Cat insurance

[RosiePosiePing]

Can you talk to me about insurance? We have rehomed a 12/month old cat. She's chipped, neutered and had a vet check all OK.

Do I need any? If so what sort?

Thanks

[MyCatLovesMeSometimes]

Pet insurance is good if you can't afford to pay out for a large sum if they have an accident/medical condition. If you can afford to pay out then you have to weigh up how much you pay in over the years as opposed to claims made.

I swear by the cat insurance as our cat has ongoing kidney condition for the rest of her life which £30 a month tablets, plus injections every other month. Plus the initial £700 call out from emergency vet, drip etc.

We've also had other emergencies such as wasp sting in the mouth and cystitis.

We're with pet plan which has whole life cover aka they'll pay for a condition for the rest of the pet's life rather than just the rest of the insurance term (the year).

[RubbishMantra]

I too have Petplan whole of life cover. About £18 per month I think. Watch out for the cheaper ones that don't offer the whole of life policy.

[MyCatLovesMeSometimes]

Only downside to pet plan is that the excess has gone up considerably since cat turned 11 (I think it was) excess now £100 plus 10%. But it's still better than not when you have an expensive ongoing condition.

[RubbishMantra]

Crikey, I didn't know that Mycat, I thought excess was about £60. must start actually reading stuff before chucking in desk and I've never made a claim . Maybe I'll switch. I wonder if anyone has any other recommendations?

[ImAMonkeyMess]

Our young cat came home yesterday in a lot of pain and we are currently awaiting a treatment plan and estimate to fix his fractured leg. Vet is talking about needing to refer to a specialist clinic if our usual place can't do the work. With a baby due next month and a house move on the cards I really don't know if and how we will handle a possible four figure bill. Already we're looking at 500 or so for his xray and while he is kept comfy at the clinic over the bank hol (we have to wait for a call from a surgeon on Tuesday).

Very much wish we'd insured him now but having owned cats all my life and not experienced any large costs, I was lazy in getting around to it. Lesson learned.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

We adopted two one year old cats last year and found there was a lot of variation in cost for essentially the same cover. There are different levels of cover, but within a level they seemed to be similar across most insurers. We ended up with Argos in the end. Definitely worth checking cashback websites too, you can get quite good rates on these products.

[Blithereens]

Yes, get it! It's saved me literally thousands over the years. If your cat is young and healthy it won't be too much. Mine is £12 per month for a healthy cat with a £50 excess.

[RubbishMantra]

Blithereens can you say who your insurers are? That's a much better deal than I currently have.

[strawberrypenguin]

Yep you need it. Saved me a lot of money recently! I'm with Tesco who were actually great to deal with. Costs about £16 a month with £50 excess.

[Blithereens]

I get mine through Tesco too! It's slightly more for my other, poorly cat but not that much and they have always, always paid out for her myriad health problems without upping the price for my healthy cat :)

[werekitty]

My cat had lymphoma, she was pts last year but if I hadn't insured her with Sainsburys then I would have had to have her pts in 2010. The treatment which included chemo, xrays etc cost over 4500! My new cat is insured and costs 10 a month, would definitely recommend insurance.