Insurance companies tend to limit the amount you can claim per illness, ours is £1000 per condition. We have tried to increase this with no success. We have since taken out a second and additional policy with a higher limit as he is now 12yrs old. The original policy will cover existing issues upto £1000, the new one ,anything that may come up now up to £2500. All of which require you to pay the vet in full first and then claim back. Our monthly total cat insurances DD's are £60 pm. More than my car insurance and wifi combined!
We rescued a cat 6 yrs ago, when he was 6 yrs old. When we got him from a ( well respected no issues there ) rescue we paid £160 for him. He is a Maine Coon. He had been micro chipped and had had first vacs and had been checked over by a vet. We had our home visit and rescue affordability checks etc. When we finally got him home , after checks, we then had to arrange/pay for second vacs. No issue.....
When we took him with his book to our own vets , he had his second vacs no issue. But, he also was then found to need 4 teeth removing, which fell outside the initial 4 weeks insurance we were given and , too early to make a claim on on our own new insurance. It cost me over £480 6 yrs ago!!!
Our cat then immediately went on to have multiple painful ulcerated anal gland issues over 6 mths ( that were not disclosed by prev owner and rescue where unaware) that resulted in multiple antibiotics and vets visits that were never covered by insurance as, costs were always just under our excess, £58.20, £59.80, £62.80, etc. In the end our boy had to have surgery for an anal gland flush ( which we did receive a part insurance pay out for in the end , but only 8 weeks after we had had to paid in full, £520, for his surgery at the time it was carried out. ) All in all and over 6 yrs i have had to pay out approx £1000 that i was never able to claim back. I have had cats before and i know they are not cheap to own. I took on our boy ( my dc's really wanted him) knowing full well what may be involved, cost wise.
He is our boy and we love him dearly but he is somewhat high maintenance in terms of cost and , i am lucky that i have had funds there to pay for his care. I have put extra funds aside for him as he is 12 now. I am financially planning for his old age and not my own.
He also had, what we know now is a benign tumour, last yr that again i paid in full for first . The sedation, the exploratory surgery and tumour removal and lab feed, i had to pay in full first. I managed to claim a proportion of that back but, it was paid out 7 weeks later. He is old and i am putting more money aside in readiness now.
Animals are not cheap to own and there will always be a gap in what insurance will eventually pay and what responsible owners are expected to cover. I do not think some really appreciate the coats of animals.