Cat insurance policy

Some vets offer their own plans, which in theory should not be extortionate, because they know your cats health history, but who knows in practice!

You could of course go down the "threatening to look elsewhere" route, many friends have done this with car insurance and have found that the provider can suddenly offer a better deal.

I believe that when the subject of pet insurance came up on here before, some GN members said that rather than pay the ever increasing premiums, they put a monthly sum aside to cover vet bills.

phoenix if I went down the "threatening to look elsewhere" route, even if they took £15 a month off it still would not be sufficient.

I did think that I could put an amount aside specifically for this purpose but my last cat, uninsured, developed some ghastly disease late in life and of course only 11 other cats had been diagnosed with it in the country. Trips to the vet and drug prices were horrendous so I vowed that my next cat would be insured. Thanks for your ideas- my vet does not do a policy for the company.

The price goes up because the age of the cat goes up , usually.

I agree, but I still think think that paying nearly £35 a month for a moggy is ridiculous.

I do agree Charleygirl it is a lot of money, but what are the alternatives?

Just keep putting the £27 in a special account - just in case- much cheaper, but even better right from the start. If you calculate, how much have you spent on this insurance, and how much in vet fees/cost?

My dogs are insured with Animal Friends. Their excess is reasonable and the you pay a percentage of the bill. This does help to keep the monthly premiums down, and if you never claim it works out a lot cheaper.

I saw that millymouge and other companies are doing it also. I will make the decision tomorrow.

granjura I may do that if I ever have another cat but it is too late now- there would not be much in the pot and I would feel better with some insurance even if I have to pay some of the bill.

I pay about £100 a month premium for my 3 little dogs. I've just made a claim for 2 different conditions on one of them.The vets bill was for over £400 and with excess of £100 for each condition and 30% of remaining cost I received £125. I think in the future if I have any more dogs l will have a special bank account and save the money for "pet emergencies". I must admit though I've never had any problems claiming and they've always paid up,but £100 a month is a lot of money.

I put a set amount aside each month into a seperate bank account for my dogs should they need expensive care. I found from past experience that insurers won't pay out after a certain age - usually just about the time pets start to age and are more likely to need treatment.

It's a risk you take, but my old dog is now 14 and the only time I had to raid his fund was earlier this year when he needed emergency surgery. The £840 cost only left a small dint in the money he had in his bank account.

We have a dog and a cat but don't pay any insurance. They are now 13 and 16 but have been very healthy so far.

I think that next time I will have a special bank account for my cat and take the risk.

It's what we used to do, and is more cost effective in the end ( a pot of money saved.)

Charleygirl, get a quote from John Lewis Pet Ins. They are absolutely brilliant. I had to put in a claim for £3,400 last October, and they paid the lot direct to the vet and didn't quibble over a penny.

PS. My cat was only 18 months old and was hit by a car. There was no way I could have saved up that amount in that time to put "in the pot" for a rainy day. I know that because he was insured I was able to give him the very best of care to save his life instead of the only choice being to put him to sleep.

I have just taken out a policy with another company- £147 as opposed to £416 per annum. Okay, I do not have the frills but I do not need most of them. I rang the company with whom she is insured now and I think that they were willing to offer me another policy but for me, it was too late.

We haven't always insured our cats, but it was a condition of "adoption" laid down by the Cats' Protection League that we did so when we got our last three kittens (from the same litter, and a feral mother). I was glad we had it when one of them was attacked by a fox and nearly died - he needed micro surgery, scans and a prolonged stay at the vet's, and we would have had to let him go, as the cost was over £7000 We'd have felt so guilty as he was only a young cat then. Only one of the three is left now, 12 years old, and her insurance costs us £32 a month, with a £120 excess, plus we'd have to pay 20% of any charges. I'm going to have to think long and hard about whether to renew this Autumn

I only paid £22-66p last year for my 6 yr old cat....yes for the whole year! it was with Saga...it is basic with no frills attached...

Ours is Petplan, by the way. They pay directly to the vet, cover for life, and we found them good value for young cats. Not so sure the sums add up now, though

Don't be too put out mine went up from £37 to £54!!!!!! That's John Lewis for a 6/7 years old Cairn terrier.

OMG whitewave I hope that you were sitting down when that bombshell struck!

Tara's age is against her she is around 11 years old but fitter than cats half her age.

Maggiemaybe it sounds as though you may soon be in the same position as myself- look around- I did well but as said, there are no frills.

I think that Tara is a lot fitter than our -squeakyfatarse- Digby, just coming up to 6 and seems to be in training for the "who can sleep the longest" event. The training is going very well so far

Damn, haven't mastered the strike through thing on the Hudl!

Perhaps we have been very lucky- our cats and dogs have always lived to a very old age, in great health- and more or less the only vet cost is for the final call to home when the time came. Pepper was about 19, Gatsby about 17 (never exactly sure as we always have mongrels who probably live much longer and in better health than pure breeds). Our current cat, Pudding, is about 23 year olds.

Slinky however is a pure dachshund, also a rescue, about 17 now. Adopted by us from DD2 3 years ago- and he is proving quite expensive- special diabetic food and insulin- but worth every penny (well Euro- we go to the vet in nearby France). I've known so many people with expensive insurance and then the insurance refused to pay anyhow- a rip off.