Starting a claim

hmc

Hi, took the nearly 11 yr collie to vets today regarding intermittent front lameness and general stiffness increasing
As I thought,arthritis 😔
In his shoulder
So we have previcox to go alongside his joint supplements for 2 wks then stop the previcox and see if it was making any difference
Vet said to ring insurance and tell them we are starting on possible
long term meds
But what happens , I know I've to pay and then claim back, but excess is £150 which I will soon reach,when do insurance start to pay out on my bills?
Collie needs to lose weight too any low fat chews as I got told off for the amount of raw hide chews he gets lol
Anything else I can help him with in his senior yrs?
Thankyou

krlyr

I do direct claims, so drop the forms off to my vet who have someone who deals specifically with their insurance claims. When there's excess due, I simply pay that amount to my vet - so for example, once we reached a new policy year, I had to pay the excess on her thyroid condition again. Her excess is £75 so I paid for her meds, £60, and on the next visit I paid a further £15 and the vet sent a form off for the rest.

If your vet doesn't do direct claims, you will pay all of it upfront. You then send off the details to the insurance, and they will process your claim and send payment for everything less your excess.

You may wish to send off forms, or at the very least phone and speak to them, even if today's bill is under your £150 excess - many insurers now have clauses with a deadline on when to notify them of claims/new conditions so you don't want to risk missing that deadline waiting until you've spent £150.


http://dogaware.com/health/arthritis.html is an absolutely fab read regarding arthritis and possible treatments/supplements. However, I would stress the importance of an accurate diagnosis, how did the vet reach their diagnosis? To get it diagnosed after just one visit suggests just a physical examination. If it hasn't been done already, I would suggest an x-ray to have a closer look.

My Rottie cross had intermittant stiffness in her shoulder, I asked the vet to look when we were in for her thyroid checkup. The vet felt given her breed and age, it would probably be arthritis. However, I wanted to be sure so we had x-rays done and it turned out to be a condition called bicipital tenosynovitis - tendonitis of the shoulder basically. This condition requires different treatment to arthritis - it is 'curable' as such, but does require a strict period of rest, and then rehabilitation (and possibly even surgery). Had I gone with the probable diagnosis of arthritis, her condition could have possibly worsened, or I could have just managed her stiffness without providing the right treatment to clear it up completely.


For low fat chews - carrots can be a good one! Not all dogs like them, but they're a fairly low cal chew (and veg is quite indigestible to dogs uncooked/unprocessed so it'll pass through mostly as it is). Natural chews (Zooplus sells tons) won't be low calorie in particular but the tougher ones will last longer so you get more 'bang for your calories' as such, and can reduce the dog's daily food to allow for it and know you haven't just filled the dog up on cheap fillers like in commerical dog chews.

Reducing his daily meals may help - you can bulk out with things like veggies so he's full up but getting less calories.

I posted this link on another thread, this helps you work out how many calories your dog needs (roughly)
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/

You can find the calorie content for a lot of foods listed here (per 100g, so times by 10 for the calculator) and find out how many grams you should be feeding a day.
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/


I would also look into hydrotherapy, it will help strengthen the muscles which will help take some pressure off his joints, as well as provide exercise without heavy impact. I would still recommend making sure the arthritis diagnosis is the correct one here though, before persuing something like this (or increasing exercise in other forms)

hmc

Yes the vet gave me a leaflet about swimming which I'm to see if insurance would pay for
He won't eat carrots lol the pup does but collie not a fan of veg
I did wonder about X-ray but he just bent all joints etc and felt the grind or whatever
I wasn't told to rest him at all just not encourage play with pup or fetching balls
Hard to change habits of a life time that he enjoys
All walking is off lead,we drive to woods

krlyr

Personally I'd go for x-rays to be sure. If you're going to pay the excess for medications then it won't really cost you anything - if paying upfront is difficult, see if your vet will allow a direct claim.

gettingready

My vet allows direct claims for bills over 350 and only from certain insurers.

I know they do not allow direct claims from Animal Friends due to them very often refusing to pay so they ask the owners to pay and claim from their insurers themselves.

I have 2 insured with Argos Platinum and 5 with PetPlan, my vets always accept direct claims from those - as long as the bill is over £350.

Also remember that your excess is per condition per year so make sure all is linked to the same condition if possible.

I took Zara for blood tests 2 weeks ago - to check if it is ok to continue with her Onsior. Blood tests came up to 167 (with the consultation) and I added 2 invoices for Onsior that I bought online to that. I paid the 167 myself and also paid for Onsior myself about 65 so together 232. With my excess being 65 I hope to get 167 back from the insurance.

Today had to go to the vets again about her legs/back but she also got eye infection. The bill today was 56 and I asked the vet to link this to blood tests/onsior visit. If Argos accepts it as such - I should get whole 56 back. If not - I will get nothing back as they may want to treat this as excess for the eye infection alone...

Zara is due Xrays too, they will be about £400 (asked today) and this will be direct claim from vets to Argos as I already paid the excess for this condition on my visit 2 weeks ago.

Hope the above makes sense?

hmc

Thankyou just typical that after the serious hike from axa I had to drop my life cover and go with more than

krlyr

Do you just have an annual policy with Morethan then? If that's the case, even more reason to get things checked out really thoroughly now - with an annual policy, anything relating to this leg will be considered a pre-existing condition and excluded from new policies

hmc

Yes just annual ,couldn't afford anything else
Typical he's had all singing and dancing for 10 yrs and never claimed lol
He's worse today I presume from being pulled about yesterday? He's never missed a walk but he may have to miss today

krlyr

Yes, sod's law at work for sure! Kiki was always slightly more sore after a checkup. I read for Metacam, it is most effective 8 hours after the dose so maybe after some Previcox he will feel a bit better. This is why I think a definitive diagnosis would really help though - knowing whether you're best to rest him or keep him moving will help, and that could vary depending on whether itis aarthritis or not

hmc

Yes, going to ring later if open today, and say vet wants to xray, so they know, then ring vet and ask on Monday. Can I demand he's xrayed. Was suprised they didn't suggest it but they are very good and try to save people money as much as possible so maybe was just seeing if the drugs made a difference for 2 weeks?

krlyr

I just went back to mine and said that I'd like x-rays just to confirm the diagnosis. You are the customer, afterall!