should i walk away

[Fifer2020]

hi folks

am about to get a puppy next week however this is the story

its had diarrhoea and the breeder , who is a very good breeder, took them to the vet and they have had a load of tests . The tests all came back fine , however they were given treatment as preventative, antibiotics etc. The vet thinks it was the food and possible colitis

when I go to take out insurance, petplan, I think this will end up with me not fully covered. I cant afford to have the uncertainty of how much is the pup going to cost me hanging over me . On the other had they might insure me fully
I phoned them and they cant tell me until I take out the insurance and get vets report which they would process then tell me about exclusions

its a lovely pup from a good breeder, however with the risk of no insurance for stomach issues is it a walk away job

its not the being unwell as pups have sensitive stomachs its the not being insured risk that I am not sure I want to take .

any thoughts

Have they requested the vets report, and his long from when they get it until they can give you an answer. If the version you have been told is accurate, I doubt very much there would be any reason to deny or restrict cover.

Lots of puppies get diarrhoea or vomiting in the early weeks, and it doesn't appear to have any impact on long term insurability

I can’t comment on your pup, but mine had awful diarrhoea for weeks after I collected him.
He’s ten this year.
Keep in mind any dog can get sick etc and your insurance will go increase year on year to astronomical amounts in the end. Plus there will be certain limitations/exclusions depending what happens with each illness/claim.
Animals are like us, they develop conditions as they get older, they break legs etc. They’re not cheap.
Personally I save the money I’d pay in each month and use it when things go wrong.
Mine tore his knee and though the insurance covered it, it excluded all future tears or breaks. My premiums increased to £60 a month too.

they are still getting tests done at the breeders request but everything is coming back clear .

the breeder is taking on the first insurance then it gets passed to me . I have asked her to contact petplan to see if there is any exclusions.

if there is and the vet says colitis is this a big deal cost wise for the future

Personally I save the money I’d pay in each month and use it when things go wrong.

This is fine if you have £8k++ in the bank that you wouldn't mind using on DDog's medical care. If, however, you would need time to save up that sort of capital, then it's not a good plan - what happens if the dog breaks its leg in the first few months?

I've had DDog 3.5 years now (he's age about 4.5), and pay £29/month. Even if I'd put all that money in the bank, I'd still only have £1218, which wouldn't go very far if the shit hit the fan.

It's a sensible practice if you're wealthy / don't mind gambling on the vets fees / have an elderly dog where major medical intervention wouldn't be fair, but not otherwise.

I also prefer not having to worry about the vets fees (and I say this as someone who doesn't have contents insurance - you can see where my priorities lie).

I know similar thing happened to someone I know and there was an exclusion for all stomach issues for the first 6 months. After 6 months with no further problems the exclusion was lifted.

But my puppy had lots of episodes of diarrhoea in the first months he was with us and needed vet treatment. This then turned more serious but fortunately he was covered as the first episode was around 1 month after we had taken out insurance so fully covered. Which was a good job as we ended up claiming many thousands for his 'stomach problems' in the first two years.

If they have intractable diarrhea, then I'd walk away unless you are prepared to manage it long term.

I’m not sure how much I believe that a vet would give antibiotics just in case.
How do you know they’re a good breeder?
Is it a breed issue? Some breeds do seem more sensitive tummy wise.

Having just made claims for our dogs recently I think you need to consider what future issues you can pay for. There are many health problems that aren’t covered as standard such as issues with old age. What is your plan to cover vets bills that aren’t covered by insurance?

I wouldn't take on a puppy that was unwell before I'd even brought it home, I'm afraid. Mine had three "health checks" the vet before we brought him home and every time he had a clean bill of health. I wouldn't accept anything less, tbh.

Can you afford to pay for a lifetime of stomach issues if you end up not being covered by insurance? Vets bills can very quickly run into thousands of pounds.

thanks so much , my heart is invested in him , I have chosen him and watched him grow up

my head says walk away , hes 10 weeks old and had mites which needed treatment and baths and now diarrhoea for two weeks.

the breeder has had loads of tests done and wants to know what is wrong as much as I do .Everything so far is okay and its at present putting it down to food and colitis

Sorry, you mean they had mange? No way a 'very good breeder' would have puppies getting mange

@Hillwalker2021

thanks so much , my heart is invested in him , I have chosen him and watched him grow up

my head says walk away , hes 10 weeks old and had mites which needed treatment and baths and now diarrhoea for two weeks.

the breeder has had loads of tests done and wants to know what is wrong as much as I do .Everything so far is okay and its at present putting it down to food and colitis

There are so many red flags here.

I think you'll be in for a rough ride (emotionally and financially) if you choose to go ahead and get this puppy. There's something not right about this.

Op just to put this in perspective a bad case of D&V requiring treatments, and admissions overnight for scans set us back over £2000 and I know from other people that our bill was cheap compared to similar from their vet.

In your situation I wouldn't have been covered. Could you afford that because when they are with you and they are very sick you can't just do a wait and see and vet care is private medicine so £££

thanks very much, you are all reflecting back whats going through my head

back to the drawing board then

We rescued a ddog with colitis years ago. Years of cleaning up rancid poo with blood and mucus and a poor ddog feeling rubbish wasn't great. Meds weren't successful... Walk away.

I wish there was a wee like button thing so I can individually thank you all

mumsnet rocks for support -

I'm going to give the opposite view, through experience. My little girl had explosive diarrhoea at 7 weeks, probably related to a bad batch of raw food. She was still slightly iffy when I brought her home at 8 weeks.

She's now asleep on my feet, and has had no stomach issues since. It really was a one off bout of food-poisoning.

I think, were I in your shoes, I would want to speak directly to the vets to find out what they think is going on. They may say this could be the first signs of what may be an ongoing problem, in which case you need to think carefully. Or they may say it's a one-off bug, nothing to worry about.

But have that conversation so whatever decision you make is an informed one.

How did you find the breeder? Have you got a dog from then before? What breed is it? PP is right some dogs are prone to stomach issues.

We’ve rescued a dog who was eventually diagnosed with pancreatitis. It cost a small fortune till she was diagnosed. Thank goodness for insurance. And the prescription food was very expensive till it settled down.

My dog had an exclusion with petplan but diarrhoea became 'all bowel conditions' and if had mites then you could also be looking at 'all skin conditions', I needed to provide full history and if they'd been no issues for specified period the underwriter would reconsider it. I think for one off diarrhoea/uti it doesn't mean there is a longer term condition but it's a bigger gamble in puppy. Tbh they don't sound a very healthy litter, if a rescue rather than breeder I may consider as not financially benefitting them.

I'd still get insurance with gut excluded as orthopedic issues are common & expensive, diagnostics like MRI are £1.5-3k just the drugs or a inpatient stay can be very costly.

My dog was from a KC assured breeder and he had all the diarrhoea when he first came to us. It didn't settle down for a while and we were in and out of the vets for a few weeks, he went on a fluids drip etc.

His tummy settled eventually and after a few months we hit the jackpot with a particular food combo.

According to a nutritionist I spoke to, vaccines can upset their tums like this. Our boy now eats food like fish, turkey, lamb. Beef and chicken and gluten still cause tummy upsets.

Personally I save the money I’d pay in each month and use it when things go wrong

@Suzi888 Just wondering, with the average vet claim at around £800, how much do you put away monthly? Our previous dogs cancer treatment was over £5k. Without insurance, you’d need to be putting serious sums away every month.