Will insurance pay this?

[NotOneThingbutAnother]

My dog is 4, a couple of months ago I took out a new insurance policy as the old one was becoming expensive. Got a reasonable deal about £11 a month.

Few weeks later, my dog got diahorrea. Cracked onto the chicken and rice, no luck. I fed him C&R for 3 weeks, it didn't help much at all. So of course I took him to a vet - I chose a new vet which came highly recommended. They tried some prescription food and anti-bios, it worked initially then the problem came back. Took him back today and was in there over an hour - the head vet said he'd need a full suite of blood and faecal tests and 4 different medications. well over £500. I came out in utter shock - I mean the dog looks fine its just he keeps pooing slime.

I've never claimed on insurance before; the vet seemed to think it odd that I wanted to call them to check first, and sure enough when I rang they said no problem - we'll let you know in 2 weeks if we'll cover you. So two problems - first of all, new vet says time is of the essence, so wants me to incur all these costs and then if I get it back hurrah and if not, tough.

second problem. Claim form asks for his previous vets. The only time he went there was when we picked him up 4 years ago and guess what he had - diahorrea. So now I think that even though it was 4+ years ago, they are still going to get out of it by saying its a pre-existing condition. What do doghousers think?

Totally depressed. Oh and the dog has to eat rabbit but they closed our waitrose months ago ….!!! (don't know what I'm so cheerful about)

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

It's normally 28 days from start of cover for illness I think :(

[Dinnaeknowshitfromclay]

They should cover you. Most pet insurances cover anything apart from neutering, vaccinations, anything related to breeding and any pre excluded conditions. You will have an excess to pay normally.
You can do a claim and then a 'continuation' if circumstances dictate. So you can get the money in dribs and drabs if it's an ongoing condition. The vet will probably sign to say the two episodes of diarrhoea are not linked. Most claim forms have a space for this.
Is the dog a German Shepherd or a GSD cross by any chance?
You can get frozen rabbit dinner in the freezer section of good pets shops.
Best of luck.

[Dinnaeknowshitfromclay]

They should cover you. Most pet insurances cover anything apart from neutering, vaccinations, anything related to breeding and any pre excluded conditions. You will have an excess to pay normally.
You can do a claim and then a 'continuation' if circumstances dictate. So you can get the money in dribs and drabs if it's an ongoing condition. The vet will probably sign to say the two episodes of diarrhoea are not linked. Most claim forms have a space for this.
Is the dog a German Shepherd or a GSD cross by any chance?
You can get frozen rabbit dinner in the freezer section of good pets shops.
Best of luck.

[Dinnaeknowshitfromclay]

Soz ! Also...have you tried giving him friendly bacteria? Especially since the antibiotics. You can get it from the vet. Don't be giving him Actimel. It comes in a little sachet. It stinks as it is made from the freeze dried stomach contents of cattle but it will re-populate his gut with the appropriate 'friendlies', A sachet should be about 2 or 3 quid and you only need a pinch on every meal for about a week and it should help enormously.

[scratchandsniff]

Not insurance related but my parents dog kept getting bouts of diarrhoea, slimy like you mentioned. Turned out after several tests he had campylobacter.

[scratchandsniff]

Also campylobacter is resistant to a lot of antibiotics.

[ClaimedByMe]

Jeez that vet seen you coming!! What does he normally eat? When my mums dog with tummy issues is unwell she was told by the vet to give him tinned chappie, it binds their stomachs, also agree with scratchandsniff about the campylobacter, quite common in dogs but resistant to a lot of antibiotics!

£500 for the medications and blood/poo tests? do they give you a breakdown on your receipt? We were less than that for an eye removal, 2 biopsy tests, much medication and a cone of shame!!

I would like to think that your insurance would pay out, I have never known anyone have a problem getting a payout.

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

Sorry, rereading I see you have had the new insurance for a couple of months

[NotOneThingbutAnother]

Scratch he is being tested/treated for campylobacter as well. Can I just say I've posted a similar but very potted history on my Facebook page having a moan and people are actually coming on telling me that there is no need for this at all as dogs with bad stomachs simply need chicken and rice.

Gosh. Now why didn't I think of that.

Anyway, never mind them. Claimed this is what I am worried about as its a new vet - I hardly ever take my dog anyway, this is precisely the sort of thing I worry about; I have no idea about dog health so he could tell me he needs gold-plated chews and I'd believe him.

[OneDayWhenIGrowUp]

Just to say (as a vet) that £500 for thorough blood/faecal testing & long course of medications is not too crazy, especially if large dog/more expensive parts of the country. Do double check your insurance small print though, some cheaper policies will worm out of paying for parts of lab tests or have a cap on the amount they will pay for. For example they'll pay for the cost of the tests themselves but not the associated costs (handling fees or professional fees).

Hope they can get to the bottom of it (no pun intended) soon for you.

[Floralnomad]

A dog with slimy diarrhoea for 3+ weeks needs a diagnosis ,not to just be fed chicken and rice - would you put up with having diarrhoea for 3 weeks without seeing a dr . It's not unusual for you to pay the vet and then claim the money back ,that's how lots of vets work ,especially with new clients .

[NotOneThingbutAnother]

Flora I took the dog to the vet for a diagnosis when he'd had it for 3+ weeks so I don't know what you mean? They didn't know what it was, so is the 2nd time I've taken him.

I can't pay the vet everything he's asking for, I don't have £500+ although I paid £100 for the initial tablets and consultation, and now my insurers have said they will look at the claim and confirm one way or another within 2-3 weeks. So if I start these investigations now, I could well stand to receive a bill for £500+ in a few weeks time - there is no guarantee the insurers will pay up.

This is my first experience of trying to claim. So again, I'm not sure what you mean by I "pay the vet and then claim back" and that's "not unusual". I should imagine if you don't have the money and have no guarantee of getting it refunded, then paying up without looking into it would be fairly unusual not to say foolish?

I'm none the wiser today, so I think all I can do is pay my previous vet for a second opinion - that'll cost me £30. Thank you OneDay - that is useful to know.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Notone firstly to those on Facebook you need to point out that chicken and rice hasn't worked so you need to try something else. There is nothing wrong with asking for a stepwise approach to investigating this rather than the whole nine yards up front. You should be able to get a three day pooled faecal sample ( collect a teaspoon of poo everyday for three days) checked for giardia, salmonella, campylobacter and worm eggs for less £100. Around 70% of cases I see like your dog have giardia so that would be the first step, we are seeing a fair amount of campylobacter at the moment too. Only about 3% of chronic diarrhoea cases that I see need blood samples to investigate the cause of their diarrhoea.
If your dog has giardia it can be a tricky little blighted to treat and may need repeat courses of medication.
As for you insurance whether they decide that a single bout of diarrhoea four years ago is connected to the persistent diarrhoea now is tricky am honest company will acknowledge they are not connected though there are a few less than honest companies out there who will exclude anything they can.

[Floralnomad]

What I meant was you should have taken the dog sooner than 3 weeks and I can understand that you want to keep the costs down but my point was that a lot of vets will not wait for payment from insurance companies so if you cannot pay upfront then you need to look at what treatment you can afford .

[NotOneThingbutAnother]

Thanks everyone. Flora I see what you mean now. I have to say every day I thought oh he's better now, then the next day he wasn't!

Lonecat have spoken to my insurers' helpline - really good discussion - and the claims dept. again. They have all agreed with what you said, that it should be done step by step not throw every test in the book and all the drugs at the dog all at once. Also an important point, my dog doesn't really have diarrhoea because that word means constantly needing to go and passing liquid yucky stuff (as he did when he was a puppy), whereas mine goes once or twice a day and then has trouble getting poo out, then when it does come out it is sometimes liquid. so its actually a gastrointestinal problem.

Vet has now agreed to stagger treatment but unbeknown to me, whilst I was at work yesterday they rang my insurers, traced me (they didn't have policy number they did it on my name and address) and asked my insurers to pay them direct for all the tests!! Erm, so now does anyone think I was right to be concerned about vet?!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Hmm it is yours, the clients decision to proceed with investigation and treatment not the vets and insurance company. I would never, ever approach an insurance company with out my clients consent to discuss the case. I hesitate to criticise other vets, but this strikes me as an excessive concern with the bottom line.
Diarrhoea can have two formats increase frequency, increased volume or normal frequency, normal volume, but not formed. The type can help identify the source. Yours sounds more like small intestinal diarrhoea, but it is not absolute.

[NotOneThingbutAnother]

Many thanks Lonecat. Maybe they thought they were being helpful

Bottom line - no pun as they say - the insurance company have now agreed to cover everything. Dog must return to vets on Monday to complete tests, I am collecting poo (!) and struggling with all the tablets he has to have, tube of pasty stuff etc.

He looks a bit fed up to be honest, now being fed on boiled white fish and brown rice as he hated the rabbit (which the vet insisted we give him). I hope he picks up soon - poo is now solid due to tube of pasty stuff but I think we haven't found the underlying problem.

Appreciate everyone's advice many thanks.