Why you should insure your pet...

kr15snw

Why you should get your pet insured:

My brothers ex gf decided they couldnt afford to insure their kitten. He managed to fall out of a 3rd story window in their flat (complete accident, we still dont know how he did it). They couldnt afford the vet treatment so had the cheapest treatment they could.

LUCKILY he recovered after about 6 months (they were worried he may have broken his back, but some how he didnt).

If they had insurance he would have had the best treatment in the land and would have recovered ALOT quicker and easier.

berzolla

When we first got our dog my husband said we had to have insurance and I thought he was mad but got it anyway. So glad we did as last year he had a mass attached to his pancreas, intestines etc and during the op we were asked if we wanted to put him down. I was hysterical but maybe some people don't have the choice if they can't afford it, he managed to survive but later in the year was tested for cancer, that was clear as well and after that he had a pancreas episode. So last year we had to claim over £7500 and without insurance ? He is now only 5 and has to have pancreatic powder and only eat Hill D/D venison food daily but so glad he is with us.
:A

Bromley86

We had the same sort of discussion - my wife decided that she couldn't make the decision to PTS if we couldn't afford an op, so we insured. Likely total cost, and assuming by having them replaced we'll avoid arthritis, £13,000!

Even if we only whip out one of the hips, that'll total £8,000 plus arthritis treatments from say 5 years old for the other one.

So I'm a fan of insurance . Like Soubrette says, the average person will, on average, pay more out on insurance than they would if they self insured. So you're not buying a policy to pay your vet bills, as on average you'll pay out more than you claim back for little things. You're buying a policy to pay your vet bills if something goes horribly wrong (or, as has been pointed out, to give you legal cover in case your dog causes a problem).

I'm not sure what I'd do in Liney's case though. £190/month for 3 dogs and a cat looks to be way over the odds to me . That's ~£55/dog! - about double what I'd expect from an expensive insurer.

MrsE_2

I have no trouble paying any vets bills that hes had till now.

But the reason I know I must get round to doing it, is should anything happen to him, I would want him treated WHATEVER the cost.

Plus hes a scrapper (all my vets bills have been the result of fights!).

suki1964

I dont insure and if anything happened to him - he would be treated regardless of cost.

Ruffles_2

MrsTine wrote: »

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.

I don't think an X-ray will show up his ligaments so I can only imagine he'd need an X-ray to rule other problems out.

One of mine has just had his cruciate ligament repaired after it was severed. The vet could tell it was damaged just through manipulating the joint. I'm not sure what part of the country your in but I only paid £400ish for the op:eek:

MrsTinks

Ruffles wrote: »

I don't think an X-ray will show up his ligaments so I can only imagine he'd need an X-ray to rule other problems out.

One of mine has just had his cruciate ligament repaired after it was severed. The vet could tell it was damaged just through manipulating the joint. I'm not sure what part of the country your in but I only paid £400ish for the op:eek:

The particular cruciate ligament problem it concerns involves a small "ball" like lump for lack of a better word... it's kinda like scar tissue I think from my understanding. That is what would show up on the x-rays
Also if one goes usually both go so both legs would need to be done (and she was showing pain in both legs so that would so far make sense although she defininitely showed more in one leg than the other...).

I'm no vet but I'll ask my friend next week when I see her again what exactly it is At the moment I'm just hoping it's only infamtion or something easily treated - I don't really want to put my dog through any operations if at all possible! She's had more than her fair share already!

(Oh and that's roughly in the Bucks/Oxon/Northants border area...)

MrsTinks

suki1964 wrote: »

I dont insure and if anything happened to him - he would be treated regardless of cost.

Don't get me wrong I'd pay whatever I had to too if it came to it... but I'm glad I never have to make that choice!

heatherbelle_3

We learnt the hard way. Our dog broke her leg and landed us a £2200 bill. Ouch!

Now they are both insured and we claimed for the other dog £1200 last summer. So well worth it!

Soubrette

MrsTine wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I'd pay whatever I had to too if it came to it... but I'm glad I never have to make that choice!

I think everyone agrees that if someone can't cover emergency vet bills of potentially a few thousand - get insurance. It's part of owning a pet.

I do wonder sometimes though, whether vet insurance actually causes some animals unnecessary suffering - for example if your dog has a 20% recovery chance through an invasive procedure, which may take months of recuperation - is it always worth it? When money is no object, I sometimes think people forget there is more than money at stake when making a decision for treatment.

I'm hoping I never have to make that decision

Sou