Budgeting for a dog

[EauRouge]

Hello, serial lurker posting.

We're on track for starting our search for a rescue dog later on this year. I've been looking at insurance quotes and trying to figure out a budget and yesterday while I was taking my cat to the vet, I picked up a leaflet about a plan they have to cover routine treatments. To me it sounds like a good deal, what do you experienced dog people think?

For a medium dog it is £11.95 a month and you get vaccinations, worming and flea treatments (12 months worth), two check ups a year, treatment planning (not even sure what this is), dietary advice, and a 10% discount on food and all kinds of non-routine treatments.

And I am a bit at sea with insurance. I realise it's different with dogs because you also need to cover damage or injury to another dog, and not just injury to themselves, is that right? I've been getting some quotes but not really sure what some of the terms mean. What's the difference between time limited and max benefit? I know bog all about insurance. Are there any really bad companies that I should avoid? My cats are insured through Tesco and we've never had any trouble, although we've only had to claim very small amounts.

We're hoping to get a beagle (if the rescue people like us!) if that makes any difference, and it will already be chipped, neutered and vaxed.

Thank you for answering my PFD questions

[EauRouge]

OK, I think I've figured out time limited and max benefit, now I'm just confused between max benefit and lifetime. Is it about renewal? I need lifetime, don't I? I am probably being a bit thick.

[Whoknowswhocares]

Yes you need lifetime. Otherwise at renewal time they will decide to exclude whatever condition/part of the body it was you claimed for forever more!
So your dog might become diabetic and cover will be ok for the year you claim. After that, the insurance company exclude it and leave you to cover the bills.

[fubbsy]

There is a good explanation of the issues with pet insurance on the Money Saving Expert web site.

And yes you do need cover for damage or injury to another dog, as well as cover for injury or damage to another person or their property. You are legally liable for what your dog does in a way that you are not for cats or other animals.

That routine cover thing sounds like an ok deal to me. I pay about that for annual check up, vaccinations, flea treament and worming tablets. You wouldn't necessarily save money, but it might be a way of spreading the costs.

[EauRouge]

Yes, the idea of spreading the cost appeals to me!

Thanks for the tips on insurance, I'll have a look at the money saving expert link later on when the DDs are in bed.

[topbannana]

The pet health thing is a good way to spread the costs but not (IMO) the best deal if money is an issue. GingerDog and TopCat are on it which I around £25 a month. I get the vaccinations included but generally only use one health check at booster time- particularly with TopCat I can't see any point lugging a perfectly healthy animal to the vet for the sake of it (I don't visit the Dr when I am we'll after all!)
Worm treatments are great as I do try and carry them out regularly but I, along with most of the pet owning population do not flea treat my animals every month without fail. I would say that I would normally use 9-10 flea treatments a year as we are thankfully not particularly prone to fleas. This means I have 2-3 treatments left over in the cupboard every year.
TBH I prefer to do it as I find it a good way to spread the cost (you can guarantee all my flea treatments would need replacing at the same time as worm tablets were due!) The other plus point is along with the insurance the promised 10% off treatment has meant we are experiencing the longest run of good health for a long time :o

[EauRouge]

How much does it cost to worm your dogs? I get my cats' worming meds online and it only works out around £15 a year for the pair of them, I expect a dog will be more though. I don't treat my cats for fleas, they don't seem to get them. I need to treat for ticks too, don't I? Just realised this isn't covered in the payment plan.

I am tempted to gamble with the 10% discount thing too

Thanks for your help!

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I pay about £11 per month for worming as I us advocate which I believe is the only licensed protection against lungworm. I the plan includes the more expensive wormers then it is good value.

I have a £10 plan at our vets but it doesn't cover wormers. It does vacs, nurse clinics, bi annual health check, 10% disc on neutering and some meds and unlimited vets consutations. We only took it out a month ago and dog has got an ear infection meaning a visit last weekend and another this week. That would have been £50 for two consultations!

We have insurance with tesco extra paying just under £14 for £4000 per condition with £60 excess.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

oh and advocate is a flea and worm treatment, so no frontline required but has a tapeworm pill every fee months.

[EauRouge]

Fantastic, thanks for the info. I will ask which worming it covers. I'd heard about lungworm but didn't know there was only one kind of protection.