Can anyone remind me why I haven't bought pet insurance yet?

[Trazzletoes]

Went to the vets yesterday with both cats. They both need dental work.

Why the heck have I not got round to insurance?

A lot of pet insurance doesn't even cover dental work so don't worry too much!

It's been a long time since I was in a position to apply for pet insurance so Fawkes is probably right. (My boys are usually so 'old' (in insurance terms) that it's not worth it due to excesses - or they won't taken them on.) But get it out anyway if they're not too old because you never know what else might happen.

Thanks - yes definitely planning to take it out now!

At least £220 for a scale and polish and extraction of 1 tooth - likely to need more coming out and that's only 1 cat!!!

I think we were lulled in to a false sense of security with our old vet who was extremely cheap - £100 to sort out a broken leg - but also not very good. Now we've moved we are with someone more competent and correspondingly more expensive.

Our ladies are 6 - that's not too old is it? I have no idea what constitutes old for a cat!

6 is nobbut a youngster in my terms - just watch out what insurance companies will say/charge (they do it actuarially) and the excesses they'll insist on eg for certain conditions etc. Do some shopping around and read the small print very carefully.

I wouldn't have thought that extra teeth coming out will add too much to the bill. When I saw my vet's charges breakdowns for the two cats' dentals I've had to have done, the big costs were the anaesthetic, staff costs including for recovery supervision, and IV fluids (for the older boy.) Once they're under and flat out on the table, an extra tooth is probably only a matter of a minute or so.

By the way, the loss of a few teeth shouldn't inconvenience them much if at all. You'll just have to watch what food you give them. (You may have to give up anything requiring heavy chewing if they can't handle that. But they'll soon let you know on that one - they just won't eat it.)

Best of luck with them.

I would definitely take out pet insurance - we got a new kitten last December, when he was six months old he was diagnosed with juvenile gingivitis (not due to plaque but due probably to viral illness) and has been having treatment for the past five months. He's not cured yet, he may never be, in fact we may have to have his teeth removed if nothing else helps. The treatment has been very expensive (£750 so far, more to come). Luckily I did take out pet insurance. However, a lot of pet insurance companies I looked at don't cover regular dental work, i.e. due to plaque.

Poor little stick.