365 days adrift .... land ahoy!

Lurker1972

And Mia has a belly that is just begging for a tickle...

I'd like to be able to add something constructive to the food discussion, but I lack the discipline to stick to any sort of healthy diet and that's without any allergies/ intolerances.

For what it's worth, There's not been lots of cooking from scratch here recently either....I blame the weather....it increases CBA-ness

rising_from_the_ashes

Lurker1972 wrote: »

And Mia has a belly that is just begging for a tickle...

Don't be fooled by the butter wouldn't melt look - I really wouldn't recommend trying!:eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

Weekly spends update

In an effort to stay on track, I thought I might post a weekly spends update - it's really fuel & groceries that i have big problems staying in budget for

I tend to do my main grocery shop / get fuel on a Saturday (very occasionally Sunday) so plan to do it after this:

Groceries: £34.64 / £40.00
Fuel: £30.50 / £30.00

Trip to M&Ds on NY day so that's why I've used a bit extra fuel (allow for a trip every 2/3 weeks) & also been on hols & also had to go to the vet with Maisie this morning

beanielou

What's up with Maisie?

rising_from_the_ashes

Pet insurance

Unfortunately my pet insurer decided not to take new customers last summer but existing policy holders were told we were OK as long as we renewed the policies they would be honoured

However, we've now been notified they're looking for a buyer and our policies will transferred to the new provider

Raises huge issues re level of cover, cost, existing conditions etc which have still to be resolved (and I guess we won't know until we find out who's taking them on)

Current provider has excellent cover (£7k / annum) at reasonable cost (£42 for all 3 of them in total) and a reasonable excess (£70)

BUT most other insurers either won't accept pets over certain ages (from 5 for certain dogs :eek:) and want a % of total cost paid on top of the excess amount:eek:

Did a new quote & best I can find is just under £80 / month :eek: with £90 excess :eek: and 20% of total bill for Archie (he's 9) with Maisie following suit on this in a few months :mad:

Really p'd off

Seriously considering:

• Maisie - taking out Dogs Trust Membership (£25 / annum) which would cover 3rd party liability
• All - taking out a basic Accident / Injury cover for each of them (so would cover say fixing a broken leg if they were run over etc) which would cost around £14 / month
• All - putting say £40 / month into a separate bank account (I have a dormant one with no online access so I can't raid it!) and using that for the (hopefully) odd illness

I've been lucky but I tend to find most things (upset tum / sore ear etc) cost around the £100 mark so not worth claiming on insurance anyway

I also found that when I had to get Ben's meds they were £70 from the vet BUT only £20 online (of course, this is one of the reasons why pet insurance has rocketed so much :mad:) so this is still affordable

I would put them through say fixing a broken leg but not anything ... major IYKWIM (MRI scans, complex surgery requiring long & difficult recouperation etc - as none of them are spring chickens!)

Any thoughts .....

rising_from_the_ashes

beanielou wrote: »

What's up with Maisie?

Hard to explain ..... started on NY day, she was very clingy and wouldn't leave me alone (even mum commented on it) and just wanted cuddled all day

Thursday she was really tired (she is normally full of energy so this is worrying for her) and I put it down to me being off a fortnight & her being on the go all day (rather than sleeping when I'm out!;))

Thursday night - was up most of the night with her as she was really, really sick

Friday - very, very tired and lethargic

Same this morning - was up 1/2 an hour and then slept for 3 hours

TBH if it had been a weekday, I'd prob have left her for a few hours to see what happened but my vets shuts at 12 & emergency vet far side of Edinburgh & hideously expensive if needed

I was really worried about her temperature - last time she did this, I took her and it was 106 deg (which is brain damage high ) and she had to be kept in

So - temp OK , heart OK , she's not anemic - vet says they've had a few dogs in with similar symptoms in the past few days so looks like it's a bug

To keep her quiet (which normally is hellish but she's sleeping again ) and fingers crossed she'll sleep it off .....

beanielou

Hope she is ok soon.

rising_from_the_ashes

Me too - seeing my normally very happy, bouncy girl all subdued and sleeping all the time is a bit awful

RosaBernicia

Poor Maisie and you - hope she's feeling better soon.


I didn't realise you could choose just accident and injury insurance - that's really useful to know. I've got the normal insurance with a massive excess since I only really wanted it in case they need surgery etc. My mum gave up on insuring her dogs once they got older and just put money aside as she said it worked out about the same (even for the accident prone one!). If you already don't bother claiming for illness, then the combo approach sounds like it would give you both peace of mind and control.


Rosa xx

rising_from_the_ashes

RosaBernicia wrote: »

I didn't realise you could choose just accident and injury insurance - that's really useful to know. I've got the normal insurance with a massive excess since I only really wanted it in case they need surgery etc. My mum gave up on insuring her dogs once they got older and just put money aside as she said it worked out about the same (even for the accident prone one!). If you already don't bother claiming for illness, then the combo approach sounds like it would give you both peace of mind and control.

Thanks Rosa ... thinking it will prob be the way to go (it's just getting my head around it and taking the plunge:o)

I know when I got Ben it was never really an option to insure him - he was of indeterminable age (somewhere between 5 and 7 & maybe older!) and came with no medical history and I was looking at over £60 / month then (9 years ago now!) :eek: and I was lucky as he had the odd tummy upset (£100ish mark) and arthritis meds (as noted earlier - cheaper to buy & cheaper than the insurance would've been!)

BUT then take Smudge who needed kidney meds form the age of 2 and cost a fortune during his lifetime - and sadly would not have been with me for so long if he hadn't been insured - but online meds etc weren't an option then (20 years ago!) so I guess it might still have been feasible without the insurance if it happened now (IYSWIM:o)


Take Maisie for example, I would get say a broken leg or a cruciate ligament fixed BUT both of those would really only happen through an accident or injury - I personally (and I respect others rights to do differently) wouldn't put her through say a hip replacement.

I might do on a young dog but not one that's middle aged + - so that's a big part of having the full insurance never going to be used

mmmm more I think about it - the more I think it will be the way to go ....