adopted kitten coming home next week

bindiboo

HI all

Buzz the kitten will be picked up from the rspca next week. I have never had a kitten before and have checked out loads of sites for advise and on here of course.

Anyway, when we get him, he will be vaccinated, wormed, chipped and eventually neutered when he is 6 months. He is about 14 weeks now.

What I am confused about is pet insurance. Basically cover for him will be about a £1.00 a week. Does pet insurance cover routine visits to the vets or is it just emergency/illness visits. Also how often should routine visits to the vets be and should I bother.

all advise welcome

leoetal19

insurance doesnt cover routine visits, jabs etc or dental work (other than caused by accident-usually) and for each claim there is an excess payment-usually c £50 so some treatments it cheaper not to pay
some insurers are cheaper cos the cover any condition, diabetes etc for a year from first treatment, others cover the lifetime of the ailment-but thats c £8 a month.
my 4 go the vets when i first get them for a check over, then for initial jabs, at 6 months for neutering and chipping then annually for a check up and booster jabs. across the year i buy combined flea and worming treatment and treat at home. then we just visit if we have any conecrns etc (quite rare)
the insurance is just that there INcase of anything major-my elsdest had 2 sep mystery illnesses-c £1000 in total-only cost me £100 so i wouldnt be without insurance
they're wondeful pets-im addicted!!! i love getting to know their little personalities. the one thing i would recommend is one of the beds that go over the radiator-mine love ours to bits
and good luck with buzz (ace name)
sue x

bindiboo

thats the name rspca gave him. We might keep it or change it to Lynx (as my boys love the stuff!! as in the bodyspray!!!) We will see when we get him home.


Ho much have you usually paid for a routine vet visit?

leoetal19

it varies to be honest-im with a local vet who i love but arent cheap-do you have a vets 4 pets near you? son has his with them and they are cheaper
i pay c £60 a year for annual visit, healthcheck, jabs, flea stuff etc
and every other month £16 on flea/worm stuff that dabs on the neck-srtonghold-from vet or online suppliers-but thats for 4 cats
then for netuering/chipping i pay c one off 120quid
son got some vouchers for neutering and paid c £20 for his boy
if you insure the then just go annually it works out quite manageable-though my 4 eats loads!! i would so not be without them tho-they're worth it for sure
the other expense is litter-i use the wood pellets-i think its the best by far though opinions vary- i buy a huge bag for c £8 from pets at home n it lasts over a month-only youngest (in theory) still uses litter tray
lynx is nice name too-my ds aged 15 wears a can at a time i think!!!

UKTigerlily

Hiya, congratulations on choosing an excellent pet, you'll have many fun years ahead! Also, congratulations on going to the RSPCA. I have one cat, she's ten so I take her to the vets every six months just to catch anything she may get early. When you get him you can spend time getting him used to his cat carrier (An essential item, the plastic ones that open on top & to the front I think are best), get him used to going in there when the doors open & associating it with positive things & hopefully when & if you need a vet he'll be happy & less stress all round! (He might already be used to a carrier, the RSPCA might send him home in a cardboard one if you don't already have one)

I'd say maybe an initial visit to have him checked over & then just yearly until he gets old or has any problems. Mine is wormed by the vet twice a year, I can't remember with kittens but I think adults should be done 4x depending how much they hunt, mine hunts as far as the kitchen & so only gets done every six months at her check

Petplan do great insurance, the pedigree breeders use it & they do an unlimited vet fees option, it *is* expensive, compared to other insurers, but only a few £ a month & what's that for peace of mind? Generally you pay the vet & then the insurers pay you back - the excess, some vets are ok to be paid direct. Always get life cover, say the cat gets arthritis, it'll go on all his life but if he doesn't have life cover, then he might only be covered to the limit for one year, for life pays out for his entire life to the maximum per year, PP are unlimited, some are 6 or 7k.

As far as I know, Petplan & Axa are the tops, & AVOID E&L like the plague (Sorry if I can't name names!) GL & enjoy him

UKTigerlily

o0o sorry to go on, but my cats vet bill last week was £75 for a 6 pack of Frontline Combo, a brush, a wormer & her booster flu, enteritis & leukaemia, (£44.03 for the booster)

Kimberley

bindiboo wrote: »

Ho much have you usually paid for a routine vet visit?

Some vets do a free puppy and kitten health check but your kitten would have already been checked over and had vaccs done. My vets charge £15 for a consultation.

UKTigerlily

Sorry, i've just read your post properly & see you asked what's covered, normally things like vets bills for injury + illness after the first 14 days, advertising & reward if they go missing, boarding fees or money to someone to look after it if you're in hospital, holiday cancellation if you have to cancel & can't get the money back within so many days of leaving for the holiday etc

It normally doesn't include routine stuff like worming, flea treatment, microchipping & neutering, vaccinations (Although it does cover illnesses like flu *if* they've been vaccinated for it), pregnancy & complications from that eg caesarians & dental work unless the cat has an accident. That sorta stuff!

jayne26

hi my buster who is sleeping next to me as we speak has never had any jabs or illness. she is my last cats daughter who died at 23 years and buster is 22 and still going strong . she had been the vets maybe twice in her life , maybe we have been lucky but we never though of insurance ect but saying that she is spoilt rotton and currently on lidi samon,....

mirrorimage0

i wouldnt do with out insurance, if anything happens to your pet can you really afford a large lump sum at once , yes you would probably find it at the time but at the expense of something else, for a small fee each month i know if anything happened to ours then we dont have to worry financialy and can just concentrate on getting them better, well done though for getting your cats to a grand age jayne26 you wont see many that age. x

Kimberley

jayne26 wrote: »

hi my buster who is sleeping next to me as we speak has never had any jabs or illness. she is my last cats daughter who died at 23 years and buster is 22 and still going strong . she had been the vets maybe twice in her life , maybe we have been lucky but we never though of insurance ect but saying that she is spoilt rotton and currently on lidi samon,....

My mums former cat also lived beyond the age of 16 without ever visiting the vets or having jabs, but it's a risk if you take it.