Almost every hip is two hips. Once one side has been imaged with a finding, insurers that treat bilateral conditions as one condition will decline the other side for the life of the policy, no matter how many years pass in between. Hip surgery is also among the most expensive routine procedures in small animal practice, so this is the condition where the difference between a 14 day and a 30 day orthopedic waiting period is measured in thousands rather than in weeks.
What is badly formed hip joints, in plain terms?
The hip is a ball and socket joint. In a dysplastic hip the socket is too shallow or the ball is misshapen, so the joint moves loosely and grinds instead of gliding. Cartilage wears, arthritis follows, and by middle age the dog is stiff after rest and reluctant on stairs. Signs can appear in a puppy of five months or in a dog of eight, which is one reason it is so awkward to insure: the dog you enrol at two may already have a joint that will fail at six.
At what age does it usually appear?
There are two peaks and they are far apart. Some dogs show it between five and twelve months, with a bunny-hopping run and reluctance to jump into the car. Others look normal for years and present at six or seven with what the owner calls old-age stiffness, which is the arthritis rather than the dysplasia. The second group is the awkward one for insurance, because the joint was already abnormal at the time of enrolment even though nothing was written down.
Which clause should you check before you buy?
Two clauses decide a hip claim and neither is the waiting period everyone quotes. First, find the definition of a bilateral condition and check whether hip dysplasia is named in it; if it is, one imaged hip closes the other permanently. Second, find the orthopedic waiting period and check whether it is separate from the general illness one, because at two of the three insurers here it is twice as long. If the policy also excludes hereditary conditions outright, a dysplastic hip can fall outside cover on that ground as well, which is a third door closing on the same claim.
Do insurers treat both sides of the body as one condition?
Named as a bilateral condition in Trupanion / American Pet Insurance Company policy form TRU-00001 (08/11), Definitions 7.c, read 2026-09-01
Hip dysplasia: how long before an insurer will pay for it?
Also called badly formed hip joints. Each insurer's waiting period and second-side rule below, from its own policy document.
Which insurer covers badly formed hip joints soonest, and which makes you wait?
Hip dysplasia falls under the orthopedic 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spot | 14 days | Does not reach this condition This policy does name a second-side rule, but by naming specific conditions rather than a whole class, and this condition is not among them. | Covered | Definitions, Ligament and Knee Conditions, page 2, which names ligament, patella, meniscus and soft tissue disorders of the knee and calls them bilateral and related regardless of cause; Definitions, Bilateral Condition, page 2; Exclusions c and o |
| Lemonade | 30 days 30 days for orthopedic conditions, which this policy defines as including elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia, intervertebral disc degeneration, patellar luxation and ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments. The second-side rule comes from the definition of a Bilateral Condition rather than from the orthopedic clause: it is a test on the condition, which has to be chronic and affect both sides, and not on the class. | Second side counts as pre-existing | Covered | Waiting periods; Definitions, Orthopedic Conditions, page 14, which names elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia, intervertebral disc degeneration, patellar luxation and ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments; Definitions, Bilateral Condition, page 14: "a chronic condition that affects both sides of your pet's body, even if clinical signs or symptoms do not present at the same time"; Pre-existing conditions, which excludes bilateral conditions whose signs were present before the start date or before the end of a waiting period |
| Trupanion | 30 days No separate orthopedic waiting period is stated in this specimen; orthopedic illness 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, which names luxating patella by example; definition of a bilateral condition at 7.c, page 6 of 9, which names elbow dysplasia including fragmented coronoid process, ununited anconeal process and osteochondritis dissecans, cruciate issues, luxating patella, hip dysplasia, cherry eye, entropion/ectropion, panosteitis and cataracts |
| Figo | 180 days | Does not reach this condition This policy does name a second-side rule, but by naming specific conditions rather than a whole class, and this condition is not among them. | Covered | Definitions 44, Waiting Period, page 3 of 13, which sets the orthopedic waiting period for dogs at six months; Definitions 28, Orthopedic; General Conditions 6, page 4 of 13, on the Orthopedic Waiver Form |
The waiting period for badly formed hip joints 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: .