Stenotic nares are visible at the first examination, which is exactly what makes them difficult to claim for. A condition an insurer can point to in the record from before the start date is pre-existing, and no waiting period fixes that. This is not a wording problem to compare between companies; it is a timing problem, and the only lever an owner has is enrolling before the puppy first sees a vet.
What is nostrils too narrow to breathe through properly, in plain terms?
The nostril openings are too narrow for the volume of air the dog needs, so it has to pull harder on every breath. You can often see it: the nostril slits collapse inward as the dog inhales. It is the most surgically fixable part of a flat-faced dog's breathing problem, and widening the nostrils early is one of the few interventions that measurably changes how a brachycephalic dog lives.
At what age does it usually appear?
Present at birth and visible to anyone who looks at the nose closely, which is what makes it different from every other condition on this site. There is no onset to miss and no window in which to enrol first. A vet examining a puppy at eight weeks can and often does record it, so for most owners the condition is already in the notes before the question of insurance has come up at all.
Which clause should you check before you buy?
There is no clause that rescues you here, so check the timing instead. If the puppy has not yet been examined, the window to enrol is now rather than after the first appointment. If it has, ask what was written down about the nose and the breathing, because that entry decides the claim rather than any wording. In the policy, the only paragraph that changes the answer is the look-back period, and shorter is better for a dog whose anatomy has been visible since birth.
Do insurers treat both sides of the body as one condition?
Not listed among the bilateral conditions in Trupanion policy form TRU-00001 (08/11), Definitions 7.c; read 2026-09-01
Stenotic nares: how long before an insurer will pay for it?
Also called nostrils too narrow to breathe through properly. Each insurer's waiting period and second-side rule below, from its own policy document.
Which insurer covers nostrils too narrow to breathe through properly soonest, and which makes you wait?
Stenotic nares falls under the respiratory 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 Illnesses that occur or recur within the first 30 days from the policy enrollment date are not covered, unless waived by endorsement. An illness during those 30 days is then treated as a pre-existing condition. Separately, any condition whose evidence or symptoms already existed at, or in the 18 months before, the enrollment date is excluded. | Not stated in the document | Not stated in the document | Exclusions & Limitations 5.b(2) and 5.c(1); page 3 of 9 |
The waiting period for nostrils too narrow to breathe through properly 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: .