If Only!

[Grauntie Mag]

If Only DD2 had spoken to me regarding reducing her cat’s insurance. He is a very beautiful cat who had been living rough at DD1s stable yard throughout the summer and autumn and she was worried about the winter so she persuaded her sister to take him on. After 3 years and no problems DD2 thought all would be ok and reduced the insurance.BIG mistake. Last week she noticed he wasn’t able to pass anything and he stopped eating. ‘Life saving surgery’ and £2600 later (she is only covered for £1000) she is beside herself. Obviously we will ‘lend’ the money she needs but she is inconsolable at her naivety. I am surprised as my mantra has always been ‘never assume’. Now it is a lesson learned.
OH is all for asking for a deal to reduce payment but she isn’t happy to do that. The Lord only knows what she would do if we couldn’t help.

[Gemini]

Thank goodness you were able to help Grauntie. I hope puss makes a full recovery.

[Daisy]

GM - I do hope the handsome boy makes a good recovery, but that's a very expensive lesson to learn. She must be devastated. Thank goodness you are able to help her. Pet insurance is getting so expensive, but so are vet bills. I never insured Rusty and Clyde and I think if I'd added up the payments I would have made over the years we were close to breaking even, but our vet often used to treat Clyde for free or meds only when he developed diabetes. Eva's insured!

I know quite a few people who have a bank or savings account and pay so much a month into it just for vet bills, instead of insuring their pets, but of course that doesn't cover third party insurance.

[Grauntie Mag]

So do I Gem. I think he will be on borrowed time otherwise. DD2s husband is furious. Their budget is very tight as it is.
Puss has eaten and taken his antibiotics I understand.

[Oma]

GM life is full of ifs and buts isn't it ,
Poor Puss ,

My DD has all her pets insured but she also puts extra money aside ,

When Storm was just over a year old he had a bug called Gardia its caused by drinking out of puddles and very nasty and hard to treat , can take months ,
She claimed on her pet insurance but they refused to pay up,

When they first got him at 8 weeks old he had a day of vomiting and she took him to the vets , the insurance cited that .!!!

They said because he had previous stomach treatment the insurance was void , even though the Vet wrote to them saying it wasn't connected at all ,
Now she has basic insurance and saves every month in a separate account

Hard expensive lesson to learn for your DD though .

[Mimi]

Grauntie I hope puss makes a full recovery and doesn’t need any more expensive treatments.
Your post has made me think about our cat. We had insurance on her until she reached the age of 10 and then we found out that it was company policy not to insure cats over that age as they are an expensive ‘risk’ to the company!
Through the vets we now pay into a policy they have set up for cats, dogs and rabbits. We pay £9 a month and that pays for one emergency per year, her annual cat flu injection, one annual general health check up and 12 months worth of flea and worming treatment. We also get 10% off any items purchased over the counter at the vets. I worked it out and we save almost £40 a year doing it this way but I dread what would happen if she needed extensive surgery or medication, I doubt we could actually afford it .

[Gemini]

As we have 3 cats, and originally had 4, we have no insurance as it would cost too much. I realise that this may cost us dearly if anyone needs expensive treatment, but paying all that money each money just isn't affordable to us.

[Daisy]

The big con with pet insurance is most companies exclude so many conditions, and more of them as the pet ages. I must have read the small print of dozens of companies when we decided to insure Eva (I've never bothered before). Part of the reason was to get public liability - she's a big strong dog and even if she slightly bumps into someone we could end up with a huge damages claim if that person was so minded. It's a 'for life' policy so although the premiums increase as she gets older everything is still covered. But to get cover for treatment for diseases such as Lepto, Distemper etc she has to have annual injections, which I am not willing to do, and has to have a dental check up every year to maintain cover for dental work.

Gem - it was so expensive to insure two dogs - that's why we didn't insure R & C.

[Grauntie Mag]

We had both our cat and dog insured until they were 10 and never had a claim. Molly the Collie lived until she was 18, and only cost us at the end. The cat is still going strong at 20! We know that she wouldn’t survive a major op or illness.
We are going to babysit tomorrow and DD has asked if we will go early so they can go to the vets tomorrow and get it sorted out. OH is very thorough and has to know the ins and outs of a ducks backside. Pity the vet!

[Glammanana]

The costs of Pets Insurance is over the tops in my opinion they know we will pay these costs to help our beloved pets,we save every month for vets fees for Pops and Oliver.
What I do object to is when either of them are due booster injections every year and Pops needs her kennel cough drops (prior to going to kennels) we have to pay a consultation fee of £18.00
plus the cost of the treatment .

[Qwerty]

Gee whiz that’s an expensive cat she has there, but needs must I know could she maybe pay in instalments ?

[Grauntie Mag]

Yes qwerty, I think she could but would prefer not to. She can pay us instead. 😆 She is so annoyed at herself. As I said, a lesson learned the hard way.

[Libra Gran]

Both of mine are insured,one with petplan and one with Tesco Insurance,we were glad of it when Shiloh was taken ill last summer.But what a hoo ha the claims process is. The liability angle gives me piece of mind especially as the spaniel is a bull at a gate,he has had a lady off her feet once.Luckily she was a young woman and her dog and Shiloh were tearing around like lunatics,he caught the back of her legs and up she went. Embarassed you bet.

[Daisy]

The costs of Pets Insurance is over the tops in my opinion they know we will pay these costs to help our beloved pets,we save every month for vets fees for Pops and Oliver.
What I do object to is when either of them are due booster injections every year and Pops needs her kennel cough drops (prior to going to kennels) we have to pay a consultation fee of £18.00
plus the cost of the treatment .

Glamm some vets suggest only inoculating every 3 years, and there's a large body of opinion (including some very honest vets) who say once a dog has had its puppy injections it should be protected for life (like we are with things like polio jabs etc) Unfortunately some local authorities won't let kennels accept dogs without up to date vaccination certificates. Some LA don't insist on vaccinations and some will accept Titre tests (where you send a swab for analysis to see if your dog has immunity).

GM - how did your DD and SIL get on at the vets? Is her cat feeling better now?

[Grauntie Mag]

Well.....he didn’t want to eat, so nothing much has made its way through as yet. Yesterday she couldn’t get him to take his antibiotics so she gave up. Hey presto, he has started to eat properly! She is guessing the antibiotics made him feel bad. We are hoping he improves over the weekend. OH and DD haven’t been to tackle the money problem yet. OH thought it best to wait until the final visit which will probably be Monday.
I remember my BiL (Dog handler in Prison) saying just the same thing re. the injections Daisy.