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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think pet insurance for a cat is unnecessary?

80 replies

livinginhope · 09/10/2010 13:37

I'm thinking if getting a cat. We always had one when I was growing up and it seemed a straightforward and not too expensive pet to have (and we loved them too). But now it seems you have to buy pet insurance at £100 plus per year, as well as paying for their annual jabs and for neutering.

Is this insurance really necessary? Do cats regularly get diseases requiring £££££ of vet fees, and if they do, don't people have them (ahem) "pit down" anymore. Surely that's what happens with rabbits and guinea pigs and so on?

AIBU or is it OK to have a cat and nopet insurance?

OP posts:
burgandy · 09/10/2010 13:38

Our cat is insured because I don't want to have to kill a living creature because I don't want to pay our £££.

I am sure however lots of people have cats without insurance.

DaisySteiner · 09/10/2010 13:39

YABU. My cat got knocked down and it cost about 1000 quid in vets fees - that was about 7 years ago too. Shop around for insurance, we don't pay anything like 100 pounds a year.

Meglet · 09/10/2010 13:39

YABU. They cost a fortune when they get ill or get hit by a car. My Dad used to spend £££ every month on pills for his cats kidneys. The cat carried on for years while he was on meds.

Even my rabbit cost me £££££ when she needed an op.

If I had a big pet I would get it insured.

RandomMusings · 09/10/2010 13:41

's okay not to have insurance BUT your much loved family pet may cost you a small fortune

[bitter]

Original poster
livinginhope · 09/10/2010 13:41

Ok sounds like IABU then! Just wondering how long before people will be insuring gerbils and stick insects though!

OP posts:
deaddei · 09/10/2010 13:42

We don't have pet insurance- but then I've only taken her to the vets once in 4 years.
I actually would have the cat put down if it was going to be on permanent meds/have a poor quality of life.

MisSalLaneous · 09/10/2010 13:44

Vets are extremely expensive (fair enough really, as their training is long and expensive too). Without sounding rude, I honestly feel if you can't afford the vet's fees straight out or alternatively the insurance to cover eventualities, you should perhaps get a hamster / another animal with a shorter life span. Or perhaps not an animal at all really.

We chose not to take out insurance, but still pay roughly £100 per cat (have 2 as we work) per year for vet's visits, jabs, flea treatments etc, so you cannot be a responsible owner and disregard the costs that would go with it.

overthemill · 09/10/2010 13:44

i spent £000 on beloved dog this summer which most of got paid back by insurance. Dog's purchase price was £650.

But have had two rabbits treated but sadly still die this year - total of £250 not insured and they cost £35 between them.

I think it depends, for us anyway, on purchase price and balance of likelihood, we don't insure any of our 'small' pets - inc the stick insects!

Prolesworth · 09/10/2010 13:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Quattrocento · 09/10/2010 13:44

DH was of your mindset, and cancelled the pet insurance on the cats. Independently and without any consultation, because he knew I'd object.

Three days later, one of them climbed the balustrade and fell off. Total vets bill for repair of broken leg was around £1300. I made DH pay for it himself.

We've always maintained cat insurance since then.

overthemill · 09/10/2010 13:44

£1000 on dog...

overthemill · 09/10/2010 13:46

my friend doesn't insure anything but sticks £35 away each month into a saving account for vet's fees. She's not been out of pocket yet, numerous small animals and two dogs

NorbertDentressangle · 09/10/2010 13:46

We don't have insurance for our cat.

We've had her for 15 years though so when we got her pet insurance wasn't such big business or promoted the way it is now IYSWIM. She's very much a home cat who has rarely ventured beyond the garden so it never really crossed our minds to insure her. She's now of the age where she's probably too old to insure?

Our neighbour has her cat insured -just as well as when he got knocked down by a car it cost £1200-1500 for 2 ops and follow-up care Shock

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 09/10/2010 13:47

It's up to you really.

We don't have our cats insured but we are realistic that we may have to pay a horrendous amount on vets fees at some point.

We're also agreed about the level of medical intervention we would choose to keep our cats alive, ie we would pay for ongoing kidney medication if it meant the cat would still have a great quality of life. However if it was in a rta we would not pay for it's back legs to be replaced by one of those frames with wheels. Extreme examples I know, but you probably get my point Grin

Original poster
livinginhope · 09/10/2010 13:47

OK I get it!

OP posts:
Prolesworth · 09/10/2010 13:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

prettybird · 09/10/2010 13:48

Sign up to quidco.com and you can get cashback on your pet insurance (for example £40 from Sainsbury's)

fanjolina · 09/10/2010 13:50

My sister thought the same then her cat got cancer. She spent all her savings (more than £3k) on vets bill then had to have him put down as she simply couldnt afford the treatment any more.

For less than a tenner a month I think its worth it.

HRHCavey · 09/10/2010 13:54

We pay about £7 per month for our 4yr old cat with RSPCA insurance. It's nothing really and gives peace of mind should anything go wrong.

TattyDevine · 09/10/2010 13:58

Get one that gives them cover for life - Petplan for instance - so if, for instance, they are diabetic, you dont just get money back for the diagnostic process but the treatment for the rest of their life. Tesco and the like dont always cover continuously yet you still pay.

As for putting down, even if you can feel a little detached, if your children become very attached to the pet, and cats can sometimes "give" more than guinea pigs and the like, then they will hate you forever if you dont get the life-saving operation etc...

spanieleyes · 09/10/2010 14:09

A simple grass seed in the paw of my dog cost me £750 in vets fees for the operation and aftercare he needed, or would have done without the pet insurance. Both my cat and dog are insured, although in 13 years I've never used the cat insurance. However that's the luck of the draw!

Goblinchild · 09/10/2010 14:12

'don't people have them (ahem) "put down" anymore.'

That's your answer OP, you can have a cat without insurance by all means, provided you are prepared to kill it if it becomes sick or injured. The majority of owners aren't.
Ours is insured, never claimed but that's good in my eyes.

peggotty · 09/10/2010 14:14

YABU and I think your attitude is a bit crappy tbh.

greaseistheword · 09/10/2010 14:17

we have a cat with no insurance. he got ill with cystitis and we lost our holiday as the bill came to over £1000 and now he is on tablets for life and special expensive food.

salizchap · 09/10/2010 14:20

Totally up to you OP.

I have a juvenile cat. She is lovely, and I know it would break my heart if anything happened to her. I also live on a low income, so any large unforseen bills would be beyond my ability to pay. I made the decision that it would be unfair to get a pet like a cat or dog without insurance. We pay about £6 a month with the PDSA.

If you could afford to pay any one-off big bills, then it's not necessary.

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