Does this look like a good deal or a huge swizz-Vet plan thingy

[Sparklingbrook]

Here we are with CC vets and Sparkling cat is due her boosters next week. Don't know whether to sign up for this afterwards.

I've been looking at the exact same thing Sparkling, we are going to do it with both our younger cats as it is worth it. Boosters at £30, then Frontline which works out at £5 a month = £60 a year, worming tablets are only about £8 a year. The plan includes a vet exam which you can use at any time - I can't remember a year when we haven't had to have the cats in for a check at some point - and that's around £25. So we currently pay £123 per cat. The plan is only £120 a year and also gives you free nail clipping, dental checks, weight checkups, and a 10% voucher.

I think whether it's worth it depends on what you pay out on your pets - if you use a flea collar, it's much cheaper to just pay as you go. We always use Frontline or Advocate, so the CC plan would be worth it.

So, £120 a year for vaccinations, flea and worming? You can do it cheaper than that.
Pay for the booster and buy Effipro flea stuff online and Panacur worm stuff, its cheaper.

Yes we use Advocate (as recommended by CC) which is £7 a month which is what is making me a bit suspicious. With that and the boosters that's about it.

Also what is the joining fee I wonder?

I quite fancy signing up but wonder if there's a catch. Mmmm.

Will you receive a discount as a registered client, sparkling?

I'm an ignoramus on pet insurance so could offer no advice.

I think I will go in and quiz them. It's separate to her insurance cozie and seems to be an annual plan to pay for all the other stuff that we pay for.

I seem to recall Lonecat saying that her practice actually made a bit of a loss on their standard plan but that they regarded it as worth it for the regularity of treatment etc. Maybe quizzing them would be the best thing.

Yes Cozie joining these plans is cheaper than pay as you particularly as you are protected from price increases. In our practice they represent a minimum of 5% reduction on pay as you go at the start of year probably closer to 10% by the end of the year.

There's no joining fee, I checked.

We have a similar plan (Pet Health Plan) and pay a shade under £10 a month for TopCat and around £13 for GingerDog. Initially I took it out was as we were hoping to rent, and wanted it as solid documentary proof that our animals were treated for parasites that I could wave under the letting agents nose :o
TBH I just expect it to go out every month now, every 3 months I get a little goody bag of potions and pills which always makes me feel happy and I now have a huge stockpile of Advocate as I inevitably forget to use it diligently every month The health checks (ours are scheduled, not when we need them) are an ideal opportunity for the vet to point out that GingerDog needs his teeth scaled at £X, or TopCat is in need of a different and even more expensive diet The promised 10% discount on vets fees has effectively meant my animals have existed in rudely good health since the policy started
We are hopefully moving into our forever home in the next couple of weeks (where the LL did not even ask about flea treatments ) and I think I may cancel it then. If I put £10 or so in a jar which I won't every month I will cover the majority of my bills. If you can afford the monthly amount, and use your flea treatment with devout regularity then you will just about break even, if you are a slattern like me it will cost you more over the year than you would have spent.

I'm paying a couple of pounds less per month for advocate off online pet pharmacies, even when you factor in the private prescription.

How do you do that Fluffy? Do i have to ask my vet for the prescription? Will they do it if they know i will go and get it cheaper?

I asked for a script and as they'd seen him within the last 6 months and weighed him they printed one off.

Then you order it off your chosen pharmacy and when you post the script to them they send the order out.

My prescription was £8.50. Not sure they are really bothered about ou buying it elsewhere.

Thanks Fluffy I will look into that too.

most of these plans operate on the basis of you going into the practice every two or three months to collect wormers/flea treatment. Many many people dont and hence the company makes its profit.
You will probably also find that the health check is just that, not to be used if you have an ill pet that you would be taking in anyway.
if you are religous with worming and flea control ( and cat has Felv vacc as well as flu/enteritis) then its not a bad deal and does spread the cost.

I would definitely collect the treatments. I am a little bit sceptical re the health checks being used as an excuse to upsell more stuff. Or to look at your pet and decide something suddenly needs doing.

Our vet normally charges c £48 for 6 doses of Advocate, or else £12.50 for a 6-dose prescription & then it's available for about £24 from \link{http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-meds-prescription-only-advocate-for-cats-c-21_702/advocate-for-small-cats-p-770\vetuk.co.uk}

when I asked them for a prescription & told them how much I could get it for online, they magically "negotiated a discount" with the manufacturer so the net cost to me was the same when I bought it from them

They will not give me a prescription for more than 6 doses, even though I have 2 cats so that's only a 3-month supply for me.

I wonder if the flea injections are cheaper?