Insurance for a nearly 17 year old cat? What would you do?

bacardi66

Mice_Elf wrote: »

Try Animal Friends Insurance - that's who I'm with & they insure for over 10/11 years old. I only started with them in the last couple of years.

That said, do bear in mind that you will pay 35% of the final vet's bill as well as the excess.

WOW!! Thanks so much for that - have just checked online for a quote and its £12 a month:shocked: amazing!! It must be one of the few companies who will take on old cats as until now I couldn't find any that would insure him. And as for the £99 excess and 35% of the final vets bill - its a chance Ill take and so much better than paying £50 a month.

Thanks a million :T

gettingready

Pls run a search on the forums for this particular insurance (Animal Friends) , seen a lot of bad news about them, sorry....

bacardi66

gettingready wrote: »

Pls run a search on the forums for this particular insurance (Animal Friends) , seen a lot of bad news about them, sorry....

Oh no! Just as I thought I had found an answer to my problems

Thank you for letting me know - Ill have a look!

becky4131

Yep animal friends are not the best company. I would check other companies because i have just done a quick search on google and most insurers seem to offer cover for older pets.

Petplan offer cover for just over 20 pound a month, only problem is it only covers for up to 3000 a condition and only for first 12 months of condition (not lifetime). Normally i would advise a lifetime policy but giving the age of your cat this would probably be ok.

I would stay away from animal friends, they are cheap for a reason.

Mice_Elf

Animal Friends haven't been too bad for me so far. Admittedly it's only been the 1 claim, but I wonder if it's because I paid £5 to the vets in order for them to deal directly with Animal Friends, rather than me pay the bill & then claim it back?

I'll have a look through the forums for them. Thanks!

Minniethemoocher

It is a very hard choice; certainly £50 per month seems excessive! If you saved that amount it would soon add up.

And as animals age, the issue of prolonging their life with potentially upsetting treatment is harder to justify, particularly if their quality of life deteriorates.

My bottom line is if they cannot be a "natural" cat (or dog, or whatever) and behave the way that nature intended them to, then there is really little point in putting them through it all and delaying the inevitable.

At 24 years old, my cat was still able to go outside, sleep in the sun and try to sniff out mice in the compost heap! He needed extra care, such as brushing as he was no longer supple enough to reach his back and tail and also needed his bottom washed!

Sometimes, though, the kindest thing we can ever do is to say "enough" on their behalf and to be brave enough to let them go.

aloise

My cat was insured but when he turned 12 the insurance didn't cover ears or teeth. And guess what went wrong. After paying out for nearly 10 years and never claiming we had to fork out over £200 for his teeth to be treated. I cancelled the insurance and saved the money in a sepatate account. 2 years later i have over £400 ready in case he needs it.