Should I insure my indoor cats?

iabw12

I'm dithering at the moment. I have 2 indoor cats and their insurance is about to expire. It seems to me that it's extremely unlikely that they would be injured as they're not out on the street. It is possible for them to pick up an infection, which has happened once in the past and the vet's fee's were less than the excess fee/insurance. I've done some homework and it would work out about £6 per month for the 3 year old and about £8 per month for the 7 year old. I'm about to change jobs and I suspect I won't be earning as much as before hence I'm looking to tighten my belt. What's been the experience of others out there, and do they have advice for indoor cats please?

huckster

Up to you. They can still suffer from normal medical conditions, which might be expensive to treat and if you could not afford it, how would you feel about them having to be put down.

Cats while they can live indoors and be ok, are not really suited for this. I am sure that I have read that keeping cats indoors can cause different issues. So perhaps this needs to be considered as well. With our 2 cats, they choose when they want to go outside. They don't go out when it is cold, rain, snow etc, as they prefer to be in the warm. Never had Insurance for them, as you can put money to one side just in case and over an average lifespan say 15 years, it adds up to a fair bit of money. Plus if you ever claimed on the Insurance, they would put the premiums up.

stator

Yes, definitely insure your pets. If you were hit with a vet bill for £2,000 would you be able to pay it? If not, you need insurance. The fact that they are indoors may reduce the risk of getting run over but they are more likely to live a long age and get sick
Don't go for the cheap insurance either. Get the a "For life" policy. On a cheap policy it runs out after a year and if your cat got sick it would be excluded next year as a "preexisting condition" if you get a "For life" policy you can keep it for the rest of their life without any new exclusions when you claim.
I don't have cats but I've had to make some pretty big pet insurance claims in the past. The most well known company is very good, always pays out quickly with no fuss.

InsideInsurance

Up to you ultimately

What do you do if they develop a medical condition like arthritis, diabetes, kidney failure etc? Would you be able to pay £1,000 a year in treatments etc? Would you be willing to put them down to save the fees?

[Deleted User]

It's a gamble of course but I've never insured my cats. I've had 5 cats over the last 30 years and never insured any of them. 4 of them died of natural causes, I have just paid £75 to have my 18 year old boy put to sleep. Prior to that we paid for 3 courses of antibiotic treatments at around £35 a time.

One of my cats was hit by a car and broke her tail about 10 years ago and we did have to find about £150 which was a lot for us in those days, but otherwise it has just been flea treatment, the odd bout of ear-mites and injections all of which are either not covered by insurance or cost less than the excess amount. On balance I've saved £1000s in insurance premiums over the years, but of course it is a risk and if you're going to do it you need to make sure you have a little pot of money available just in case.

hcb42

I generally havent insured cats either, although I have insured 2 for the last five years. Never made a claim, and would think it would be fine to take a risk not to - this depends on total savings of course, so if you did have a big claim, can you cover it? Putting the money away each month in a little pet fund would work of course..

TBagpuss

I think it depend how much you could afford if something went wrong. As you cats are indoor kitties, they are less likely to have an accident, but they could still get ill - and in fact, as they might live longer they are arguably more likely to develop illnesses of old age.

My last cat developed thyroid problems about 2 years before he died - he needed mediation for the rest of his life, which cost around £1 day, plus regular check ups and blood tests. I probably spent about £1,500 - £2,000 in vet fees over the last 2 years of his life. Ad he didn't have any complications and didn't need surgery.

Over his lifetime, it would have been more expensive to have insured him, and I am lucky in that I could afford the treatment he needed, when he needed it, but it could have been very different.

I recently acquired a couple of kittens and have decided to insure them, because it does give some peace of mind.

If you decide not to insure, I would suggest that you set up a savings account. Pay the £14 a month you'll save on insurance in, so that if/when they do need to go to the vet, you have the money available.

colesy

I have an indoor cat with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, fortunately covered for life but only for £4k pa. Believe me, an episode or two of congestive heart failure and a few months of meds and the £4k is used up pretty fast. Even so, the insurance has been cost effective from my point of view.