Why you should insure your pet...

MrsTinks

I have a fairly healthy 3 year old cross BC/GSD... (see avatar ) and although accident prone she's in good health OK so we've had about £800 of claims in the last 2 years (and her insurance has gone up slightly booo hiss!) but last few weeks she's been on and off lame... All in the back end...

So last night we went to see my friend who's a vet to have a quick check over and see if there was anything to worry about.

We've ruled out the hips so far - no sign of pain in them at all. However... her joints further down are showing signs of tenderness... first port of call is painkillers and anti-inflamatories and then monitor and reduced (HA!) exercise.

If there is no improvement and my friends suspicious are right then an X-ray should confirm if she in fact has a problem with her cruciate ligaments. Estimated cost of operating? £3000... £1500 each basically and both will need to be done.

Anyone still wondering if they should insure their dog? (Oh and btw yes that will be fully covered under her policy Glad I pay out for the top policy now!)

Penny_Watcher

Totally agree with Mrs Tine. :T

We're in the middle of a course of treatment for one of our dogs that has cost £1,300 since the end of May, on top of the £350 he cost at Easter for a cut to his leg (accident prone twit that he is!).

Over the same period we have paid PetPlan £15 per month in premiums for him. It's a 'no brainer' for us.

lfckerry

I definatley agree,we've only had insurance with our pup since January (axa) and we have claimed over £1000 so far,they are great for paying out quickly,the only thing im dreading is when it comes to renew that they'l put up the premium!

Liney_2

Hello, I have 3 dogs and a cat, my insurance premiums just kept going up and up and for all 3 was totaling £190 per month - I did have my money's worth in the early days when premiums were lower and the dogs needed treatment but after the huge premium hikes I decided to stop my insurance and now put that money into a separate account - I am about to take one for a specialist eye appointment that alone will cost £200 for one consultation plus what ever the cost of surgery will be if that is what is required £000's? - but I still reckon over the years I will be quids in - my premiums escalated massively on an annual basis and I still get a quote for all 3 every 12 months and then just increase my savings inline with what I would pay an insurer. £200 to fork out each month is astronomical by anyones standards.
I don't advocate this for everyone and insurance is worth it for one or two dogs/cats but it all adds up when you have even more.
Just my thoughts...

Sagz_2

I'm with Liney on this one.

I put a sum into a savings account every month to cover non-routine treatments for my mob - when you have 7 pets it's just not realistic to pay insurance for them all.

Liney_2

Some days you're the dog..... most days you're the tree!

love it!!:rotfl:

*Katie*_3

I have insurance for my four rabbits, people told me I was mad, but when two of them needed operations within a month of each other (£400 and £260 respectively :eek: ) then they thought it was clever :rolleyes:
(One person also asked why didn't I just have them pts :mad: )

If I had just put the insurance amount away in an account each month the first operation would've cleaned it out, then where would I have been with the second?

MrsTinks

I worked out that with the monthly payments the operations for Kira would take me over 16 years to save up for...

I would still be paying off the bill for my cat when he got run over 4-5 years ago (infact would be for another 12 years :eek: at his CURRENT (and thus slightly higher than before) premium...

I have 2 cats and 1 dog insured... worth every penny

I do re-do their insurance each year and get cash back too even if with same provider That hasn't been factored in with the above premium costs

Penny_Watcher

We caused £4,000 of damage to our first dog within about 6 weeks of getting her so no time to save up. She in the best of health now BTW.

We pay £45 per month in total for our 3 crossbreeds. If it went up to £100 per month in total then I'd think about doing the savings account option and then have to take out a loan to pay off the credit card used to pay a huge vet bill. TBH it the cost of premiums that stop up from rescuing any more dogs. Plenty of time and space, but not so much spare money.

Although the £45 per month could go into a savings account it wouldn't give me peace of mind that the dogs could have whatever treatment they need precisely when they need it without me having to worry about how I would pay. Only my opinion though, everybody does what they think is best for their pets.

And flippin' heck Liney! £200 per month!!! :eek: No wonder you make your own arrangements.:)

MrsTinks

I think I'd keep calculating exactly how long things would take me to save up for at the same rate as the premium... Even at £100 a month for say one dog it would take 2 1/2 years to save for this latest potential issue... so if that was split 3 ways for the dogs it's £33 per dog - which whilst expensive isn't too bad... If you looked at it as a stand a long calculation per dog it's 7 1/2 years to save enough for the ligament op.

Kira has had multiple issues too - she's cut her paw, she's had a really bad bug that was going round, couple of dogs died from it but thankfully Kira pulled through, wasn't cheap though, and a few other bits and pieces... it adds up And that's one dog in 2 years...

Joyful

My Dog has just had the operation on her Cruciate ligament. £2000 and counting! Hopefully the other leg will hold up for longer depending on the recovery for this. This problem often also diagnoses Arthritis which is long term. I'm so glad I took out Pet insurance. I pay £17 per month and my Dog is 7 so already I would not have saved enough to cover this one operation never mind when she needs another.