Pet Insurance.

[sniper-sam]

So it's up for renewal again at the start of next month. More Than are looking £35 for this coming year, now when I go onto compare the market I can get a decent policy, with More Than funny enough for £17.
im just wondering though is it really worth me renewing again? I've had my little Cavalier for 12 years, which I believe is a good innings for this breed, and I just feel that the next thing will be death with her, to put it bluntly. She has a heart murmur, which she has had for probably the last 6 years, which has got worse over the years but doesn't really affect her everyday life. The vet has told us at this stage heart tablets would help but because she is such an old dog it wouldn't prolong her life by much, as I've said the murmur isn't really affecting her anyway.
the last thing I want is for you all to be thinking I'm tight, or don't love the wee dog because I do. It's just with our first born due in a couple of months we are trying to tighten the belts etc, and looking at various ways to save etc.
just looking everyone's thoughts on this, should I continue with the insurance as I have done the last 12 years or just bin it. And heaven forbid any vet bills required just foot the bill.
Thanks

[justin44]

We had two ragdoll cats and a cocker spaniel to insure them all each would cost a fortune so we took the decision to just put the money away each month. So far one cat is 14 the dog is 7 and the other cat passed away aged 15 total vets bills over the combined 36 years was just short of £1000 so at present I'd say we ahead. This only works if you have the money put away, the thought of any of them falling ill and me not having the money for a vet!

One abutment is at your dogs age now is when you are likely to get problems but as you say would it just be the right time and decent thing to do at that point to just say good bye.

This is one of those things only you can decide, me if I'd had insurance up to now and I could still afford it then I'd carry it on.

[Iceblue]

Omg don't speak to me about pet insurance

I pay £25 each for the Premuim cover at m&s and am I glad I do , last year one of my dogs had problems with her legs and £12000 yes twelve thousand pounds later she made a full recovery and the insurance paid the lot ,

So my moto is if can pay for premuim get it hopefully you will never need to claim but if you do then your covered

The cover has now gone up to £40 each per dog a month but I am covered if any thing happens and I known it's expensive but I can rest easy to no they will be ok if anything happens

But I fully understand you thoughts on the insurance at a pets grand age of 12.years young

[100thmonkey]

Currently paying close to £160 a month for 2 older dogs. It certainly shoots up past 11 years old

[Saint-Just]

Hard choice to make for an old dog.

The question really is not if you can afford to get insurance, but rather whether you can afford not to.
Sure, any significant deterioration would lead you to do the humane thing. But supposed she developed diabetes, or any other condition requiring (expensive) treatment for a year, or 2, your dog living a perfectly normal life when treated?
At the moment you are saying 'if she needs the vet, it will be to put her to sleep.
Such may not be the case, and I know I'd rather spend the £17 /month, and I am far from being wealthy (for the record, I pay £35/month with petplan)

[rage]

This can be a mindfield, some companies exclude pre existing conditions so changing at a late stage may not help either, I'm with petplan due to reading the small print with some other companies

[hhhh]

One abutment is at your dogs age now is when you are likely to get problems but as you say would it just be the right time and decent thing to do at that point to just say good bye.

Even doing the decent thing when the time comes is expensive. Worth a policy either way.

[sniper-sam]

Sorry, late gettng back, long drive back from Wexford.
on reflection I think I'll keep it going. Looking at the policy, they actually pay for the cremation and putting her to sleep should the time come so I guess it's the best thing to do. Get another policy.

thanks everyone.

[itsgotournameonit]

Sam.I hope that it wont be needed for a while yet.

[Fschwep]

We have no insurance. With 6 cats we'd go broke (at about 20 euros per month per cat for a mid-range coverage and still having to pay most of the regular stuff ourselves). They are all sterilized (save one female who is still too feral to take her to the vet; she gets the pill). They all get deworming meds and (as far as we can take them to the vet) vaccinations. If we hadn't adopted them when we did, they would have died from disease, cold, starvation or injuries. Now they have a loving home, cuddle about two hours per cat per day, sleep in our bed and eat from our plates. And they can still go out anytime they want (and do) as they have their own mini front door. So they are way ahead as it is. ;-)
Once you are talking about large numbers of animals and the long run, the insurance company always wins. Of course they do or they wouldn't stay in business.

[bloater]

One of our springers passed away last week aged 14 last time he went to the vets for anything other than his jabs was to be done, his brother is still plodding on (just) and is in the same boat when it comes to vet trips.
Our cat is now 8 and had a problem when we adopted him which means most policies wouldn't be much use as they wouldn't cover his known medical problems, in the 5 years we have had him he has cost us £350 most of that was the out of hours vets charge.

It's always a gamble like any insurance as to it's worth, we've never taken it out and nor have my parents who have always had at least one dog.
My grandparents had it but had problems in that it wouldn't cover the full ongoing costs or something or other, so do read the small print.

[sniper-sam]

In all the years that I've owned her ive needed to use insurance only once and that was for a worn out knee joint, or something like that. Needed operated on obviously and hinged so to speak. That was about 5 years ago maybe and from memory it cost about £600.
I dread to think what I've actually spent on insurance, it's a gamble though.

[Neil.C]

Always insured our dogs.

My last little darling broke her leg in a couple of places which came to over £1600 about twelve years ago.

She then had lungworm which necessitated a weeks stay in a pet hospital and a thousand pound bill.

Although we could have saved the money and probably have been better off I always imagine what it would be like if your dog got run over or something and needed ten grands worth of life saving op's.

It would put you in a very invidious position. So in that respect insurance gives peace of mind.

[hobbsy]

About a year ago i gave up with the insurance costs, for my 12yr old parsons terrier. I found it difficult to find a company that would even insure a dog of this age. I cant remember the exact figures but they wanted something like £25 a month, plus a excess of around £150 payable for each treatment, plus anything around 20 to 25 percent of the total cost of any treatment. Just put money in bank now to cover any problems. IMO they are rip off merchants.