to not insure my dog?

[fluffymouse]

She is a mixed breed, her dad is a breed known for being very healthy, and mum a Heinz. Neither have any health problems. She is a small dog too (live longer, healthier from what I hear). She is also a docile little thing, so I have no worries about needing third party insurance as she would never be aggressive. She is also spayed (reduces risk of certain cancers).

I have savings and could afford to pay out for a large vet bill should something unforseen happen.

Insuring her with petplan (the insurers most people recommend) would cost an eye watering 34/month. There would still be a large excess (110).

Wibu not to insure on this basis?

Floundering - it's not just things like being hit by a car that cost a lot.

Things like intermittent lameness can cost thousands because of tests, MRI scans have cost me about £1500 a go. If something doesn't show up on an x-Ray then it's going to cost more as the equipment to do the tests is just so expensive.

Minor keyhole procedures can cost way more than huge operations again because of the more sophisticated equipment.

Referral to a specialist for conditions that may well end up being managed by medication are usually between 1 and 2 thousand pounds.

I'd never want to put myself in a position where I was having to put a pet to sleep because I couldn't afford to investigate a condition that could be easily managed just because I couldn't afford the diagnosis.

fluffymouse - if you can afford big one off vet bills and things like expensive drugs for the rest of your dog's life and your finances are secure enough that circumstances can't change that ever...then yes , you'd probably be ok without insurance.

The parents of our dog were very healthy (apparently ) but we decided to insure him anyway just in case. It cost £50 a month. At just over a year old he started having seizures and was diagnosed as epileptic. He has a few bad nights that involved emergency stays at the vet for sedation. He now has expensive medication that he will need to take for life to keep the seizures under control, and has had an MRI to check for a brain tumour (very expensive!).

He has also had the usual (I presume) doggy ailments. A bout of giardia picked up from a local dog who wasn't treated, a bacterial skin infection etc.

He's 2.5 years old now and we have easily incurred between £15k and £20k of vets fees, which the insurer has paid without fuss.

At our insurance renewal date this year, the amount we pay this month has only gone up very slightly. I know pet insurance is something that might end up not being used, but I really would urge people to consider getting a lifetime policy just in case something unforseen happens.

By lifetime I mean one that won't only pay for an illness/medication until the end of that policy year IYSWIM

Our vet bills have totalled £9500 so far, that includes an op and scans and the dog is 19 months. If you don't insure your dog then you aren't a very responsible dog owner imo

How can she afford £4000 but begrudge £34 a month? Easy. £34 a month is over £400 a year. Say the dog lives 12 years, it would cost £5000 to insure at that rate, or waaay more than that when you factor in the premium increases and excesses on any payouts. Uninsured, yes it might end up costing that much or more in vet fees, but there is a large chance that it won't, and OP will save a large chunk of it by not buying insurance. It has to be cheaper on average not to insure, so if you can afford to pay big bills and understand there's a risk of VERY big bills, as OP does, it is reasonable not to insure on the vet fees front IMO.

Prices do tend to get bumped up abit when they are insured, I find - extra xrays for example. And stuff that our cats do need doing (teeth cleaning) are sometimes excluded from the policy.

I don't know about the 3rd party angle though, we have cats and it's just never occurred to me. And OP I'm not sure about your argument than she is docile and a healthy breed so bad things are unlikely, but as long as you weigh up the risks YANBU. Another option might be the very cheapest insurance you can find, with the biggest excess, to cover the bare minimum and expect to pay out yourself for the rest.

tabula as I said I wouldn't put my dog through anything that required such heavy medical intervention, over the years I have managed never to need to, (and I accept I am lucky and I have had very experienced vets who also are of the minimalist intervention school )but I cannot to insure to that level & not have them pay out as with my friends dog.

shrug as I said a personal choice each to their own but I'm damned if I'm lining the pockets of these vulture pet insurance companies.

As an aside guess which part of the insurance industry has "enjoyed over 25% growth" in the last year? Mainly because the sort of pet owners who take out policies are those who look after their pets well, keep them fit & therefore the risk is minimal and revenues high

Had my mastiff insured then didn't see the point because he was healthy, when he was 7 started having fits and more behavioural issues, £200 just for an x ray plus £60 for 2 weeks of tablets £1200 op too see if there was a stomach tumour (there was) plus numerous other blood tests and medication came to about £4500 in total after having his blood sent off and being referred to a specialist for him to die 3 weeks later of a heart attack. Wish we'd got insurance, what will happen if another unexpected huge bill comes up and dog gets ill. Cat was hit by a car but she has insurance they paid the £1800 for the op! Now all 3 of my dogs have insurance with pet plan which is £85 each but well worth it, I wouldn't take the risk and my mastiff had health tested parents an was KC reg but still got ill you can't prevent these things and both the cats are insured with pet plan aswell as I'm not taking any chances again, and yes if your dog is in pain or feels threatened it will bite even the incredibly sweet ones

All dogs die eventually. If we cared about the dogs rather than our own feelings about them we would put them to sleep at the first major injury or illness.

Even when there is an expensive treatment that will fix things without to much suffering for the dog, we need to be clear that the treatment is for our own benefit, not the dog's. The dog doesn't understand euthanasia, and doesn't fear it.

A long time ago I read that Russians regarded the very idea a doctor for a pet as preposterous, so insurance to cover a pet doctor would looked like absurdity compounded. (I have no idea if this was true, it was probably describing the Soviet era.) I suspect vet insurance is a product that is unheard of in most countries, even today.

erin99 a vet is legally not allowed to add on costs willynilly because an animal is insured. What insurance does do though (as long as it's a decent policy) is give the vet more leeway to practice to gold standard.

If a client came in with a cat and a bad leg, they told us they weren't insured and they had a budget. We'd do what we have to make it comfortable. Nothing more until we had spoken to the owner. Then we'd have to wait longer while the scraped together a few more funds. Then there's the wait as they can afford the OP that will fix said cat. All the while the cat is sat in a cat kennel surrounded by other cats and getting stressed.
Insured owners have the luxury of handing over their pet knowing everything that has the cat's best interests at heart is being done, and being done quickly. That may mean further diagnostics to locate the extent and exact location of the injury.

A more efficient and therefore more costly pain relief. A mild sedative before the anaesthetic to keep stress levels down. A pre anaesthetic blood test to check the liver and kidneys (these process the anaesthetic).

Then once all that has done the cat may need redressing.

An uninsured client may have to stretch out each appointment or just not bother bringing them back.

Insured clients come in when requires and the injury gets redressed and heals up nicely.

My parents had a pet when I was still at school. They could more than afford the vets bills for it. It got very poorly and needed constant trips to the vets for rechecking/further tests/more drugs/further x-rays etc etc etc. it got a point where they refused to pay anymore. It was that they couldn't afford it. They absolutely could. But they saw it as a waste, there was no end to it blah blah blah.

They now have their animals insured and don't give that kind of thing a second thought.

I also wouldn't let my dog have heavy medical intervention. I love my dog like one of my DDs, but she absolutely hates going to the vets to have even having her nails clipped and vaccinations. I wouldn't put her through test after test.

MuttDog is the same, but we have a wonderful vet that, when the mutt got swimmers tail, came out to see her on the way home from work with a bottle of loxicom just in case. Same vet also PTS my friends dog at home because they wanted him to go happy and relaxed, not fearful and frothing.

An MRI is no more invasive than an X-ray though.

Medication added to food for kidney problems are also not invasive, but need scans to get the diagnosis - as do many other easily (for the animal) treated conditions.

What I was trying to say is that how invasive a treatment is for an animal doesn't actually correlate with the cost.

It's anything that uses more expensive equipment or needs a more specialist vet, but they could be things that can be treated or managed with no real impact on the animal's life.

Not treating something because it's too invasive for the animal and not treating because it's too expensive are not the same thing.

I had 2 dogs for 15+ years - I fully insured the Labrador and made a couple of claims but her ongoing skin condition was then excluded. I only had third party insurance for my Jack Russell X and in fact the only time she visited the vet was for her jabs and when she was sadly PTS at 18 years.

The labrador had a skin allergy but the subsequent wording of the exclusion meant that all skin conditions were excluded - so when she had a lump on her foot which needed to be removed they said that they would not pay. I think research is key when choosing an insurance company and it is worth paying a bit more to go with a reputable company who will pay out.

I have 2 new dogs - one is again third party insurance only because he is over 8 years old. The other dog is fully insured because she is a young dog but, because of my previous experience with the labrador, I have made sure that I have gone with a policy that has life time cover. I do have the money to pay for treatment for the uninsured dog should it become necessary.

We have never insured our dog. He is a mongrel and is now 14. He has his yearly boosters. He has had one operation to clean out his ears which was about £125. He had a grass seed stuck in there. We had to take him once for medication when he ate some meat which was too big for him which upset his stomach. That was £50. He has never got out of the house on his own and is on a lead for his walks. If we had paid insurance it would have cost a fortune by now.

My friend though had two wiemerarnars who were insured. They both had various operations that cost over £10k. They were both pts by the time they were 6 on the vets advice.

I think you have to weigh up if you have the money to pay if needed and you do.

My pedigree Labrador is £8 a month with Churchill.
They paid out £1500 when our labradoodle was bitten by another dog.

Exactly tabulahrasa.

Some it's more expensive because technology has made it so the experience is better for the pet. They can now to always laparoscopically, much quicker recovery time and less invasive surgery for the bitch, but costs more.

Keyhole surgery for orthopaedic ops are becoming more common too, but again, it's costs. And all of it is for the benefit of the animal.

I insure, and always would.

My springer is healthy, we've never had to take him to the vet for anything illness-related but he is batshit crazy and in his 6 years he's managed to run up a fairly large vet bill.

Leggings that he'd stolen from the washing basket had to be removed
Fell off the trampoline and broke his leg
Tail amputation (following a million visits to the vet after he kept bashing it up, it ended up badly damaged and infected so took the decision to amputate for his own benefit)
Dew claw removed after he knackered it throwing himself off a sea wall

Plus various other visits

We insure through the company that our vet recommends, the vet claims direct to the insurance company and we just have to pay the £60 excess.

The dog is a law unto himself, he doesn't look before he leaps and I never want to be in the situation where the decisions I have to make for his treatment are based on cost.

I don't insure my 2 dogs and cat but buy an ISA each year as I would draw on if needed. My vets know I will pay to maintain or improve their quality of life but do not want intrusive treatment unless really necessary. My senior dog has occasional bouts of colitis, which means he will cost a bit more but I am prepared to pay.

I'd advise you do insure. However if you don't put the insurance money into an account separate just in case for a couple of years...

I agree, some of you have very expensive vets.

Mum's dog was hit by a car last week. He's broken his hock. Treatment was emergency admission, drip,xray,ctscan of stomach, further xray, painkillers and leg plastered. Total bill £245.
He is seeing the nurse weekly to have bandages changed at a cost of £10 per visit, anticipated to last for the next four weeks.

Previously he's also had an overnight stay for eating things he shouldn't, complete with drip etc. The bill has never exceeded £200 for that.

He is insured at present as he's only fourteen months so it's not a cost that you would weigh up against self insuring.

However if you don't put the insurance money into an account separate just in case for a couple of years...

That's OK if you don't have any large vet bills until you've had a chance to build up a decent amount.

My MiL ended up with a £3K bill when her puppy was 6 months old (needed a heart op). She had to take out a loan.

Mine did £600 at just under a year old

If you choose not to insure then look at something like the Dogs Trust for 3rd party cover. Only £25 a year and helps the charity too.

Dogs Trust Membership

Sorry, I forgot to mention it earlier but I think it's quite an important factor.

Some insurance companies (mainly the better ones) will also pay out for complementary treatments like physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. These are non invasive, highly skilled but most invaluable therapies other the drugs and operations that are helping pets increase their quality of life.

I think those people who have been lucky to get away with having healthy pets as no insurance are just that, lucky. There is always that chance though, and it's heart breaking to see the ones that have been lucky, become lucky. Funnily enough, they never not insure afterwards.

Neither my dog or my horse are now insured. Horse was with Petplan but ended up with so many exclusions it didn't seem worth carrying on for the cost of £40 pm. Equine policies don't do lifetime cover as far as I am aware. My vets do a fixed price surgery for anyone not insured.

Dog was with More than and this years renewal was £45 pm (no claims ever) due to his age everywhere was reasonably expensive for decent cover. So he isn't insured now either. I put away £150 pm to a seperate account but have access to funds elsewhere if needed.

Both have 3rd party cover elsewhere though

I have insurance for my dog. When he was a puppy he fell ill two days after we got him and we had quite hefty (for us) vet bills. I was literally due to get pet insurance the day after (he fell ill over the weekend). Very frustrating.

Anyway we got pet insurance anyway and he hasn't been ill since. I am convinced that if we cancelled the insurance he would fall ill again. :o

If you can afford vet bills then just get 3rd party cover - that really is worth it. If your dog runs out into the road and causes a serious accident then you could be sued for an awful amount, even if he is unharmed. Or if he gets excited and jumps up at someone and they fall and break their arm. Check your home insurance he may already be covered 3rd party under that.