is pet insurance worth it for a cat/kitten?

icecreamdogpark

It`s all a big gamble we had are cat with pet plan he went on to be diabetic and i`m sure PP black listed us !! LOL we much have claimed a good few thousand over the 6 yrs he was with us.Sadly he died March 09,we have 2 rabbits and a dog all on pet plan not cheap ,but hubby`s in insurance (commercial) and agrees you get what you pay for, high premium means most things covered cheaper premiums much less covered some conditions only pay out for 12 months not much help if it`s an ongoing condition. Hope some of that helps and though really boring and time consuming you must read the small print,be sure lots hidden in the small print .and why is it small and so long? LOL

dollywops

Ollie lived to be 20 less 3 days and she never had pet insurance, nor did we keep her injections up to date.

Clio only lived to be 21/2. She did not have pet insurance to start with. One day we noticed she was cleaning herself an awful lot down below. A quick inspection showed a gaping hole. Off she went to the vet, and a few hundred pounds later, she was fine. When she turned 1, I got her pet insurance and it was £72 for the year. When the renewal came through, I then got her a quote in OH's name, and got it down to just under £60 for the year. We also kept her injections up date. Unfortunately, she got run over. The insurance company (Tesco) paid me back £25 (half of what she cost).

I got a quote for Benjy when he was only 8 weeks old and it was at least twice, if not more, than what we had paid for Clio. (Clio got run over at the end of January and Benjy came to live with us at Easter.) When I queried the excessive premium for Benjy, I was told that it was because he was a kitten and more prone to accidents. Benjy does not go out yet, and I will see how much insurance will be once he is 6 month's old. If it is ridiculous, I will wait until he is a year. Alternatively, I will buy a premium at 6 months, cancel at a year and take out a new policy at a year.

MrsE_2

wannabepennypincher wrote: »

It's also worth asking your vet beforehand is they accept direct payments from any insurance companies if you don't think you would have the money to hand if the worst happened. My vet only takes direct payments from petplan so we went with them. Even though it really really annoyed me at the time we got 6 weeks free for all 4 moggies and when we got the bill for £1.400 I was really glad I checked beforehand..

I would guess many people who have insurance do so because they don't have the money for vets bills.
So its not very good if you have to stump up the money in advance.

My vets doesn't deal with any insurance companies, I don't have insurance. But I'm thinking about it.

rita-rabbit

My cats (both moggies) mean alot to me so they are `worth it' - I just refuse to be ripped off by insurance companies thus far (all this business about pre-existing conditions must be what the American's went through nearly bankrupting themselves when despite paying for medical insurance it ran out if `illness went on 2 long or whatever'!)

Bunny

I wouldn't be without my pet insurance. 4 days after getting them insured, one decided to go bungee jumping out of a 3rd storey window without the rope. It would've cost us over £1000, counting the policies for both cats, we still haven't had to pay that amount out.
Sure we would've found that money one way or another, but it was one less thing to worry about at that scary time.
we're with pet guard and had no problems with them

Claire_Bear

I am getting my two cats insured but that's because I know that if one of them had an accident I wouldn't be able to afford a huge chunk of money in one go, but small regular payments fit in with our budget a lot better. If I knew I had a lot of money put away in savings then I maybe wouldn't go with insurance but I need the security of knowing I'd be able to sort out vets bills at short notice should I ever have to. I'd also consider putting some money away in a saving account to accrue the interest but it would take quite a while for it to build up to hundreds or even thousands which would cover a major accident or illness, so if something happened before then I still wouldn't be covered. Although, my cats are housecats and young so they're not really in the high risk bracket. It all depends on personal circumstance I guess, insurance probably isn't for everyone but I think people who don't have it, but would have no way of paying vets bills is a bit irresponsible. Some people seem to think 'oh, it'll never happen to me...' and when it does they're not prepared and it's the animal who suffers. It's just good to have some sort of contingency plan, even if it's having a credit card should the situation arise.

MrsE_2

Claire_Bear wrote: »

I am getting my two cats insured but that's because I know that if one of them had an accident I wouldn't be able to afford a huge chunk of money in one go, but small regular payments fit in with our budget a lot better. If I knew I had a lot of money put away in savings then I maybe wouldn't go with insurance but I need the security of knowing I'd be able to sort out vets bills at short notice should I ever have to. I'd also consider putting some money away in a saving account to accrue the interest but it would take quite a while for it to build up to hundreds or even thousands which would cover a major accident or illness, so if something happened before then I still wouldn't be covered. Although, my cats are housecats and young so they're not really in the high risk bracket. It all depends on personal circumstance I guess, insurance probably isn't for everyone but I think people who don't have it, but would have no way of paying vets bills is a bit irresponsible. Some people seem to think 'oh, it'll never happen to me...' and when it does they're not prepared and it's the animal who suffers. It's just good to have some sort of contingency plan, even if it's having a credit card should the situation arise.

Ted died a year & a half ago at 7. In his life time the money I spent on vets (apart from jabs & neutering & fleas & worming) would have been far less than insurance would have been.
But it would be a comfort when you read about the accidents some cats have.
I do think there is a tendency to over medicate cats because of medical insurance though. With animals you have to balance your desire to have them with you V their immediate suffering & quality of life afterwards.
But having said that, Ted died suddenly & instantly & if I something would have been there to save him I would have tried.