Who insures their animals?

Kimberley

red_bertie wrote: »

5 cats insured with Healthy Pets for the lot - £20 a month.

Your joking right? My two are with Petplan which costs me £27 a month.

MrsE_2

red_bertie wrote: »

5 cats insured with Healthy Pets for the lot - £20 a month.

They quoted me for two


Plan TypeAnnually Monthly
Bronze £197.06 £16.42
Silver £351.22 £29.27
Gold £398.85 £33.24

UKTigerlily

I imagine the ones on Healthy Pets are on the Bronze level of cover as i've just been quoted just under £5 for mine, but it's only £1k per condition, even Gold is only £5k per condition, so while it's much better than no Insurance it's not a great one.

lowis

i did decide to treat my cat when she developed cancer and i don't regret it for a minute - she did not suffer and wasn't in pain during the treatment process. she got an extra 18 months of quality, normal life. if the technology is there and you are insured, and you have an excellent vet whom you trust implicitly, then i see nothing wrong in using all of those resources.

18 months may not sound a lot but in terms of a cat's average life expectancy, it is quite an added bonus - about the same as a human getting about an extra 9 or 10 years of life because they were treated for an illness.

i admit when the vet told me chemo was an option i was scared and wondered if it was the right thing to do, but i researched it carefully, listened to my vet who fully explained the process and told me that he would not let my cat suffer unnecessarily if i decided to try chemo and she reacted badly to it.

i guess you don't realise how something works until you have lived through it, and can't make an informed decision based on knowldge and experience either, hence the reason to trust your vet and research thoroughly...but now i know about chemo treatments, and what to expect, i would do it again.

here is a video of my cat watching a wildlife documentary - she was about 4 weeks into her chemo treatment when this was filmed...as you can see, she was completely and utterly normal.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u245/lcole67/?action=view&current=MOV00020.flv

i respect it is down to personal choice, but i would hate for someone to make a decision about not treating an animal based on fear or inexperience, or through misinformation. animal chemo is not comparable to human chemo treatment - an animal would just shut down and give up if it was subjected to those sorts of levels of chemo.

UKTigerlily

lowis wrote: »

i did decide to treat my cat when she developed cancer and i don't regret it for a minute - she did not suffer and wasn't in pain during the treatment process. she got an extra 18 months of quality, normal life. if the technology is there and you are insured, and you have an excellent vet whom you trust implicitly, then i see nothing wrong in using all of those resources.

18 months may not sound a lot but in terms of a cat's average life expectancy, it is quite an added bonus - about the same as a human getting about an extra 9 or 10 years of life because they were treated for an illness.

i admit when the vet told me chemo was an option i was scared and wondered if it was the right thing to do, but i researched it carefully, listened to my vet who fully explained the process and told me that he would not let my cat suffer unnecessarily if i decided to try chemo and she reacted badly to it.

i guess you don't realise how something works until you have lived through it, and can't make an informed decision based on knowldge and experience either, hence the reason to trust your vet and research thoroughly...but now i know about chemo treatments, and what to expect, i would do it again.

here is a video of my cat watching a wildlife documentary - she was about 4 weeks into her chemo treatment when this was filmed...as you can see, she was completely and utterly normal.

http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u245/lcole67/?action=view&current=MOV00020.flv

i respect it is down to personal choice, but i would hate for someone to make a decision about not treating an animal based on fear or inexperience, or through misinformation. animal chemo is not comparable to human chemo treatment - an animal would just shut down and give up if it was subjected to those sorts of levels of chemo.

Awwww she's gorgeous, was she a Seal Point? I love how she's watching the tv mine wouldn't have a clue about things like that! You'd really never know at all what she was going through would you!? I trust my Vet too & would do as you did, ask people who've experienced it, look into it & ask the Vet & see how I felt they reacted, you're right, 18 months isn't too long to us but to a Cat it really is, and i'd love an extra 18 months with Tess if it ever happened to her as long as she wasn't suffering x

lowis

she was a seal-point yes, when i was a child i always dreamed of having a seal-point meezer, she was my little dream that came true

she absolutely loved watching wildlife and nature programmes, she would sit in front of the TV for ages like that. my other two don't take any notice of the TV at all.

when her cancer came back, we tried chemo again (a different protocol to the one she had been on previously) but it was soon obvious that it wasn't going to work again - although her tumours shrunk after just 2 treatments, her appetite lessened each day and she started to lose weight quite rapidly, she then started to get weak due to not eating enough, so we put her to sleep before she experienced any pain or discomfort - my vet was absolutely brilliant with his guidance and timing.

Kerriebaby

Hintza wrote: »

Assuming they live until 15 that is £7,200 exc inflation on fees.

Yep, but if one of them develops an ongoing condition then that could easily be claimed back. A very good friend of mine has two Chow Chows ( different lines ) both have EPI and other related problems. Her vet bills per month run into hundreds, plus the three monthly blood tests. If she didnt have insurance, to put it bluntly she would be stuffed.

I run a Pet Care Business from home, Poppy is a show dog, Kerrie and Rupe both do "sports" (Flyball, hwtm etc ) so could easily pick up a costly injury

I dont see a reason for not having it

Hintza

This is one of these areas where I think there will always be two schools of thought.

If I lived in the South East I probably see it as a requirement however as I have already shown our vets fees are very reasonable and it probably works out cheaper not to insure in the long term. OK we run the risk of serious injury which could be very expensive and leave me cursing our lack of insurance.

One other factor is the breed of dog. Some breeds are obviously more prone to problems than others and insurance is probably the sensible option.

Now for the contentious bit.

Should thousands of pounds be spent on conditions such as cancer? Personally I don't think so. But I think that debate needs a thread on its own.

Kerriebaby

That depends entirely on what the outcome is likely to be for the animal and indeed your own mindset.

My previous dog had cancer at age 4, he had the treatment needed ( paid for by Pet Plan ) and went on to live till he was 13 with no other problems.

The other point of course, is that if you have a dog, and that dog is insured then you are covered for third party ( dog bites )

lowis

Hintza wrote: »

Should thousands of pounds be spent on conditions such as cancer? Personally I don't think so. But I think that debate needs a thread on its own.

that's not contentious, that's just your own personal opinion, i don't even think it warrants a debate, in a situation where your pet is diagnosed with cancer, what one person thinks is completely irrelevant to your own thoughts and opinions around the issue.