New kitty owners - advice appreciated on insurance/care plan

[MandyFl0ss]

Got a 4 month old girl and a 4 month old boy rescue kittens, they were spayed, neutered and microchipped yesterday. In a week they'll get their last vaccination and then I think they'll start going out in the garden, possibly only with us initially and certainly only during the day for the first few months.

I am reading on pet insurance and care plans but I am a little overwhelmed/confused by it all. Obviously we don't want to spend a fortune, just what's reasonable. Do we need to get both? What would you recommend?

[sashh]

Not much help but I went with Tesco - not used it and hopefully never will, but it was someone on here that recommended it.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Care plan tend to evenly spread the cost of vaccinations, wormers and flea treatments over the year, so make everything you should do into nice even costs.
Insurance you need lifetime cover and at £7000 per condition and I would consider it essential now days.

[MandyFl0ss]

Okay many thanks so does that mean I need to have both?

[Toddlerteaplease]

I'm with tesco. Used it once and very good. My vet offers a monthly health plan but decided that £240 a year for the pair of them was much more than they'd cost of I paid up front at the time. Their booster vaccinations, worming and nail clip cost £60 for the pair of them, so I would never have got my monies worth out of it.

[cexuwaleozbu]

Think carefully about whether you go for a plan that has a claim limit "per condition" or "per year". The per year ones are more expensive but there are plenty of conditions a cat can be diagnosed with which will require ongoing treatment which is expensive but allows an excellent quality of life. With a "per condition" policy the limit can run out far too quickly.

Whatever policy you choose, the premiums will get higher and higher as your cats get older.

[MandyFl0ss]

Okay thank you so pet insurance per year seems to be the best option for now and tesco well worth a look. Anybody else have other sugeestions?

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Harry is insured with Petplan. We have a lifetime policy with £7000 per year claim limit and I pay £21.23 a month. They paid out without a problem earlier this year even though the vet was doubtful they would.

I've recently changed vets and the new one does a care plan for £11.49 a month so I will be signing up to that as well as it includes his vaccinations, flea and worm treatment and six monthly check ups which, as he has dental problems, is quite important for me.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Ps tesco is per year. It renews every year. I pay £14 a month For both my 6 year old princesses with their premium cover.

[iloveeverykindofcat]

Petplan. Been with them for years, made several claims and they've always paid up.

[Allergictoironing]

Insurance covers accidents & illnesses, it doesn't cover "routine maintenance" like vaccinations, flea & worm treatment, routine check ups etc.

Insurance is an absolute "must" as vets bills can be horrendous. Make sure you go with one that has good feedback (there are a few other recent threads on the subject in here), I ended up going with Petplan for my two which most vets seem to like as they will pay the vet directly (bar you excess).

Care plans is something you need to do the maths for - typical annual cost of the regulars at your vets divided by 12 should tell you if it's good value for money. Some people prefer to spread the costs evenly over the year, and some are happy to pay as & when it's needed, but in general a case plan will cost you a little less than the individual elements over a year.

[cozietoesie]

I don't use a vet care plan but only because the periodicity of the worming/fleaing and checking wouldn't fit with my own boy's current needs so I'd likely end up losing money on it. As Allergic said, that's one to do the maths for, I reckon. If I had a younger outside-going cat I'd almost certainly go for it.

[anoldiebutagoody]

We recently went with Petplan and pay £22/£23 per month for 2 kittens (9months and 18 months). We discussed the cover level with the vet and felt that £4,000 lifetime cover each was sufficient.
The most expensive treatments with one off fees tend to be neurological or require long periods of hospitalisation and I didn't think I would want to put my boys through that - it has to be quality of life for them not me.
I also costed out the flea treatment, wormer and booster injections (which you have to have for most insurance policies) and found that paying monthly for the health club worked out the same, so you get the annual health check free.

[Lottielou7]

Petplan is the only one I would ever use because it's the only one most vets will claim directly from. My 1 year old cat has been in hospital since Thursday night (out of hours) and the tests and treatment that she's had so far already total at least £1,500. You just never know when a pet is going to get ill.

[cozietoesie]

PS - I didn't take out any insurance because he was 14 when he came to live with us and, frankly, not expected to make 15. If I had had a younger cat, I definitely would have gone for a policy.