New Puppy Advice Please

Aside from insurance please make sure your new puppy is confident and wriggling when you choose one at the breeders. If it is quiet, or shaking walk away. This would mean it hasn't been socialised well with people. We made this mistake to our cost and ended up with an aggressive dog that was scared of everything. Best wishes x

They are all too expensive. They rip you off left right and centre. Animal trust pet plan a con and not worth £19.50 a month. Even vets don't care. My dogs back was bothering her and I took her thinking she had perhaps fallen down the stairs whilst I was out and he said we can take her in tomorrow and operate as she has hip dysplacia and I said she may have fallen down the stairs and he said don't think so. I didn't believe him and took her home and 3 weeks of rest she was fine and that would have cost me £1,500 and my little girl would have had a terrible op so the vet could get brownie points. That was animal trust.

I have never bothered with insurance - if you have a healthy dog routine treatment like vaccinations and plaque removal are not covered anyway.

Pinkhousegirl

I have never bothered with insurance - if you have a healthy dog routine treatment like vaccinations and plaque removal are not covered anyway.

That’s ok until you get a fracture or cruciate ligament injury. Or a tooth abscess.

We use petplan, they have been really good. Our dog had a major operation when he was under a year old, there have never been any problems with them paying out.

Having had up to 10 working spaniels at one time, we didn’t bother with monthly insurance and just bit the bullet as and when necessary.
I think I remember, via the KC that we had some sort of liability cover though.

MayBee70

Pinkhousegirl

I have never bothered with insurance - if you have a healthy dog routine treatment like vaccinations and plaque removal are not covered anyway.

That’s ok until you get a fracture or cruciate ligament injury. Or a tooth abscess.

Or your dog is injured in an accident. Vet bills can easily rack up very quickly.
Another tip - whichever insurer provider you are planning to go with, check that your vet will deal with them directly (some vets won't deal direct with certain companies) or else you will have to pay the bill first then claim it back.

I'm so jealous, I love cocker spaniels and would love to have one but have to settle for enjoying my son's when I visit a couple of times a year.

Don't forget to enrol on dog training classes even if you have previously owned dogs. My friend attends classes every time she has a new dog. She has had dogs for over 60 years,

Sarahr

Don't forget to enrol on dog training classes even if you have previously owned dogs. My friend attends classes every time she has a new dog. She has had dogs for over 60 years,

We went to three different ones. The first one didn’t suit us but the second two were really helpful.

Galaxy

We use petplan, they have been really good. Our dog had a major operation when he was under a year old, there have never been any problems with them paying out.

Several years ago my 6 year old had numerous expensive investigations including mri scans. He had an aggressive tumour pressing on vital organs. Petplan worked directly with my vet so I never had to stand paying invoices while weeping. The total cost exceeded £6500 and these days would be higher. Rip Charlie x
Prior to this our ten year old doodle was investigated after mini seizures, including mri brain and other scans. Treatment in tablet form till she died. Then I found a small lump on her shoulder, in view of Charlie I was keen it be removed - it was cancer. She lived well for almost 3 years. Cost of these two separate investigations over 13,000. All covered so my years of monthly payments were exceeded by the cost of these three serious investigations and in the doodles case, treatment.

My current two are with Petplan. One has thyroid problems, life long meds and 3 or 6 monthly bloods to ensure meds remain effective. Petplan paid for initial investigations and ongoing bloods/exams/meds. Her insurance hasn’t increased but she’s 8 this year so it might
My labs hip scores etc all good, 5 generation pedigree same. But labs can develop cruciate problems. A friends dog needed surgery £6,500

PetPlan will pay out directly to the vet, but are horrendously expensive!

When it got to nearly £200 a month for my 2 healthy dogs, no claims, I moved to Many Pets as they did cover anything pre-existing, but I would NOT recommend them! My 10 yr old Romanian rescue, Dora has some mammary lumps that we've been keeping an eye on. 50/50 benign or cancerous. The vet suggested they come off, and quoted me £2,000. As I'm on benefits as am disabled, the surgery offered to arrange with Many Pets so that they could pre-authorise it, BUT Many Pets wouldn't do it! I cannot afford to pay the vet upfront, I have no savings, I can't even afford heating, so IF they decided after the surgery that they wouldn't cover it, I'd be completely stuffed! The surgery said I could pay in 3 instalments, but I couldn't afford that either! They only give us enough to cover our 'basic needs' and you really cannot save much at all.

I challenged Many Pets on X - "I thought I was doing the right thing by insuring my dogs, but due to your policy of not pre-authorising required surgery, I can't take the risk of you NOT paying out for a £2k surgery to remove lumps that may or may not be malignant. Disabled, unable to work after 24 surgeries of my own; no heating & existing hand to mouth, it's impossible to 'save'.

As a result, my dog, my constant companion will not be able to have the surgery as I cannot pay the bill, so YOU have put her at risk. Wouldn't mind but I pay almost £200 a month to you!"

Their response -
"Hi there, we're so sorry to hear your dog isn't well. We're sorry we don't offer pre-authorisation at the moment, as we assess each claim on an individual basis. If you have any questions about what we can't cover, please feel free to get in touch."

"That's exactly what I'm asking of you, assess this claim on an individual basis, but before the surgery?? I'm unable to get her this surgery UNLESS you are going to pay out on it; I can't risk you not paying out as I don't have the money!

It's YOU that is putting the health of my dog at risk!"

So, that's the end of that; It's just not good enough really, I am far from happy and just hope that these lumps are benign!

I'm with Many Pets and I have to say they've been very good with us so far. Claims were paid directly to the vet within a few days, and they were also extremely helpful over the phone too.

Could you ask them to do a needle aspiration on the lumps which doesn’t cost too much and should be able to ascertain if the tumours are benign ( although they can throw up false negatives). I find that vets don’t always offer to do them so I have to ask first them and then they’ll say ‘oh of course we could try that’.

My experience with two dogs suddenly very sick confirms if the unexpected happens, Petplan more than covers what if paid over ten years

PetPlan paid out for an operation that they shouldn’t have paid for as my dog had year cover not life and we’d gone over the year. Not sure how or why they paid but they did.

How exciting, wishing you lots of fun with your new puppy, something to really look forward to.

ViceVersa

I'm with Many Pets and I have to say they've been very good with us so far. Claims were paid directly to the vet within a few days, and they were also extremely helpful over the phone too.

Wow!! As you can see, they would NOT budge for me! Even told the vets they wouldn't pre-authorise.

I pay the insurance as I cannot rely on myself to put the money away every month, so at least I know what is going out. I know that should something go wrong in the house etc, I would dip in to that money pot, so can't risk that either ... the vet has said that the needle aspirates on hard lumps, don't work. My poor little girl.

Coincidentally I have been looking to renew insurance for my 13 year old dog. Tesco wouldn’t insure a dog over 8 and other companies were too much.
I then saw the post about joining the Dogs Trust and that fits the bill exactly for me and so I am very grateful. I shall save the insurance money in case of illness/injury but have the reassurance of public liability insurance. Many thanks. Have joined.

MadeInYorkshire

ViceVersa

I'm with Many Pets and I have to say they've been very good with us so far. Claims were paid directly to the vet within a few days, and they were also extremely helpful over the phone too.

Wow!! As you can see, they would NOT budge for me! Even told the vets they wouldn't pre-authorise.

I pay the insurance as I cannot rely on myself to put the money away every month, so at least I know what is going out. I know that should something go wrong in the house etc, I would dip in to that money pot, so can't risk that either ... the vet has said that the needle aspirates on hard lumps, don't work. My poor little girl.

‘A needle aspirate, also known as a fine needle aspirate (FNA), can often be used to sample cells from a hard lump in a dog, but its effectiveness can vary depending on the type and size of the lump. FNA is a relatively simple procedure where a thin needle is used to collect a sample of cells from the lump, which can then be examined under a microscope’.
This is what I googled. When my spaniel had mammary tumours I had her spayed on vets advice ( back then I didn’t spay my dogs) but I don’t remember having the lumps removed. It was a long time ago, though.

I asked my daughter about the question she is a veterinary nurse and she recommended PetPlan. You’re getting the dog that I always wanted but because I traveled so much I was never able to have a dog -enjoy sounds wonderful!

Asking this for a friend (really) - her dog escaped from the lead when she fell over and attacked another dog, causing £4000 worth of injuries to the dog. Would public liability insurance have covered this?

Thank you all so much for your advice and good wishes. It has helped a lot and now all I have to do is wait for 6 weeks for to be able to pick her up.

Years ago I was walking my spaniel on a flood bank and she met one of her friends. They ran around a bit and then both took off towards the lane which then led to the village primary school and it was dropping off time and rush hour ( it was on a very busy road). My whole life flashed before me. Thankfully I was able to catch her. I didn’t insure my dogs at the time but I did after that and made sure I was insured for a lot of money if they caused an accident. Not sure about if they attack another dog, though. I’ll have a look at my insurance.

I wouldn’t use anything other than Pet Plan. I have never had a problem with them over the decades. What I would advise though is that you get insured as soon as possible. Always have a ‘whole of life policy’ so that there will be ongoing cover should the dog develop a condition. Ask your vet for advice on how much cover you need. I’d say that for dogs you would need a minimum of £7k pa cover. Nothing less. More is better. Good luck!