Vet monthly premium

[MakeItRain]

When I got my cats I joined the "kitten club" at the local vet. This covered jabs, flea and worm treatment, and a 10% discount on all vet appointments. This sneakily turned into "the healthy cat club" when they were 1, and the direct debit carried on. Of course they assure me that this makes it cheaper for me in the long run. It's about £22 a month for both. I also have separate insurance.

Does anyone else do this, or does it sound like a bit of a rip off? I'm not really sure what the cost of buying flea treatment and yearly jabs would work out as?

Any advice/comments?

[cozietoesie]

So £11 a month each is that right?

[MakeItRain]

Yes, that's right

[Catzpyjamas]

Pyjamacat's annual booster is £50, monthly flea and worm treatment is around £8 so that averages out to about the same as you are paying I think. Just make sure you are collecting and using the parasite treatments as that is where most owners lose out because they forget these even though they're paying for them. Insurance doesn't usually cover vaccines or parasite treatments anyway but you should keep it going for any other treatments.

[cozietoesie]

It actually sounds about right to me if you had reasonably young, outside going cats. My own personal boy is an indoor cat with no contact (usually) with other animals and so elderly that he gave up hunting a long time ago - so he isn't dosed for fleas and worms to the same schedule as a younger and more active/hunting cat would be.

On the other hand, he has more vet visits so that 10% off would come in handy.

I doubt they make much out of it - if anything at all - if you keep to the fleaing and worming schedule as you should.

[YouCantCallMeBetty]

We pay about £50 a month for 3 cats (I know, ouch, but the furry little sods are worth it). That covers six monthly check ups & jabs, all flea & worm stuff and 10% off any meds or treatment. Ours are all getting on a bit now so I do think it's worth it but it does sting a bit to say the amount out loud.

[cozietoesie]

If they're getting on a bit, you'd probably have been wanting to have them checked more frequently than annually anyway though?

(Yes - it's a lot when you say it out loud.)

[MakeItRain]

Thanks for all the replies. I won't cancel then! They're only 2 and a half. One an indoor (mostly) cat, and one a little adventurer, and both have needed the vet occasionally.

[cozietoesie]

I seem to recall Lone talking once about injuries to indoor cats that had presented at her practice - with particular reference to legs trapped behind radiators. In any case, they're not immune to injury.

[lljkk]

My monthly flea-worm treatment is £5 and the jab is £42 every 14 months (so annual cost ~96 compared to OP's £121).
I paid £500 for 1cat problem in last 3 yrs (4 extra appointments), so I guess 10% might have saved £5-£50 over the 3 yrs (depends what the 10% discount really means, I don't think it covers actual treatment cost).

On that basis, £11/month per cat on top of other insurance would be higher cost for us.

[cozietoesie]

It's difficult, isn't it? There are such huge variations in vet prices by region and by practice. I live in a very mixed income area and the vet practice is always careful to charge .......appropriately. The figures quoted by the OP don't sound OTT to me ?