Los Angeles Pet Insurance Guide

Los Angeles pet parents: Whether you’ve got a Saluki in Silver Lake, or a Retriever in Rancho Park, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll take you through the hidden gems and insider tips of being a Los Angeles pet parent, and while we’re at it, we’ll go through the ins-and-outs of pet insurance so you can keep your furry companion (and your wallet) covered.

What is pet insurance? 

Pet insurance helps cover the costs of your vet bills. Pet owners pay a monthly premium to the insurance company and in exchange, you can care for your canine or feline fur fam without stressing about the costs. 

With Lemonade pet insurance in California, there are a few different ways to customize your policy with our coverage options: 

For starters, a base Lemonade pet health insurance policy will help cover the costs of tests, treatments, and medication if your dog or cat has an unexpected accident or illness and requires emergency care.

A base policy is great for the unexpected things in your fur fam’s future, but Lemonade also offers  preventative care packages designed to keep your pet healthy, and helps cover expenses you’re already paying for, such as routine care. By adding this package to a Lemonade policy you’ll also get access to live medical chat via our mobile app and be covered for all kinds of things—like your annual wellness exam, blood tests, vaccinations, and more. Some exclusions may apply.

Lemonade offers a Preventative, Preventative+, and a Puppy/Kitten Preventative package. Depending on your pet’s age, this package covers things like spaying/neutering, vaccinations, microchipping, and flea and tick treatments.

You can also customize your Lemonade policy with a mix and match of optional add-ons like: physical therapy, vet visit fees, dental illness, behavioral conditions, and end-of-life and remembrance—to help take the bite out of pricey treatments, services, and trips to the vet.

Here’s an example of how a Lemonade pet insurance policy works:

1. Buy a policy. You answer a few quick questions about your German Shepherd, Angel, and build your pet’s policy with the help of our friendly AI chatbot. The monthly premium you pay is determined by a few factors, mostly things that you can customize, like your coverage package, your annual deductible, your co-insurance, and the annual limit on your plan. (If you want, you can take a deeper dive into how pet insurance works to help you build your perfect policy.) Pet insurance coverage with Lemonade can cost as little as $10/month. — here’s a handy breakdown of the whole (simple) process.
2. Go to the vet. You rush Angel to the vet after he broke his leg from going too hard at the dog park. The exam, x-ray, and cast for his broken bone cost you $1,000. Woof. But because you have a pet insurance plan, you don’t have to worry about the full amount. Get the scoop on what we cover here. 
3. Get your money back. Angel is safely on the mend and you get up to a $900 reimbursement back in your pocket from Lemonade!

It’s worth noting that as your dog ages, they will require more veterinary care and treatments, which is why it pays to take out a pet insurance policy for your dog as early as possible. If you try to sign your 13-year-old dog up for insurance for the first time, they might be declined due to age-limits; either way, they’re more likely to have pre-existing conditions that won’t be covered by insurance. But if you get your new puppy a Lemonade policy right away, you’ll be able to continue renewing their policy as they age.

Apply now to get your free pet insurance quote.

Top Los Angeles dog parks 

Energetic pup? Let them run wild in one of Los Angeles’s many off-leash dog parks. Just make sure your pup is up-to-date on their vaccinations and spayed or neutered before you let them cut loose. 

• Laurel Canyon Dog Park. Let your pup stretch their legs in the first official dog park in Los Angeles. There’s plenty of parking, water stations, and separate areas for big dogs and small dogs. In addition, rumor has it that it’s a great place for celebrity sightings.
• Bluff Creek Dog Park. This astro-turfed dog park is located just up the street from one of the more popular parks in the Playa Vista neighborhood. It features water stations, hillocks for your pups to run up and down, and even a small water feature for them to splash in. Parking is ample, and the park is well maintained.
• Rosie’s Dog Beach Located in the city of Long Beach, just near Los Angeles, this beach area offers 4 acres of sand and sun for you and your pet to enjoy. Off-leash hours are from 6am-8pm every day. There are plenty of trash cans—though you’ll have to bring your own doggy bags, and there are (human) restrooms nearby. It’s the perfect place to hang out with your dog and other pet parents.
• The Boneyard Dog Park. At just over an acre, this Culver City dog park sits in the middle of a larger park that features a BBQ area, a pooch walk, biking lanes, a skatepark, and more. The dog park itself has plenty of benches, water fountains, and shade.
• Redondo Beach Dog Park. Enjoy 3 acres of off-leash fun with your dog! This dog park is located in Dominguez Park in Redondo Beach, California. It has separate areas for small dogs and big dogs, water fountains for pets and pet parents alike, and has plenty of benches so you can sit and watch your dogs play in the company of your canine or human friends.

Support local Los Angeles animal shelters

• Angel City Pit Bulls. Angel City Pit Bulls is a foster-based only program that seeks to find a solution to the problem of the high-euthanasia rates of pit bulls in shelters. They provide community education and support to encourage owner retention, as well as spay/neuter programs. They are a no-kill organization.
• Healthcare for Homeless Animals. This organization is based out of the Agoura Animal Care Center. It seeks to provide medical care for each and every animal that comes into the shelter, no matter the type of animal, the nature of the medical issue, or the cost of the exam fees. It funds medical exams, diagnoses, treatments, and hospitalization. It also has hospice programs, a senior welfare program, and a foster program.

• Paws/LA. The goal of Paws/LA is to help keep disadvantaged individuals and their animals together. They support low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities by providing animal care, food, veterinary care, as well as housing advocacy.
• L.A. Love & Leashes. Love & Leashes seeks to help the animals in L.A.’s six animal shelters find permanent homes. Every morning, they bring shelter animals to their loving and warm animal center where they can relax and play in the hope that their true personalities will shine outside the stressful environment of the shelter, making it easier for them to find a pet parent.

Support Los Angeles-based pet businesses

Support small Los Angeles businesses while keeping your best friend totally pampered! 

• The Urban Pet. Owned by a former dancer, turned dog trainer, this pet store has branches in five L.A. area locations. Not only does it offer premium dog food and supplies, it also offers dog training and dog grooming, as well as vaccination and dental clinics, so you can keep up with your pet’s healthcare while you shop. It is truly a one-stop shop for all your pet needs.

• Tailwaggers. Tailwaggers is a store with a pedigree. It is named for the iconic Tail-waggers Club – an animal welfare charity started in 1915. The club rose to prominence in the United States in 1929 when Bette Davis was appointed president of the Southern California branch. Tailwaggers remains loyal to Davis’s legacy, providing only healthy and environmentally-friendly products for you and your animal family members. The store also has a grooming salon and a doggy day-care.
• Blue Collar Working Dog Store. This is a store for dogs who work. Blue Collar Working Dogs caters to working, active dogs and their trainers and owners. It stocks gear for police dogs, sports gear for athletic dogs, gear for service dogs, and more. It also holds weekly training classes, and specialized seminars with guest speakers.
• Centinela Feed. Centinela Feed has been a local, family-owned business for over four decades. It began primarily as a feed store for horses, and eventually broadened its scope to dogs and cats as well. In addition to providing the highest-quality food and products, Centinela Feed has also partnered with a number of local human and pet charities, including the YMCA, Meals on Wheels, and more. Among other things, they donate thousands of pounds of pet food a year, and take their employees to volunteer with the homeless. It is a store that you can feel good about supporting.
   

Before we go… 

Isn’t being a pet parent just the best? The companionship, the kisses, the laughter! Pets really add so much to our lives. The love that Los Angeles pet parents have for their furry companions is real. It is estimated that there are 2.6 million cats and dogs owned as pets in the Los Angeles area.

We love our pets, but sometimes those vet bills can take a real bite out of our wallets, which is why more and more pet parents are choosing to get covered with the best pet insurance. Learn more about how much pet insurance costs, and whether or not pet insurance is worth it for you.