Best pet insurance?

[out in the cold]

We had a bill for nearly 9 grand when Maisie was diagnosed. As it was 2 conditiins, M&S paid out no problem.

She had a CAT scan, ECG, lumbar puncture, blood tests, you name it al at Glasgow Vet School. We would not have been able to afford it otherwise. She was diagnosed around 6 to 8 weeks after she came to live with us.

If I am being honest, it may be the reason she was picked up as a stray in Edinburgh, but who knows?

When it comes to insuring your dog, correct answer is I don't know...

[Hans Mum]

I'm with Petplan too....and rescue terrier has had £4k in 11months paid out so for me its been worth the premiums, other thing is that my vets does direct payment with petplan so I dont have to fork out and reclaim its just done automatically, might be worth checking with your vets if they will do the same with all companies, its not so bad if its a 1 off smallish claim but mine has been hundreds of pounds every time and the drugs he is currently on are £200+ month

[SarzWix]

We have no insurance and no savings. When Pads had an emergency pyometra on the 22nd of Dec., the local vet operated and sent her home the same day to cut the cost to us and then let us pay the £300 bill over 6 months. Other than that she's cost us very little over the last 9 years. When/if she starts getting end-of-life conditions, we wouldn't be inclined to prolong the agony anyway. So I'm quite glad we haven't spent a fortune on insurance; if we had to pay that monthly, we'd have to cut back on food and I think it's a good investment to feed good quality stuff which avoids problems with allergies and digestive systems

[OverWyreGrower]

I'm with Churchill with my 2 - on a multipet policy.

The way I always see it is - if I had loads of money in an account for them - what happens when it's all gone? Even with one dog - what happens when your dog has an accident and it costs £2k to sort out a broken leg? What if you don't have enough money in the account? What if the one problem cleans your account out, and then something else happens and you have no money there for vet bills?

Luckily, neither of my dogs has needed anything over £1000 - we've never had anything ongoing, or any huge surgery.

2 x Lump removals have come in at around £300 each, emergency vet visit to sew up a hole in Murphy's soft pallette came in at around £500, and Max's eye injury was over £600 due to the medication required....

[Two_Sheds]

I think it's a good investment to feed good quality stuff which avoids problems with allergies and digestive systems

Good point. a lot of problems can be avoided with good diet.

It's also important to keep the dog safe: don't let them play with sticks and stones (OH's old dog used to swallow stones and go to the vet. I said "did you train him NOT to play with stones? No, we used to throw them for him to chase" )

, neither of my dogs has needed anything over £1000 - we've never had anything ongoing, or any huge surgery..

Same here. We've had dogs all my life, and never had any big vet bills. If there was cancer or something, I think it'd be kinder to euthanise. Maybe.


It's your choice. Bank account or insurance, or trust to luck.

[VirginVegGrower]

Tansy wasn't fed rubbish, was speyed after a year and still got cancer. No allergens. Vet said it isn't down to what you feed a dog. She was euthanised rather than dragging it out. The vet's practice is a small business and not a fancy concern, but bills are getting larger and people need to either insure up their pets or have a limitless supply of cash IMHO.
M and S and Petplan will pat a vet direct. I don't know about the others as I only looked at policies that will insure for the life of a dog. We also have access to DogslostUK with our policy and it gave discount for multiple pet. We also are covered out of UK, say we are on holiday, if this is something you do with a dog. It covers should anyone sue us for anything happening to their pet or themselves.

[Hazel at the Hill]

M and S and Petplan will pat a vet direct.

Nice typo!

[Two_Sheds]

Tansy wasn't fed rubbish, ...Vet said it isn't down to what you feed a dog.

Tansy's cancer wasn't, but a lot of other things could well be, same as in humans: poor diet leads to disease. "Experts think that nearly one in ten UK cancer cases are caused by unhealthy diets"

Diet, healthy eating and cancer : Cancer Research UK

"a growing number of veterinarians state that processed pet food (kibbled and canned food) is the number one cause of illness and premature death in modern dogs and cats."

Pets Protein Dry Food and Disease


Tansy had bad luck. So did I (I had a very aggressive cancer at 25, despite being otherwise very fit & healthy)

[VirginVegGrower]

I trust the word of the vet.

[Alison]

When/if she starts getting end-of-life conditions, we wouldn't be inclined to prolong the agony anyway.

Not all end of life conditions are painful or upsetting to the animal if treated early (obviously it depends), the renal conditions I mentioned that both our elderly cats are suffering from have been caught very early and have been stabilised with diet so the cat is none the wiser except they get a big fuss and a tablet every evening . Over the years I had been a bit dubious as to if it was worth our money insuring but I am no so glad as it means that I don't need to worry about the bills escalating. I'd not want to prolong a painful and uncomfortable life but helping their kidneys do what they're supposed to is a no brainer. Agree with your comments about diet though and have always given them a good diet and to be honest it doesn't really cost very much more over the year if you buy in bulk.

[Seahorse]

As discussed above, it's about picking what works for you. I would never dream of prolonging the life of a sick pet for my own emotional resasons but there are lots of conditions that can be happily managed for years with the right treatment. For me personally, as I can stetch to the premiums, I would rather 'lose' money in unclaimed insurance than face having a beloved family member PTS because I couldn't afford what was needed to give her a longer life of good quality.

[Linzy]

When i got my Cocker spaniel he was reg with the kennel club and was insured free for three months i carried on with the insurance. By the time he was 1 i notice he was bumping into stuff and it turns out he had a degenerative genetic eye condition and was completely blind. my pet insurance didn't cover conditions where the overall health of the dog couldn't be improved so i was landed with a £600 diagnostic bill. They are not worth the paper they are written on. On conversing with other people there seem to be an awful lot of loop holes in pet insurance.

[Alison]

Some policies are bad but some are very good, you have to read the small print and get advice which was the point of this thread. It's not fair to tar everybody with the same brush, as said earlier the plan I took out has covered everything so far including cleaning the teeth of one of our cats which really surprised me.

[Two_Sheds]

It covers should anyone sue us for anything happening to their pet or themselves.

If you look at your House insurance, you often have some kind of public liability insurance (ours is for a million pounds). I'm not sure, but I've been lead to believe this could cover you for "dog" incidents. I haven't investigated it though, I'd be happy for someone else to report back on that

if I had loads of money in an account for them - what happens when it's all gone?

It's never "all gone", because we pay in £50 every month, so it's always being topped up.

It makes us extra-careful, knowing that we'd have to pay any vet's bills ourselves.
Gosh, ten, twenty years ago, nobody ever had pet insurance. How did we manage?