Why you should insure your pet...

orlao

simontheiceman wrote: »

Most conditions come in within Six Hundred pounds - I have only ever known one case which exceeded six Thousand and did that by some margin. My experience is that the £1000 bill occurs about once a month and the £2500 bill about once every 2 months. £250-300 bills occur every day and £600 bills occur regularly. Referral is actually quite rare and if you can tolerate the possibility that you might not have access to referral services if you "self insure" then this would seem an OK option. Referral services are out of most peoples pocket without insurance.

Thinking about this......in the past 20 years of having to pay the vet bills (bank of mum and dad having closed;) ) I've had 2 referrals....one for a pony with liver function problems so £5k bill spread over 2 or 3 years.....he was insured with E&L so I got £1600 back that was about 12 years ago and the dogs op last year which cost £4k, no insurance. One cat that probably cost a hundred pounds per annum with a severe flea allergy over the last few years of her life and another cat that's on felimazole now so probably costs £2/300 p.a.She did cost £666 last year with an emergency trip to medivet at a weekend with a raging temperature last year:eek:
Another cat that had a blocked bladder years ago....that bill was about £300.....and various other bills of about £200 over the years that insurance less the excess would have covered

However......over that 20 years I've had 3 horses, 3 cats and 3 dogs......for many years I had 1 horse, 3 cats and 3 dogs at the same time and if I consider that the horses insurance was £25 per month ( never claimed on, yes I was lucky:D any vet treatment he's had has been under the excess) if I'd insured the indoor animals as well I reckon I would have being paying around £80 to £100 a month in insurance in total as the animals were all ageing. But in recent years I can lay my hands on enough to pay a large bill without it crippling me so in my circumstances I reckon self insuring works.

Not to say that I wouldn't insure if I only had one or two indoor animals

UKTigerlily

I wouldn't be without insurance, although I do wonder why I bother as in if Podge gets runs over or ill, I have to find the money first then the Insurance company pay the me back. Insurance company would pay the Vet direct but no practice here let's that happen! I couldn't get loans or anything so really if anything happens to her i'd have to pay it myself anyway!

Aunt's CKCS had it's eye scratched badly by her cat, it had to go to Birmingham & cost about £4,000

Biggest bill in one go for Podge in the 8.5yrs i've had her has been about £220 which I claimed back, she had a scale & polish & while she was under I got her x-rays done to see if she had Arthritis, which she does, abit on her spine. Managed to claim for all of it except the actual scale & polish cause she'd needed the Anaesthetic for her X-rays

Had the rats for 7 months now & one already cost £100, plus when they get older they'll probably get mammary tumours & need those removed, unless I spey them which I can't decide on.

Looked at Insurance for the rats but it was about £500 for them all so i'll just pay theirs as it comes up & hopefully it won't be more than about £100 each time! Just hope one day practices will claim from the insurance, i'll always have it anyway & so will my dog when I get it

eira

Would never have an uninsured dog or cat.Have had 2 dogs die of rare cancers, nothing could have prevented it but I can lay hand on heart and say that everything that could be done was done-and no there was never a quesytion of elaborate procedures that would cause them suffering.
Our diabetic cat lived for 2 years after diagnosis quite cheerfully and died peacefully of old age

We have also had rats and pet ferrets and there has bever been a question of them not having any treatment that would help them .The 'neighbour' whose dog killed one of our much loved ferrets offered to 'buy another'-she was of the ilk that her £800+ pedigree killer was worth far more than our rescue ferret. I slammed the door in her face before I thumped her. The thing went on to kill again and bite 4 people.

If you have an animal you have a life for which you are responsible how much it costs just doesn't come in to it.

One warning though-I had it on our rats files that if euthanasia was 'needed' that they should be given an anaesthetic first. Suffice to say that blood vessels are hard to find and the needle goes into the abdomen.

UKTigerlily

eira wrote: »

Would never have an uninsured dog or cat.Have had 2 dogs die of rare cancers, nothing could have prevented it but I can lay hand on heart and say that everything that could be done was done-and no there was never a quesytion of elaborate procedures that would cause them suffering.
Our diabetic cat lived for 2 years after diagnosis quite cheerfully and died peacefully of old age

We have also had rats and pet ferrets and there has bever been a question of them not having any treatment that would help them .The 'neighbour' whose dog killed one of our much loved ferrets offered to 'buy another'-she was of the ilk that her £800+ pedigree killer was worth far more than our rescue ferret. I slammed the door in her face before I thumped her. The thing went on to kill again and bite 4 people.

If you have an animal you have a life for which you are responsible how much it costs just doesn't come in to it.

One warning though-I had it on our rats files that if euthanasia was 'needed' that they should be given an anaesthetic first. Suffice to say that blood vessels are hard to find and the needle goes into the abdomen.

Ow! Thanks for that, i'll remember when the time comes though as they're only about 8 1/2 months old I hope not for a long time. Wouldn't they give the anaesthetic using those thingys that go over the face though & just overdose them? I have had one of mine have a general anaesthetic & I asked them to not inject her but to use the mask type gas

Loopy_Girl

I have to say that when I first got Max I said I wouldn't get him insured (in fact I am pretty sure I said it in here too!) but after a few weeks of having him I just couldn't imagine having to let him go if I couldn't afford to pay vet bills so I got him insured. £8.70 thru Petplan.

I am also getting Ruby and Casper insured obviously after my free 6 weeks runs out and I put a quote in also with Petplan as I get a multi-pet discount (and can also claim thru Quidco;) ) and it's £42 odds for both of them.

So essentially I will be paying £50.00 a month to insure my 3 pets which sounds alot (and actually is, lets be honest!!) but I wouldn't have taken the dogs if I couldn't afford the insurance especially since Ruby has a heart murmer...probably nothing but you never know. It's peace of mind isn't it? You insure a heap of metal that suts in your driveway so whay should a living breathing animal be of any less value (yes I realise that cars cost more but you have to look at in in a caring way really):D

eira

Mercifully most of our rats have died of old age at about 3/4. The last 'small furry' that had to be put to sleep was a little old ferret who ,after years of throwing himself off bookshelves and down the stairs ,along with periodic walkabouts, was dying of old age kidney failure. We rushed him to the emergency vet who confirmed that that there was nothing she could do. I told her about the one rat that we had to have put to sleep and she said that she would never put a 'small furry 'down without the anaesthesia. As far as I am aware they give them an anaesthetic as if they were going to have surgery and then give them the injection. That's what I requested on the rats' files , having been there for the abdominal injection I never wanted an animal of ours to go through that again.