Should I renew my old buddies pet insurance?

notakid

My lab is going to be 15 in Oct. I had to take him to the vet for a renewal of his pain meds for his legs, he has been on the meds for 2 weeks. Before that he has only visited the vets for his yearly jabs. He is old and creaky but still enjoys life tho he sleeps 23 hours a day!

I mentioned while there that he had a bump on his back the vet checked and said it could be bad news but she would have to take a biop' and that would involve putting Buddy to sleep. Because of his age she would not rec doing this.

Now, to the rub, when I got back from the vets I'd the renewal from petplan for buddy's insurance. Its nearly 500 per year! :eek: Is it really worth me continuing with the payments? I know he is of an age where he wouldn't survive any ops, am I paying such a high price unnecessarly?

Anyone any suggestions on other older dog insurances or should I just bite the bullet and pay?

January20

Personally, I would pay that much insurance especially as the future is uncertain. I would however make sure that I have money in a separate account in case I needed it for urgent medical treatment. And indeed, this is what I have done as my cat in now 19 years and 8 months old (;) ) and just too old to be insured at all.

jenhug

i'd pay it, my dogs meds are costing me over £200 a month. (he is a giant breed though, so takes double the normal large breed dosage)

elsien

I don't think you'll find another insurer to take him on at his age tbh. Mutt (age 12-13) is costing about £45 a month and for me it's worth it because she has a variety of ongoing conditions and knowing my luck is almost guaranteed to add a few more! Due to problems with anaesthetic, I'd probably not go for any more operations, but I still think in my circumstances it's worth paying. For my previous dog who died age 14 with barely a claim, it wouldn't have been.
The thing is, as with any insurance you never know if you're going to have to claim or not, so you're paying for peace of mind. If you can put the amount aside monthly for an emergency fund you could take the chance, but if it does go pearshaped, can you afford bigger bills if you need to?
A decision only you can make, depending on your individual circumstances.

devildog

Like as already mentioned, I do not think it too likely that you will find another insurer.
If you can afford to continue with the medication he is on now I personally would stop the pet insurance(as I have now done with my 11 year old)
Obviously you have to weigh up the pros and cons. For me, when my dog was younger there were many reasons to keep paying not just because he was young and we didn't know what medical issues could arise but also because of his temperament and unpredictability at the time. As the years went by we gained controlled of the temperament and never had a medical claim. At his stage of life now the conclusion was that the most likely worst thing that could happen would be for him to get cancer and although treatment for animals with this has moved on there is no way that he would tolerate being away from us for treatment(chemotherapy type treatment) so our aim would be to keep him comfortable until that time....! Otherwise any other costs we feel we could meet.

it is not always an easy decision, oh for a crystal ball!

littleun

The insureance premiums would prob cover vet bill if it is only meds.

debjam

I know my boy was only 8 and his insurance was £170ish but it has just covered a total bill of £4000 as he was diagnosed with a spinal tumour a few months ago. So I would say yes continue the cover, cause you never know what is around the corner. We would have found the money from somewhere for my boy no matter what, but it has helped that we haven't had the added stress of money troubles along with losing my boy.

Sorry if this sounds horrible/insensitive but you need to decide if the bump on his back will be investigated or whether you will just let him go when it's time, cause your insurance probably won't cover you for loss of dog due to "old age". Not sure if that makes sense? I know that I was wondering whether to renew my boys insurance in October because of his tumour, the vet did warn me that he would probably not be here by Christmas but I lost him Tuesday. Also my insurance company had put an exclusion on the policy that they would not cover spinal or back problems when renewing. Dread to think what the renewal would have come through as.

Yes a crystal ball would be brilliant wouldn't it.

notakid

Thanks for everyone's replies, I've decided to continue Buddy's insurance at present, even if its only for peace of mind. The bump on his back as now gone but he now has a large lump on his chest! However this feels different, the lump on his back was firm, the one on his chest feels round and full of water!

It doesn't seem to be bothering him and because of what the vet said earlier I'm just going to monitor him and make sure he isn't distressed or in pain. He is 15 in Oct and I know thats a great age for a Lab.:( The worst thing is you can't imagine life without them can you?

hethmar

No, its awful and its like you are already grieving them in the last few years. Labs and crosses tend to get quite a lot of lumps which arent serious. My old lab/rottie had a large lump on her chest which was non malignant. She lived to 16 by the way and was still walking round the garden, deaf as a post bless her, wagging her tail all the time, right up to the end.

notakid

Oh thank you Hethmar! That's cheered me up! You worry don't you? That you are doing the right thing for them.

Glad to hear of your bumpy Lab, it does put my mind at rest.

bouncydog1

I only cancelled our springer's insurance this year because she was already on borrowed time and her premiums were more than her monthly medication. Because of her age (15+) she would have been too old to operate on. We had to put her to sleep earlier in the year so it was the right decision for us.

Really depends on doggies health etc but I would agree that the peace of mind is worth it and if your lab is healthy and active then I would say worth every penny.