Lemonade Pet Insurance Review: Coverage, Cost and the Catches

What is Lemonade pet insurance?

Lemonade pet insurance is an accident-and-illness policy for dogs and cats, bought and managed in an app. It is sold by Lemonade, Inc., a New York company founded in 2015 that also sells renters, home, car and life insurance.

The base policy pays a share of vet bills for new accidents and illnesses. You choose three numbers that set your price:

• Deductible: what you pay each policy year before Lemonade pays anything. Lemonade offers $100, $250, $500 and $750.
• Reimbursement rate (Lemonade calls it co-insurance): the share of each covered bill Lemonade pays after the deductible. Options are 70%, 80% or 90%.
• Annual limit: the most Lemonade pays in a policy year, between $5,000 and $100,000.

You can use any licensed vet in the US. We may earn a commission if you buy through our links.

What does Lemonade pet insurance cover?

Lemonade covers diagnostics, procedures and medications for accidents and illnesses that start after the waiting periods. That includes hereditary conditions like hip dysplasia, chronic conditions, infections and infestations, as long as they are new.

Category	What Lemonade lists	Covered by base plan?
Diagnostics	Blood tests, urinalysis, X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds	Yes
Procedures	Outpatient, specialty and emergency care, surgery, hospitalization	Yes
Medications	Injections and prescription drugs, including allergy medicine	Yes
Serious illness	Cancer treatment, heart disease, diabetes	Yes, if new
Orthopedic	Knee, elbow and hip dysplasia treatment	Yes, after the 30-day wait
Dental accidents	A broken tooth from an injury	Yes
Vet exam fees	The charge for the visit itself	No, add-on
Routine care	Checkups, vaccines, dental cleanings	No, preventative package

The exam fee gap matters more than it looks. An exam fee is what the clinic charges just to see your pet, before any tests. Forbes Advisor lists it as a con that this needs the separate Vet Visit Fees add-on.

What isn’t covered?

Lemonade’s FAQ lists these exclusions: pre-existing conditions, recurring preventable incidents, treatment outside the US, at-home dental care and orthodontics. Lost or stolen pets are not covered either.

The base plan also skips routine and preventative care. If you want checkups and vaccines paid for, you need a preventative package. Our guide to wellness plans explains when those pay for themselves.

Which add-ons does Lemonade sell?

Lemonade sells several kinds of optional add-ons on top of the base policy. Prices below are Lemonade’s own “from” figures on its dog and cat pages, checked October 4, 2026.

Add-on	What it pays for	Dogs	Cats
Preventative	Wellness exam, vaccines, wellness tests, medical advice chat	From $15/mo	From $10/mo
Preventative+	Adds flea, tick or heartworm medication and a routine dental cleaning	From $22/mo	From $15/mo
Puppy or Kitten Preventative	Spay or neuter, microchip, up to six vaccines	From $40/mo	From $31/mo
Vet Visit Fees	Exam charges for sick visits	Quote only	Quote only
Dental Illness, Dental Care, physical therapy, behavioral	Gum disease, cleanings, rehab, behavior treatment	Quote only	Quote only

A wellness add-on like these is not insurance in the usual sense. It reimburses set routine costs, usually up to fixed amounts. Preventative benefits start the day after purchase, with no deductible.

NerdWallet’s main con is that physical therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic care cost extra. Add two or three of these and the low base price climbs fast.

How much does Lemonade pet insurance cost?

Lemonade says a dog or cat policy starts at $10 a month. Lemonade’s own estimates, based on its rates as of October 2024, put the average at about $48 a month for dogs and $27 a month for cats.

Example	Monthly estimate	Source
Average dog, all ages and states	About $48	Lemonade, rates as of Oct 2024
Average cat, all ages and states	About $27	Lemonade, rates as of Oct 2024
Pit Bull, age 1 to 3	$40 to $45	Lemonade, rates as of Oct 2025
Golden Retriever, age 7	$85 to $90	Lemonade, rates as of Oct 2025
English Bulldog, age 7	$125 to $130	Lemonade, rates as of Oct 2025
Mixed-breed dog, $20,000 limit	$44	Forbes Advisor, July 2026
Mixed-breed cat, $20,000 limit	$23	Forbes Advisor, July 2026

Age, breed and state move the price the most. Our full Lemonade pet insurance cost breakdown has the state table and the ways to bring a quote down.

What are Lemonade’s waiting periods?

Lemonade’s waiting periods are 0 days for accidents, 14 days for illnesses and 30 days for orthopedic conditions. A waiting period is the stretch after you buy when new problems aren’t covered yet.

Coverage begins at 12:01 a.m. the day after purchase, and the clocks start then. Signs of a cruciate ligament problem before or during the orthopedic wait make it pre-existing. Our page on Lemonade waiting periods walks through dates and the different terms some reviews quote.

How do Lemonade claims work?

You pay the vet, then file the claim in the Lemonade app with the invoice. Lemonade’s FAQ says about 50% of eligible claims are paid instantly and the rest are typically processed within 5 days.

Claims are checked by Lemonade’s AI for fraud first, then either approved automatically or passed to a human team. Payment goes to your bank account. Your deductible is subtracted and your reimbursement rate applied.

You have 180 days from treatment to file, or 90 days in Texas. Lemonade also asks for 12.5 months of your pet’s medical records before it pays a first claim. Sending them soon after the illness waiting period avoids a delay later.

The weak spot is cash flow. With an emergency bill of a few thousand dollars, you front the full amount. Our guide to emergency vet costs covers what to plan for.

How does Lemonade handle pre-existing conditions?

Lemonade does not cover conditions your pet showed signs of, was diagnosed with or was treated for before the waiting periods ended. That is the standard meaning of a pre-existing condition.

There is one opening. In most states, Lemonade can cover a curable condition, such as an infection, once your pet has gone 12 months with no symptoms or treatment. Incurable conditions never qualify. Lemonade names arthritis, allergies, asthma, cancers, endocrine diseases and cruciate ligament injuries.

Insurify flags a stricter point: Lemonade treats bilateral conditions as pre-existing. These are problems that can affect both sides of the body, like knees. If one knee had trouble before, the other knee is excluded too.

Lemonade dog insurance vs cat insurance

Lemonade’s dog and cat policies have the same structure, waiting periods and choices. Cats cost less, because vet care for cats is generally cheaper, as Lemonade’s cost guide notes.

	Dogs	Cats
Lemonade average estimate	About $48/mo	About $27/mo
NerdWallet sample range (Katy, Texas)	$27 to $114/mo	$14 to $30/mo
Cheapest preventative add-on	From $15/mo	From $10/mo
Breed effect	Large breeds cost more	Smaller spread

For dogs, breed is the big swing. Lemonade’s estimate for a 7-year-old English Bulldog is roughly three times its estimate for a young Pit Bull. See our Bulldog insurance guide for why. For cats, read our cat insurance guide.

Where is Lemonade pet insurance available?

Lemonade pet insurance is sold in 43 states and Washington, D.C. It is not sold in Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia or Wyoming.

If you move to one of those states, Lemonade’s FAQ says you must cancel and get a refund. Travelling is fine: you are covered at licensed vets anywhere in the US while your policy is active. Prices vary a lot by state, from $20 to $24 a month in Oklahoma to $45 to $49 in California on Lemonade’s own state table. Our California pet insurance guide explains why.

What do independent reviewers say?

Independent reviewers rate Lemonade well on price and claims speed, and mark it down for add-on costs and reimbursement-only payment. Our short verdict on whether Lemonade pet insurance is good weighs these up.

Reviewer	Score	Main praise	Main criticism
Forbes Advisor (July 2026)	4.9 of 5	Below-average rates, several wellness tiers	Exam fees and therapy are add-ons; no 24/7 telehealth
Insurify (Jan 2026)	4.7 of 5 user rating	Low starting price, app claims	Bilateral rule; BBB rating of 3.32 of 5
NerdWallet (May 2026)	3.9 of 5	Quick claims, discounts	Not in all states; therapy costs extra
CNBC Select (Dec 2025)	Top pick, no score	Fast claims, high limits	No accident-only plan; breed age caps

Insurify also reports customer complaints about denied claims and rate increases. Before you buy, read the pre-existing, bilateral and renewal sections of your sample policy, since those are the rules covered above that can lead to a denial or a higher bill.

Is Lemonade a real, stable company?

Yes. Lemonade, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as LMND and went public in July 2020. It says it is a fully licensed insurance company that underwrites and pays its own claims.

Lemonade reports a Financial Stability Rating of A, Exceptional, from Demotech. We did not find an AM Best rating published for its pet business. Its investor page reported 3.31 million customers and revenue of $294 million for the second quarter of 2026.

Lemonade also runs the Giveback, donating unclaimed premium money to charities customers pick. It says it has given over $12 million since 2017.

Who Lemonade fits, and who it doesn’t

Lemonade fits owners of a young dog or cat who want low monthly costs and are comfortable paying a vet bill first. It suits people who like managing everything in an app.

It is a poorer fit in these cases:

• You need the insurer to pay the clinic directly.
• You want an accident-only plan to keep costs down. Our accident-only guide explains that option.
• You have a rabbit, bird or other exotic pet.
• Your pet is older, or a breed near Lemonade’s age cap. Our senior dog guide covers what to expect.
• You live in one of the 7 states where it isn’t sold.

Bottom line

Lemonade is a cheap, flexible accident-and-illness policy with quick app claims and short waiting periods. Its real costs hide in the add-ons, especially exam fees, and in rising premiums as your pet ages. Price your quote with and without the Vet Visit Fees add-on before deciding. If you can cover a vet bill up front and live in one of its 43 states, it is worth a quote.