VCA CareClub Pet Insurance Review and Cost (2024)

When enrolling, VCA CareClub members enjoy free preventative and wellness pet health services, including vaccinations, wellness exams, and blood work.

Regular screenings and checkups are the best way to ensure early disease detection, which can extend your pet’s life. The VCA CareClub will encourage you to keep up with your pet’s routine diagnostic testing, dental care and other wellness care services, giving you peace of mind that your pet will stay healthy.

However, VCA CareClub does not cover expenses arising from pet injuries or illnesses like a traditional pet insurance product. Considering vet bills from these treatments can rack up quickly, you may want to pair your VCA CareClub membership with pet insurance or choose more comprehensive pet insurance that also covers wellness benefits, like Lemonade or Spot.

Pros and Cons

See how other companies compare against each other so that you can make an informed decision when hiring a pet insurance provider.

VCA CareClub is not technically a pet insurance plan. Rather, this is a wellness plan or preventative policy covering routine care. It does not cover the cost of treatments for unexpected accidents and illnesses like a traditional pet insurance policy.

However, VCA CareClub can still help you save money on many services, including wellness exams, vaccinations, lab work and more. Exactly what your VCA CareClub plan covers depends on whether you have a cat or dog and your pet’s age.

Check out the plan options:

Adult Paws for Dogs

This plan is for adult dogs between one and seven years old. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including wellnesses exams
• Vaccinations, including influenza, Lyme, rabies, Bordetella, Leptospirosis and combo vaccines
• Wellness lab work
• Fecal test
• Microchipping

Junior Paws for Dogs

This plan is for puppies under one year of age. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including your puppy’s first junior exam and recheck exam
• Vaccinations, including influenza, Lyme, rabies, Leptospirosis, Bordetella and combo vaccines
• Deworming
• Fecal test
• Microchipping

Senior Paws for Dogs

This plan is for senior dogs seven years of age and older. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including wellness exams
• Vaccinations, including influenza, Lyme, rabies, Leptospirosis, Bordetella and combo vaccines
• Senior blood pressure check
• Senior X-rays
• Fecal test
• Microchipping

Adult Paws for Cats

This plan is for adult cats between one and seven years old. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including wellness exams
• Vaccines, including feline FeLV, FVRCP and rabies vaccinations
• Lab work
• Fecal tests
• Microchipping

Junior Paws for Cats

This plan is for kittens under one year of age. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including your kitten’s first junior exam and junior recheck exam
• Vaccinations, including the kitten FeLV, FVRCP and rabies vaccines
• FeLV/FIV test
• Deworming
• Fecal test
• Microchipping

Senior Paws for Cats

This plan is for senior cats seven years of age and older. It covers:

• Unlimited exams, including wellness exams
• Vaccinations, including FeLV, FVRCP and rabies vaccines
• Senior blood pressure check
• Lab work
• Senior X-rays
• Fecal test
• Microchipping

Add-On Coverage

In addition to what’s covered under your plan, you can add additional services like dental cleaning and spay/neuter services. You can add these services anytime within the first eight months of enrollment in the VCA CareClub. However, information about these add-ons is limited online, so you’ll have to call the VCA CareClub customer service phone number at 1-800-743-8838 or speak with a representative through the myVCA app.

Unlike traditional pet insurance plans, you don’t have to worry about choosing your deductible, reimbursement rate or annual coverage limits when you join the VCA CareClub. Any care that is covered under your plan will be fully paid for when you take your pet to an in-network VCA animal hospital. All you need to do is pay the monthly plan premium.

What is covered under your VCA CareClub policy will depend on the type of pet you have and their age, breed and health status. However, you can expect most routine care to be covered.

The CareClub plans will cover preventative care, while traditional pet insurance policies will cover emergency accidents and illnesses and any corresponding veterinary hospital bills. Some pet insurance providers also offer wellness plan add-ons that would have similar coverage to VCA CareClub.

VCA CareClub is not a comprehensive pet healthcare plan. It primarily covers basic, routine care and exams. VCA CareClub excludes:

• Injuries of any kind
• Treatment for illnesses, including chronic conditions
• Pre-existing conditions
• Grooming, bathing or boarding
• Any other care that is not explicitly covered under your plan

Because VCA CareClub covers routine care, not injuries or illnesses, there is no waiting period before your pet’s coverage begins. VCA CareClub will cover the cost of your pet’s covered care as soon as you enroll in the plan.

VCA CareClub costs around $50 a month for adult dogs and $46 a month for adult cats. Although plans vary slightly depending on what type of pet you have and your pet’s age, each plan generally covers wellness exams, checkups, vaccinations and lab work. Below are some sample quotes for different animals based on our research:

Discounts and Deals

Some pet insurance companies offer discounts for plans with multiple pets, policyholders who are active military and more. However, VCA CareClub does not currently offer any discounts or deals on its policies for pet owners.

However, when you enroll in the VCA CareClub, you can receive exclusive coupons and deals on pet products like pet food, treats and medicines.

There were very limited reviews available online for VCA CareClub — most reviews are for VCA animal hospitals. However, satisfied VCA animal hospital customers praised the top-notch medical care and compassion their pet received:

“A couple of years ago my little dog Cooper became very ill. […] They X-rayed him and it showed that he had many bladder stones, and one had slipped into his urethra, causing him severe discomfort. […]The vet said that the VCA Animal Hospital had qualified surgeons that could do such surgery. […] VCA quickly processed him and he went in for surgery. The surgery was a success and my little boy was no longer in pain. Cooper lived very well for several more years, and I have provided many referrals to the VCA Animal Hospital. The team at VCA did a great job and saved Cooper with an amazing surgical procedure. VCA Animal Hospital is a great place!” – Jeffrey via BBB

“Dr. Madge called me to discuss the treatment options for our suddenly very ill dog. After spending many hours in their ER waiting room I can attest to how busy this hospital is. Despite that, Dr. Madge spent 1/2 hour on the phone with me, explaining what was wrong and treatment options. Although this man has done this hundreds or thousands of times, he was unbelievably gentle, patient and compassionate. Unfortunately, the only clear option was euthanasia, and he was very validating and kind in supporting my decision. You are in excellent hands in this very professional clinic.” – Anne via BBB

Some customers were dissatisfied with the confusing terms, one-year contract and price point of the VCA CareClub:

“We have a monthly contract with VCA and they help my dogs when we schedule appointments. The issue is my older chihuahua is over $200 per month and we still had to pay separately for some dental work. My younger dog is almost $70 per month… just seems very expensive.” – Lorenzo via Trustpilot

“My pets had been going to Bay City’s VCA for 20+ years and they used to have relatively reasonable prices, friendly technicians and lovely doctors. Now, we just feel like we’re being extorted for the VCA to make more money. They only offer their ‘care plan,’ which is not health insurance, though it’s advertised as such, and only ends up potentially saving a touch, but you’re also locked into an annual payment plan. I never know how much a visit will cost since every time I go prices jump up. Frustrating and disappointing.” – Davita via BBB

Headquartered in Los Angeles, VCA is a nationwide network of more than 1,000 animal clinics and hospitals. VCA Animal Hospitals, Inc. has an A- Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating and is not BBB accredited. Despite being a mainstay in the animal care industry, VCA has low customer reviews on the BBB website.

That being said, your experience at a VCA animal hospital or with the VCA CareClub can vary dramatically depending on where you live, considering every VCA clinic has a different staff and operations structure.

On a positive note, VCA CareClub members do not have to worry about filing claims or waiting for claim payouts like most other pet insurance companies. Instead, if your animal receives any covered test or treatment at a VCA animal hospital, it will automatically be covered.

That being said, if your pet needs additional care outside of the scope of the CareClub coverage, you will still have to pay for it. Pet parents should carefully review what is and is not covered under their VCA CareClub plan before enrolling.

VCA CareClub members can take their pets to any animal hospital in the VCA network. VCA has animal hospitals in the following states:

You can search for VCA locations by state on their website.

VCA CareClub members can lower or fully eliminate the up-front cost they pay at the vet for preventative care. VCA CareClub may be a good option for you if you feel you’re paying too much for your pet’s routine care or are already a client at a VCA-affiliated pet hospital.

Plans with VCA CareClub start at $50 a month and range up to around $100 a month, depending on your pet’s age, breed and health. If your pet’s routine care regularly averages out to more than the cost of your VCA CareClub Plan, it’s worth it to enroll. However, if your pet goes to the vet infrequently and is already up-to-date on vaccinations and blood work, it may not be worth it.

Considering that VCA CareClub does not cover unexpected events like illnesses or injuries, you may be better off choosing a pet insurance policy with comprehensive coverage.