Does Pet Insurance Cover Spaying or Neutering?

Spay and neuter surgeries are common in the U.S., helping to control pet overpopulation and potentially preventing certain health problems. But considering that the procedure can cost hundreds of dollars, you might be wondering if pet insurance covers it.

Does pet insurance cover spaying or neutering?

Standard pet insurance policies generally don't cover spay and neuter surgeries. That’s because pet insurance is designed to cover unexpected accidents and illnesses, and these surgeries are typically planned elective procedures performed as preventive care.

However, your pet insurance company may pay for a spay or neuter procedure if your vet recommends it as a medical treatment for a covered condition.

For instance, if your dog is diagnosed with pyometra, a life-threatening infection of the uterus, your vet may perform an emergency spay. Your insurer may cover the procedure as long as it’s not related to a pre-existing condition (any condition your pet showed signs of before your policy’s effective date).

» MORE: What does pet insurance cover?

Do wellness plans cover spaying or neutering?

Since a standard pet insurance plan doesn’t cover spaying and neutering, you may have to purchase wellness coverage to get reimbursed for these expenses. A wellness plan is an optional type of coverage you can add to many pet insurance policies to pay for routine care.

Wellness plans often cover spaying and neutering along with services like vaccinations and annual check-ups. Unlike accident and illness insurance, wellness plans typically don't have deductibles or waiting periods, so coverage often starts immediately.

There are a few caveats, though.

First, not all wellness plans include spay or neuter coverage. Some companies have multiple wellness coverage options, with only higher-tier options covering these procedures.

Next, many wellness plans have reimbursement limits for spay or neuter surgery. For instance, a wellness plan might offer up to $450 in total annual benefits but cap spaying and neutering coverage at $150. So you’ll pay out of pocket if your pet’s surgery costs more than that amount.

Lastly, some wellness plans lump dental cleanings and spaying and neutering into the same category and will pay for only one or the other in a given year. If your pet needs both, your benefit would likely fall short.

» MORE: Does pet insurance cover surgery?

Pet insurers that cover spaying and neutering

Many pet insurance companies will cover spay or neuter surgery if you add a wellness plan to your policy. For many companies listed below, wellness coverage begins immediately. Check out the table for coverage at a glance, then scroll down for more details about each option.

AKC

AKC’s more expensive preventive care add-on, DefenderPlus, pays up to $150 toward the cost of spay or neuter surgery. It costs $29 per month and also includes coverage for services such as microchipping, wellness exams and vaccinations.

ASPCA

ASPCA offers two preventive care packages, but only its Prime Plan covers spay or neuter surgery. It starts at $24.95 per month and reimburses up to $150 for a spay or neuter procedure. The Prime Plan includes $450 in total annual benefits. It reimburses for wellness exams, flea prevention, blood tests, urinalysis and more.

Banfield

Banfield, a chain of veterinary hospitals in locations across the U.S., offers Optimum Wellness Plans that can pay for spay or neuter surgery, among other services. Early Care Plus plans for puppies and kittens include a spay or neuter procedure at a Banfield facility. Plans for older dogs and cats don’t include spay/neuter coverage by default, but you can add it as an option.

Optimum Wellness plans come with unlimited office visits and various other preventive care services. The cost varies based on your pet and where you live.

Embrace

Embrace is one of the only pet insurance companies that doesn’t have a sublimit for spaying and neutering. With its Wellness Rewards program, you can choose from three annual allowance options — $300, $500 or $700. The amount you choose is your maximum reimbursement for all covered routine care, including spay and neuter procedures, wellness exams, heartworm meds and dental cleanings.

Monthly costs range from $22.92 to $56.25 per month. If you use your full annual allowance, you’ll end up saving about $25 per year.

Fetch

Fetch has three Wellness plans, all of which include spay or neuter coverage. The Essentials plan starts at $10 per month and covers annual exams, vaccines and other routine care. It pays up to $175 for spaying or neutering.

The Advantage plan starts at $20 per month and includes additional services like microchipping and anal gland expression. It reimburses up to $200 for spay or neuter surgery.

The highest-tier plan, Prime, starts at $30 per month and pays up to $250 for spaying or neutering. It also includes extra services like behavioral exams and health certificates.

Figo

Figo has two Wellness Powerup options, Basic and Plus. Basic covers up to $40 for spay or neuter surgery, while Plus pays up to $75. These limits are much lower than those of many other pet insurance companies. Figo’s plans also reimburse for wellness exams, vaccines, testing, microchipping and deworming. Options and rates vary by state.

Lemonade

Lemonade offers a preventive care plan for puppies and kittens that includes coverage for spay or neuter procedures. It’s only for pets under 2 years old and reimburses up to $120 for spaying or neutering.

In our quotes, we saw monthly costs starting around $41 for puppies and $34 for kittens, but prices vary based on breed, age and location. The preventive care plan also includes other young pet care essentials like vaccines, wellness exams and microchip implantation.

MetLife

MetLife has two preventive care plans that can help reimburse you for spay or neuter surgery. The Preventive 365 plan pays up to $100, while the Preventive 575 plan can reimburse $150. The cost depends on your pet, where you live and the plan you choose.

Plans can also pay for things like behavioral training, health screening, deworming and vaccinations.

Pets Best

BestWellness, the upper-tier wellness package from Pets Best, costs about $26 to $32 per month and covers up to $150 for spaying or neutering in most states. It provides up to $535 in total annual benefits and also covers vaccines, wellness exams and more.

Prudent Pet

Of Prudent Pet’s three preventive care plans, only the two more expensive ones offer coverage for spay or neuter surgery — and it’s not much. The Medium plan pays up to $40 and the High plan up to $60. Other services the plan pays for include wellness exams, microchipping and deworming. Prices vary based on your pet and location, but we saw rates starting at about $20 a month for dogs and $14 a month for cats in our quotes.

Pumpkin

Unlike most of the other options listed here, Pumpkin’s Wellness Club plans are available as a standalone product (rather than something you can add to an accident and illness policy). The club’s Premium plan pays up to $150 for spay or neuter surgery, and covers other services such as flea/tick preventives and routine blood work. We saw prices of $44.95 per month for dogs and $34.95 per month for cats in our quotes.

Spot

Spot has a Platinum Preventive Care plan that costs $24.95 per month and reimburses up to $150 for spaying or neutering. It offers a maximum of $450 per year for various routine care services.

» MORE: The best pet insurance companies

Should you get pet insurance for spaying or neutering?

Deciding whether to get pet insurance for spaying and neutering boils down to a cost-benefit analysis. Typically, the cost of spay or neuter surgery at a vet hospital ranges from $250 to $525 for dogs and can be less for cats, depending on factors like breed, size and location.

On the other hand, wellness plans that include spay or neuter coverage might cost an additional $10 to $30 per month (so $120 to $360 per year) on top of the price of pet health insurance. Remember that your plan may have a $100 to $150 sublimit for spay or neuter procedures.

Here’s one example of how you might do the math. We got a quote from ASPCA for a medium-sized, mixed-breed dog named Buster living in Texas. A base pet insurance plan with $5,000 in annual coverage, a $500 deductible and 80% reimbursement was $28.80 per month.

Then we added the “Basic” preventive care plan ($9.95 per month, or $119.40 per year) to get $100 toward Buster’s neuter surgery, as well as other wellness services worth an additional $150. The total price for the insurance and wellness plan was $38.75 per month, or $465 per year.

We found a Humane Society in Houston that could neuter a medium-sized dog for $165. After getting reimbursed $100 from our wellness plan, we’d pay $65 for the surgery — on top of the hundreds we spent on the pet insurance and wellness coverage. That’s more expensive than simply paying the $165 neuter fee.

Of course, the math could still work out in our favor if we put our other wellness benefits toward Buster’s yearly checkup, shots and screenings, and if he ended up needing care for an accident or illness. But if your main reason for getting pet insurance is to cover a spay or neuter surgery, it may not be the most cost-effective choice.

Instead, consider researching the lowest-cost spay/neuter options in your area and putting money aside in a high-yield savings account until you have enough.