Pet insurance, what is/isn't covered?

purplebiro

Hi All,

I am taking delivery of two 9 1/2 week old kittens next weekend - a tom and a she. Neither of them are neutered (obviously) and neither of them have had any vacs. I am on a fairly limited income and I wouldn't want to have to make a decision between vets bills and putting them down becuase I couldn't afford it so I'm going to try and get pet insurance with as low an excess as possible. However, I have a few questions about what the insurance will cover:

Will it cover their vaccinations?
Will it cover spaying the tom (I am planning on letting the she have a litter before spaying her)?
If I let the she have a littler will the insurance cover her pregnancy, the kittens and and vacs they need?

Is there anything else I should think about?

foreign_correspondent

Insurance does not cover routine things like vacs and neutering, and I do not believe it ususally covers any costs incurred by breeding, even if its a medical emergency like a cesarian.

Why are you planning on letting her have a litter when so many unwanted cats are being put to sleep (and there will be more diring the credit crunch)?

Nomad25

No to vaccinations and spaying - and to any standard costs of the kittens she may have, don't know about pregnancy.

Suggest you start evaluating pet insurance by looking at this link:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=108056

but there are other threads about insurance on the pet board.

You may be able to get help with some costs [spaying, neutering] from your local animal welfare group.

If you post on one of the bigger threads, there are folk who are in the know and can answer any more questions you may have. HTH.

spookylukey

Pet Insurance is an absolute must, even more so if you are on a limited income. The insurance won't cover vaccinations, these will be around £75 (flu, enteritis & leaukemia) or £40 (flu & enteritis) for the first set and £45/£30 for the annual boosters. Rather than having to find a lump sum each year I save what it costs each month and then when it's booster time I don't have to worry about finding the extra money. The prices above are from a fairly expensive vets, there are vaccination and spaying clinics that will do it a fair bit cheaper so worth looking into whether you have one near you.

The insurance doesn't cover neutering or spaying them either, the Cats Protection offer vouchers which cover part of the cost for those on low incomes. It's important to get them 'done' as soon as they are old enough - around 5-6 months - possibly even earlier given that you have one of each. They won't 'know' that they are brother and sister and kittens can become sexually mature as young as around 4 months, having a litter that young would be very dangerous for her.

Please, please, please don't let the girl have 'just one litter', there are literally hundreds and thousands of unwanted kittens and cats up and down the country in rescues, shelters and living on the streets. You might say that you have good homes lined up for them but those good homes could go to the ones already born and waiting patiently for their forever home in a cage somewhere - not my quote but please don't breed or buy while shelter animals die.

The insurance will definitely not cover pregnancy related issues and if she were to have complications it could end up costing you hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for emergency care/operations. If she is spayed before her first heat you will also be lowering her chance of mammary cancer later in life.

Good luck with them, kittens are so much fun and I'm glad you'll be getting two as you know have double the fun watching the mischief they'll get up to

lowis

please do not breed kittens - they may be cute, but there are so many that need homes, you would be taking away the chance of a home for a shelter cat for each kitten your cat had.

also, be aware that insurance often doesn't cover ANY illness that can be related to breeding activities i.e. mammary cancer - if you bred your cat, and she suffered this in later life you would be faced with a bill for thousands of pounds - or would have to put her down.

enjoy your two kittens and be responsible, if you are low-income you REALLY don't need the added expense of breeding and rearing kittens properly!

Kimberley

You are planning on breeding from the girl? How irresponsible? Please read the facts on the RSPCA, CPL and the Celia Hammond trust websites. There is no justification that you can give about her having kittens and you can't let her until she is about 18 months old anyway and by then she could well end up spraying in your home and the times she does come into heat you will wish you had got her done. I can't believe the rescue (I presume thats where you got them?) didn't have neuturing as part as the adoption progress.

I know you will probably end up doing it anyway but it's so not right.
http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=25&MMN_position=33:33

MrsTinks

Sorry but I have to agree with the others - DO NOT BREED THE GIRL! Why on earth you'd want to is beyond me anyway but the cons would be putting her life in danger (yes cats can still die trying to have kittens), ending up with a litter of kittens - are you planning on home checking everyone who wants one? Otherwise you'd be better off handing them over to a rescue - who are already overstretched with unplanned and unwanted litters, costs - no insurance covers pregnancy, problems with pregnancy and/or delivery of kittens - my friend is a vet and she often deals with a professional breeder and one night I was at her place she got called out for an emergency ceasarian - one live kitten and mum had to have an emergency spay due to complications (basically 2 kittens had died some time earlier in the pregnancy and had gone septic in her womb - it was NOT nice and nearly killed the mum). Vet bill? VERY HIGH! Intensive care for mum and kitten (actually I don't know if it made it over 24 hours - I never asked) for 48 hours minimum, the operations, the out of hours call out fees... we're talking hundreds of pounds!

I have 2 cats - a tom and a queen from the same litter - both got done the second the vet thought they were old and big enough. Never regretted it for a second

As for what insurance covers - read the documentation with the policy - some will only cover certain conditions if the cats are vaccinated ect but they will never cover vaccination costs or spaying/neutering costs.

Kimberley

Insurances only cover for illnesses and accidents Purplebiro, thats it. They will not cover as the others have said vaccs, neuturing or anything to do with pregnancy, which in my eyes is quite right.

foreign_correspondent

Kimberley wrote: »

I know you will probably end up doing it anyway but it's so not right.
http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=25&MMN_position=33:33

it is frustrating how many people seek advice on these issues, are given good sensible advice and then 'do it anyway' despite all this - what's the odds of a 'my female cat is pregnant at five months - is she too young?' or 'I have eight kittens no one wants what should I do?' thread in a few months time?? (I do hope I am wrong - purplebiro??)

Sorry for the cynicism folks, but the huge numbers of unwanted animals seems to matter not one iota to people who are selfishly hellbent on breeding their animals - it is as if they cannot make the connection - or perhaps just do not care.

lowis

purplebiro - these links will take you to the Celia Hammond Trust, see how many cats need homes? this is just one single charity in London, out of HUNDREDS who are trying to rehome cats.

http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=9&MMN_position=16:16

http://www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=26&MMN_position=35:35

if you want an even more hard-hitting example of just how many charities exist to help the thousands of unwanted cats and kittens, go to this link and select a county - then see just how many organisations exist who are trying to help cats:

http://www.catchat.org/adoption/index.html

please, please have a long, hard think before bringing more kittens into this world...take a look at some of the desperate cats/kittens on these links too, they all need and deserve homes...more kittens in the world isn't going to help.

thanks for listening

Jummy

As has already been said please dont breed from the girl.
My next door neighbour now has 6 cats because each time she breeds she keeps a girl and before she's had time to get them spayed they always get pregnant:rolleyes:.
She's just kept another girl from her last litter and before you know it this one will be having kittens.