for your cat, you can add the Preventive Basic plan or the Preventative Prime plan to your policy. The Preventive Basic plan comes with $250 of annual coverage for two vaccines, dental cleanings, deworming and a wellness check-up. The Preventative Prime plan comes with $450 of annual coverage for the treatments in the Basic Plan plus a few other items such as more vaccines, a blood test, urinalysis and a health certificate.

ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $100, $250 or $500
• Annual coverage limits: $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $7,000 or $10,000
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Review ASPCA Pet Health Insurance’s sample policy for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Sample Quotes: Here are some sample monthly prices for an ASPCA Pet Health Insurance policy with $5,000 of annual coverage, an 80% reimbursement rate and a $250 deductible:

Get a Quote: Enter your cat’s breed, age and ZIP code into this online tool to get a free quote for an ASPCA Pet Health Insurance policy.

To Learn More: ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Review

Fetch by The Dodo

If your vet ever recommends alternative, holistic or behavioral therapies to treat things like your cat’s behavioral disorders, breathing issues, anxiety and more, you could owe excessive vet bills.

Unlike many competitors that limit or exclude coverage for such therapies, Fetch includes most of these treatments, such as stem cell therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, homeotherapy and hydrotherapy.

Coverage and Cost: Fetch’s accident and illness policies cover costs for things like surgery, hospitalization, tooth extraction, rehabilitation, specialist care, diagnostic tests and prescription medications related to your cat’s unexpected incidents and conditions, including cancer, sickness, injuries, hereditary conditions and chronic conditions. However, Fetch doesn’t cover preventative care, pre-existing conditions, elective procedures, and a few other things.

Extra Benefits: Although Fetch doesn’t offer coverage for your cat’s routine care, it does include a few extra benefits with its standard plan. For example, your cat’s policy will reimburse you up to $1,000 for advertising and reward money if you lost your cat, $1,000 for boarding kennel or cattery fees if your cat needs a place to stay while you’re in the hospital for more than four days and $1,000 to mediate costs you may incur from cancelling a vacation due to your cat’s accident or illness.

Fetch by The Dodo Pet Insurance Customizable Options:

• Deductibles: $250, $300 or $500
• Annual coverage limits: $5,000, $15,000 or unlimited
• Reimbursement rates: 70%, 80% or 90%

Sample Quotes: Here are some examples of monthly premiums on policies for various cats with a $5,000 annual coverage limit, $250 annual deductible and 80% reimbursement rate:

Get a Quote: Get a free quote on Fetch’s website based on your cat’s information.

To Learn More: Fetch by The Dodo Pet Insurance Review

Our Recommended Alternative to Pet Insurance: Pawp

Instead of providing a traditional pet insurance policy, Pawp offers a pet care membership.

A membership with Pawp includes a virtual 24/7 vet clinic and telehealth center where you can video call, text or chat licensed vets or pet specialists. It also includes a $3,000 emergency fund allowance that can pay for a life-threatening emergency for one of up to six cats in your household.

Coverage and Cost: Pawp memberships aren’t pet insurance policies, so coverage works a bit differently than what you would find from other providers. The $3,000 emergency fund can pay for vet bills related to any accident or illness as long as it’s considered a life-threatening emergency by an official Pawp vet through its virtual clinic within four hours of the incident.

Pawp doesn’t cover your cat’s preventative or routine care, elective procedures, pre-existing conditions or anything that’s not considered a life-threatening emergency. However, the emergency fund pays for 100% of the qualifying vet bill and doesn’t require you to pay a deductible during a claim.

Review Pawp’s rules and regulations for a full list of included coverage and exclusions.

Pawp Rates: Pawp charges a flat rate of $24 per month for each membership rather than charging varying rates based on your cat’s age or breed, so it could be an affordable option if you have an older cat that’s more expensive to insure. Additionally, each membership can cover an emergency for one of up to six different pets.

Get a Quote: Sign up for a Pawp membership on the company’s website.

To Learn More: Pawp Review

Which Is The Best Pet Insurance For Your Cat?

If your cat ever experiences an unexpected accident or illness, the last thing you want to worry about is whether or not you can afford the necessary procedures. That’s why pet insurance can be so valuable for cat parents.

If you want to manage your cat’s pet insurance policy with a mobile app that has a fast claims-filing process, we recommend Lemonade.

However, if savings and added benefits are important to you, Embrace might be a better pick. You also may lean toward Prudent Pet for its extra coverage for items like boarding fees and vacation cancellations.

Whichever company piques your interest, we recommend getting a free quote from multiple companies to compare plan prices based on your cat’s specific breed, age and location.

What Is Pet Insurance for Cats?

Pet insurance for cats and kittens is a health insurance policy you can purchase for your furry friends that reimburses you for vet bills from covered accidents and illnesses, but it works a bit differently than a typical health insurance policy. Once your cat’s vet receives a payment from you, you file a claim to be paid back by your pet insurance provider, rather than the provider paying the vet directly.

Your cat’s policy comes with a certain annual deductible that you have to pay before coverage kicks in. In other words, you’ll only be reimbursed for what’s left of the vet bill’s amount after paying your deductible during a claim.

Additionally, the policy includes a certain reimbursement rate that determines what percentage of the total vet bill the company agrees to pay you. It also comes with an annual coverage limit, which is the total amount of money your provider will pay for covered expenses throughout the year — anything beyond that comes out of your pocket.

There are two different kinds of pet insurance plans for cats and kittens in addition to the wellness care add-on that many providers offer.

Here are more details about what kind of coverage to expect from each plan:

Accident-Only Plans

ASPCA Pet Health Insurance and Spot offer accident-only plans at a lower monthly rate than other plans. These plans are best for pet owners who want to pay a minimal amount to cover accidents and injury-related emergencies like broken bones or swallowed objects.

Accident and Illness Plans

This is the most comprehensive coverage option offered by all providers in this review. It covers treatments related to cancer, congenital conditions, hereditary conditions, heart disease and more.

Wellness or Preventative Care

Most providers, including Lemonade, Embrace and Prudent Pet, offer preventative care add-on options that cover routine treatments such as annual check-ups, blood tests, vaccines, fecal tests and dental cleanings. These add-ons help encourage the overall health of your cat and save you money on regular vet visits.

Pet insurance for cats is generally less expensive than pet insurance for dogs. While the cost of your pet insurance will depend on a few different factors, such as your cat’s age and breed, you can expect to pay as low as $10–$20 per month for smaller, mixed-cat breeds and $20–$30 per month for larger pure breeds.

Here are a few factors that will determine the cost of your pet insurance plan:

• Location: Your ZIP code is an important factor for how much you’ll pay for your cat’s policy. In addition to evaluating cost based on state-specific laws and regulations, pet insurance companies consider the general costs of vets near you to determine how much services cost in your area.
• Age: Your cat’s age is an indicator of its likelihood to suffer from certain conditions or injuries that require treatment from a vet. Because of this, older cats are more expensive to insure than younger cats. Insuring your cat at a young age can help you qualify for the best monthly rates, but keep in mind that your policy’s premium may increase with your cat’s age when you renew it after each year of coverage.
• Breed: Although plan prices for cat breeds don’t vary quite as much as dog breeds, they can still vary. For example, larger cats like Maine Coons are usually more expensive to insure since they’re prone to hip dysplasia, whereas smaller, mixed breeds tend to stay healthier and don’t cost as much to insure.

Our review of pet insurance companies is based on in-depth industry research that includes reading hundreds of customer reviews, simulating the quote and purchasing process, speaking to representatives on the phone to assess the customer service experience and surveying 1,000 dog and cat owners nationwide to determine the most important elements of pet insurance coverage. We have scored each provider on a 100-point scale based on those elements.

Here are more details about each factor and how they’re weighted:

• Monthly pricing (25 points): How much each company charges for its pet insurance plans is an important part of a customer’s decision. The best pet insurance companies combine comprehensive coverage and plan options with affordable rates.
• Plans (15 points): The top pet insurance companies offer accident and illness plans, accident-only plans and wellness or preventative care add-ons to give customers the option to choose a plan that’s best for their pet.
• Covered treatments (15 points): With this factor, we scored companies based on the treatments and procedures they cover. Companies with a breadth of included treatments and unique coverages received more points than providers with more standard or general policies.
• Customization options (10 points): Customizing your policy is a valuable way to ensure you only pay for what your pet needs. Providers with more annual-limit, deductible and reimbursement-rate options earned the highest scores.
• Customer care (10 points): We scored companies on their website accessibility and overall usability, customer service availability, mobile apps (if any), money-back guarantees and veterinarian telehealth options, awarding points to the insurers with more customer experience offerings.
• Industry reputation (10 points): To determine each company’s industry reputation, we reviewed up-to-date ratings and accreditation information from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and scored companies on their years of experience in the industry and their state availability.
• Waiting periods (10 points): Companies with shorter accident, illness and orthopedic waiting periods between the sign-up and coverage start date scored higher than companies with longer waiting periods.
• Eligible age (5 points): Some companies don’t offer policies for pets that are over a certain age. We deducted points from providers that have age limits for covered pets.

We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best pet insurance companies in the industry. Additionally, we keep our research up to date and revisit our reviews on a regular basis.