Pet insurance - to have or not to have?

Without a doubt, go for the insurance.

Without a doubt, go for the insurance.

Without a doubt, go for the insurance.

Without a doubt, go for the insurance.

I can tell you from experience it’s well worth taking out pet insurance. I had a beloved cat who developed Lymphoma at the age of 12 and my pet insurance at the time allowed for ten thousand pounds as a maximum for one condition. The treatment gave him a good quality of life and we had an extra two and a half years with him, which we wouldn’t have had as we would never have been able to afford the specialist treatment. Over that period, the treatment cost just over nine thousand pounds, and it allowed him to come to the end of his ‘borrowed time’ naturally, as we were just under the limit.

Our new moggy is insured with Pet Plan, which in my opinion offers the best value for money. Their premium plan allows for eight thousand pounds worth of treatment per condition, per year, but they have cheaper plans available. It’s not cheap (ours is around twenty five pounds a month for the premium plan) but knowing what I know now I would always insure a pet because treatment is so expensive and it may be the difference between life and death for them if you can’t afford it. Our mog was hit by a car earlier this year and broke his jaw. The treatment and hospitalisation was over a thousand pounds and the insurance paid up with no quibble or fuss. Our vet also offers an additional plan for twice yearly check ups which includes all vaccination boosters and excellent prescription grade flea and worm treatments. This costs around eight pounds a month but when you add up the cost of the boosters, worming and flea treatments, the plan works out cheaper. You never know what’s round the corner and if you value your pet, it’s well worth it.

I would always recommend dog insurance - we moved from another country recently and they would not transfer our dog insurance despite us being with a UK insurance company - our dog is 10 years old and on heart tablets that cost us 300.00 every 3 months, these were covered when we were Insurance’s. I am constantly worried that if he becomes ill for any reason we will be in for a really hefty vet bill -

Yes yes yes...get insurance! Go onto a comparison website to get best prices although Direct Line are good as is Petplan....just check the excess like you would for any insurance but whatever you do get it!

I took out insurance on my two cats when they were babies 18 years ago, when they were 6 weeks old. 4 years laters one of them wasn't well and he was diagnosed with a condition that would be life long. The insurance company refused to pay out as they claimed it was an pre-existing condition. Not true! I stopped paying the insurance. READ THE SMALL PRINT carefully.

No insurance, have three dogs. Put £50 monthly in a separate bank account got about £5,000 in now, some of this was boosted by puppy sales. Parasite prevention and vaccinations pay for separately. Have paid in the past for tetanus which cost £6,000, very rare in carnivores, 24 hr nursing in specialist vets, they kept the bill down as much as possible as knew I was paying. It depends on your finances but that was the only time in 50 years of dog keeping that such a catastrophe happened.

My dog over the years has given me unconditional love and devotion, no matter how grumpy I am, or if I tread on a paw by mistake, or even forget to feed her and she has to remind me. For that love, I would ALWAYS insure her. I could not live with myself were she to need veterinary care and I couldn't afford it, and the only course of action were to have her put down! It's as simple as that in my book.

I've been desperately wanting a rescue dog for ages but the cost of insurance puts me off. I just can't afford around £50 a month but wouldn't dare risk going without. I also suspect that once the vet knows you have insurance the cost of treatment goes up!
I grew up on a farm where we had several working dogs and cats, as well as the farm livestock and I don't ever recall vet insurance being mentioned, this was during the 40s and 50s so maybe it wasn't available then.

try to check out independent vets not the ones part of a chain , my vet does his own insurance which ranges from £30 -50 per month for dogs depending on size and breed , for that cost you are covered for everything including vacs worming fleeing, any emergencies etc check ups etc .

Maggiemaybe
It is quite common round here in rural Wiltshire. The first time the fox got her in the leg - she obviously got away and ran up my neighbour's plum tree, He heard her yelling and we went out to get her. Pitch black, howling gale and lashing with rain and me in my dressing gown! We got her down and there was some blood from teeth marks so we cleaned her up and took her to the vet first thing the next day for antibiotics. He looked at the teeth marks and said it was a fox. 6 months later a fox nearly took her tail off but luckily he managed to save it. We have a church just behind us and behind that there is a large woodland area. We often see people with shotguns up there as squirrels are a bit of a pest too. Not red, the tree rats.

I would always recommend taking out pet insurance.

That's interesting, Minniesmum. Our vet hadn't come across a fox attack on a cat before. He speculated that our cat (jet black, even the whites of his eyes were grey) had startled the fox in the dark. It certainly startled us when he staggered through the cat flap, blood spraying up the walls and on our clothes!

If I had a dog then I would definitely have pet insurance. They are far more likely to get into trouble and need help. My neighbour's dog got stuck in a fence, hit by flying debris in a storm, had cancer and heart trouble and all in all, would have cost them many thousands of pounds.
We have a cat who was insured originally but when the premium nearly doubled in three years we stopped it. I had just retired with my lump sum so I calculated 12 years at the last premium and put that money in a savings account. She is now 9 yrs old and has had treatment for two fox attacks costing just over £200 so I am quids in, apart from annual vaccinations etc which are not covered. She is now reluctant to go much further than our garden and we dropped a hint in the pub about the fox problem and heard gunshots a few days later. Haven't seen one since! Fingers crossed.

A few years on, and another cat had a tumour that could have been removed, but this would have left him with a poor quality of life, compromised immune system, constant medication and a special diet. We still had the insurance, but chose to have him put to sleep.

Hoping this reply doesn't upset people, but the thought of an operation costing thousands of pounds amazes me.

It amazed me too, Fennel, so I'm not upset! The thing is, this was a young, healthy cat and we had him insured, so why would we not have said yes to it? We paid around £20 excess. It does serve as a warning as to how high veterinarian costs can be.

Fennel, I absolutely agree about not using insurance to prolong the life of an elderly dog. A broken leg could cost thousands and I've found the insurance invaluable when one of mine has needed overnight emergency care and surgery. I wouldn't want to put mine through painful operations that may prolong life briefly. I hope to make similar choices for myself if it becomes necessary.

The issue of insurance in case the dog causes an accident is increasingly relevant. I had a bad fall recently, caused by a dog, not my own. Several people stopped to help and offered to be witnesses so I could sue the other dog owner. I was grateful for their kind help but didn't want to prolong the incident and in any event, as a dog owner, I know dogs can be unpredictable.

We always had pet insurance for our dogs. Not only for their vet care but also in case of an accident caused by them. Better safe than sorry...

I agree too with Hilda's view about elderly dogs, it will be hard, but when their time has come why prolong their suffering.
We have an elderly dog and cat, and they aren't insured. Country people here don't insure their pets, they have a different attitude. Nearest neighbour has 5 dogs, couldn't afford it.
But probably if it was a valuable working dog they might do.
Hoping this reply doesn't upset people, but the thought of an operation costing thousands of pounds amazes me. More than my hip replacement.

We've always had our cats covered on lifetime insurance, and were glad of it when one had an encounter with a fox and came off worse. His jugular was nicked and he lost so much blood, but was saved after micro surgery, scans, drugs and a stay at the vet's, all totting up to several thousand pounds. So I'd say yes, definitely get it for a young, active pet, when it's cheaper anyway.

But now we're down to the one elderly cat, it's costing us £24 a month and the excess is £110 plus 20% of all costs. She's not covered by anything she can be vaccinated against, as we don't have her vaccinated now she doesn't go out. Add the fact that if she developed a debilitating illness we wouldn't want her to suffer, and I don't think we'll be renewing this year.

My two current dogs both arrived with 6 weeks insurance from the breeders. My vet suggested keeping it going because the dogs are high energy, very bright with family backgrounds in hunting/retrieving so he thought they could be injury prone. One of them had emergency treatment in three different years, including overnight stays in the pet hospital. Those three incidents more than covered the annual cost of the dogs insurance. Second dog is less injury prone but after being attacked by other dogs on two occasions, one on/one off lead the dog became highly anxious and reactive. The insurance paid for a behaviourist to see the dog and give us a programme to work with. That was a year's insurance. It is expensive but we have them insured for life, one has daily medication. I'd say look for a good company, check reviews on line and yes, insure the dog if you can afford it.

I agree with Tegan2 that third party insurance is worth paying for. I agree with HildaW that it's kinder to have an old dog euthanised than to put it through operations and absences from its home. Both my German Shepherds who were euthanised aged nine had inoperable cancer. I will stop paying ins. for my lurcher Kitty when she is really elderly. I think she is about nine or ten now and as far as the vet and I can see has athletic good health.

I think it depends on what kind of insurance you take out. Be careful there aren't any limits on the amount they will pay. I had insurance for my cat and dog for the first few years but there was a £200 excess so I could never claim vets fees for minor ailments. Then the insurance soared so much I just thought I'll take my chance. My hairdresser found her insurance only paid for the first course of treatment for her dog as there was a limit on the amount she could claim back. Look at the small print carefully but overall its like any insurance - a lotto