Both lids are usually built the same way, which is why entropion and ectropion sit on the bilateral list. It is also the condition that most often produces a chain of claims: the lid causes an ulcer, the ulcer is treated, the lid is not, and the next ulcer is then arguably related to a known condition. When comparing policies here, look less at the waiting period and more at how each defines a related condition.
What is eyelids that roll inward or sag outward, in plain terms?
Entropion is an eyelid that rolls inward so the lashes rub the eye; ectropion is the opposite, a lid that sags outward and leaves the surface exposed and dry. Both are structural rather than infectious and both are corrected surgically. Breeds with heavy facial skin get them most. Left alone, entropion causes repeated corneal ulcers, so it is one of the conditions where the first problem is rarely the last.
At what age does it usually appear?
Entropion usually declares itself in the first year, sometimes as early as a few months, because the lid conformation is inherited rather than acquired. The first sign is a weepy eye and a dog that squints in bright light. Ectropion in the heavy-faced breeds is often visible from puppyhood and simply becomes a problem later, when the exposed surface dries once too often.
Which clause should you check before you buy?
The clause to find is not about eyelids at all: it is the definition of a related condition. Entropion causes ulcers, and an insurer that treats a later ulcer as related to a known lid problem will decline it even though the ulcer itself is new. Check that definition, then check whether the lid surgery is described as corrective or cosmetic anywhere, because heavy-faced breeds sometimes have lid surgery categorised alongside procedures a policy declines to fund.
Do insurers treat both sides of the body as one condition?
Named as a bilateral condition in Trupanion policy form TRU-00001 (08/11), Definitions 7.c; read 2026-09-01
Entropion and ectropion: how long before an insurer will pay for it?
Also called eyelids that roll inward or sag outward. Each insurer's waiting period and second-side rule below, from its own policy document.
Which insurer covers eyelids that roll inward or sag outward soonest, and which makes you wait?
Entropion and ectropion falls under the ophthalmic class at most US insurers. The table below gives each insurer's waiting period and its rule for the second side of the body, taken from the insurer's own policy document.
| Insurer | Waiting period | Second side of the body | Hereditary and congenital | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figo | 14 days Fourteen days for illnesses generally. Anything that occurs during the waiting period is excluded afterwards as a pre-existing condition, which is the standard mechanism in this market. | Not stated in the document | Covered | Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13; What We Cover, Illnesses including Genetic Conditions, page 4 of 13 |
| Lemonade | 14 days 14 days for illnesses. Waiting periods can be waived after a comprehensive vet exam plus a Waiting Period Waiver Form submitted within 2 days, but anything found at that exam may then count as pre-existing. This policy defines a Bilateral Condition as a chronic condition affecting both sides; that is a test on the condition, not on illness as a class, so no bilateral rule is recorded here. | Not stated in the document | Covered | Waiting periods; Pre-existing conditions; Definitions page 14 |
| Spot | 14 days The same 14 day waiting period applies to illnesses, and Exclusion f makes anything that occurs during a waiting period a pre-existing condition. On the second side of the body this policy has two mechanisms and only one of them bites. Exclusion c removes cover for "bilateral conditions of pre-existing conditions", which needs a pre-existing condition to already exist. The clause that turns one side into a pre-existing condition for the other names ligament, patella, meniscus and knee soft tissue, and illness in general is not in that list. | Not stated in the document | Covered | WAITING PERIODS, page 4; Definitions, Bilateral Condition, page 2; Exclusions c and f, page 5 |
| Trupanion | 30 days No separate ophthalmic waiting period is stated in this specimen; it falls under the general 30 day illness waiting period. | Second side counts as pre-existing | Not stated in the document | Waiting period at 5.b(2), page 3 of 9; bilateral exclusion at 5.c(2), page 3 of 9; definition at 7.c, page 6 of 9, which names cherry eye, entropion/ectropion and cataracts |
The waiting period for eyelids that roll inward or sag outward is the number that decides whether a claim in the first year is paid at all, and it is the figure insurers vary most quietly. Each row below states the section of the policy it came from.
Every row cites the policy form code and the section it was read from, with the date we read it. Oldest check date on this page: .