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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Cat Insurance

47 replies

oscarwilde · 30/09/2013 17:43

Come and tell me I would be a mug or not not to take out pet insurance. The vet is recommending Lifetime Insurance, value up to £4000 per annum. With two new rescue kittens, that's nearly £400 a year. Yeouch !
Grew up with cats - other than spaying, they never went to the vet that I can recall. I need horror stories about huge vets bills to make me feel better about the cost of it all
I did get sick laughing at the insurance broker dude at Petplan trying to sell me the plan on the basis of £1000 annual cover for complementary treatments. I would love to see a cat having hydrotherapy, sitting still for acupuncture and massages !!
I'm prepared to be flamed for not researching the cost of it before getting the cats and having a whinge now. It is what it is, I'm just a bit taken aback. I love the new kitten-cats but they are not humans and I have no intention of having cats who get more "treatments" than I do.

OP posts:

TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 01/10/2013 21:10

gosh, moonbells, that must have been a shock!

is Mooncat OK now?

moonbells · 01/10/2013 21:43

Yes Mooncat's fine (if pissed off) - we had a bit of struggle to pin her down to clean it - I ended up wrapping her in the carrier towel - but then it was clear that it was a tiny nick in the eyelid, probably a claw. No treatment needed. I took the opportunity to ask about her diet while I was at it and also picked up a small £10 bottle of Feliway. Might as well try it!

Still more than £6 a month though (wince) - took the Petplan since they do dental cover too.

TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 01/10/2013 21:53

oh good (pissed off sounds reasonable )

is the dental cover for anything? Is there an excess?

moonbells · 02/10/2013 09:17

Excess is £65 but that seems to be industry standard. Dental they said that they pay as long as the cat has had a dental check by a vet in 12 months prior to claim (to stop fraud I expect, or at least claims for teeth that were poor before the insurance started). It covers teeth and gums I think the chap said.
Basic for 2 young cats £17.84. Still not as cheap as TheOneWithTheNicestSmile's!
(ps where did you get your name? It sounds like a line out a book of bear stories I have...)

Goatshavestrangeeyes · 02/10/2013 09:19

I have pet insurance for my 1 year old cat, it's £3.85 a month from Tesco. Worth it if anything should ever happen to him.

TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 02/10/2013 10:01

moonbells, it was a tease DH used to do when the kids were small - he would say he had one biscuit or something & he would give it to the one with the nicest smile

used to generate massive baring of teeth < like that!

Original poster

oscarwilde · 02/10/2013 10:13

Off to check out the Argos plan - thanks for the tip TheOneWithTheNicestSmile

OP posts:

MissFoodie · 02/10/2013 11:19

pet insurance is the best thing I ever paid for: I have 1 cat, now 4 years old, pay £14 a month, and just been reimbursed for £1000 in bills over last 6 months

yes, they do not cover you for standard things like neutering, vaccinations, flea treatments, but it only takes one accident or illness to make it worthwile

I use Healthy Pets, have had a cheque from them after 2 weeks of submitting claims

MyCatLovesMeSometimes · 03/10/2013 21:23

We're with Petplan - DCat collapsed with kidney failure at Easter (05.00am on Good Friday of course) emergency trip to vet starts off at £160 ended up being over £600 - she was on a drip for 24 hours and is now on pills for life (£29 a month). The excess we now pay as she's over 10 was £100 plus 10% - we're well over that already!

She's also been stung by a wasp (naturally on a Sunday needing another emergency trip to vet). Plus had 1 infected bite and 3 x cystitis.

I always thought it was worth it just it case she was in a major accident or needed long term treatment as that quickly mounts up (like it is doing at the moment).

MissDD1971 · 03/10/2013 22:00

MyCatLovesMe - can you elaborate re your cat with kidney failure or message/email me please?

my cat had this... I'm just confused as to how it happened with him. vet thinks he drank anti freeze which gave him kidney failure - he was on tablets too.... does she drink a lot? like wants water all the time?

yeah Pet Insurance is a life saver

Lonecatwithkitten · 03/10/2013 22:23

Oscar sorry delay in coming back. There are large numbers of cats who live many years with chronic health onditions you only have to read the hyperthyroid cat thread to see that. Hyperthyroidism and chronic renal failure affect around 25% of the cat population over 8 years of age. Mean survival time with chronic renal failure is 400 days with treatment, hyperthyroidism well over 600 days so both over the year. I would say lifetime cover is essential.

pigsDOfly · 03/10/2013 23:03

I've had lifetime insurance for both my cats which increased quite dramatically in price over the years.

My male had kidney disease and was back and forth to the vet for several years before he had to be pts aged 18.

My female has had a hyperactive thyroid and high blood pressure for a number of years. She is on medication for both and has regular blood tests to ensure the dosage for the thyroid is at the right level as her weight fluctuates quite a bit.

My insurance price has risen to as much as £40 per cat per month (it has also dropped down and is far less now) but I went on paying it because I felt it was the sensible thing to do.

It's the nature of insurance that you might never have to make a claim but I'd never be without it for a pet, in the same way that I wouldn't leave the contents of my house uninsured.

MyCatLovesMeSometimes · 04/10/2013 07:35

MissDD1971 emergency vet said it could have been a case of drinking anti-freeze or pollen from lillies which is poisonous to cat's (I knew that though and don't have them & didn't have anti-freeze either). Otherwise it could purely be an age thing or like humans one of those things that the cat was pre-disposed towards it I suppose. Our cat is 12so it's quite common to develop things at this age.

She was very thirsty immediately afterwards but seems to have settled down a lot now as she's made a surprisingly good recovery (even our vet has been surprised). Her appetite isn't what it was and she hates the renal food so is now on a kind to kidney food but it's not designed for kidney failure I think. However it's the only one in salmon flavour and she point blank refused to touch the other foods, even the vet said it's more important she eats something.

motheroftwoboys · 30/10/2013 12:38

Like everyone, we are broke ATM so going through all the insurances and looking for cheaper deals. Won on home/contents - saving a fortune, looks as if we can get a better deal on gas and electricity but not having so much luck with pet insurance for our two moggies. One 13, One 10. We are with E & L and pay £27 a month for the two - can't seem to find much cheaper. Did check Argos OP but cheapest was £30 a month. Also, hadn't realised that with most companies you pay £65 excess then 35% of any claim. suddenly doesn't seem so great a deal! Does anyone have a policy where you don't pay percentage? Hopefully will never have to use it - have had a couple of claims for our two over the years but nothing serious. However, would be very nervous to drop the cover.

SolidGold · 30/10/2013 12:48

I have two cats, one had to have lots of tests as a kitten, a scan and liver biopsy, total cost £1,500. The other cat has had juvenile gingivitis since getting his adult teeth (viral, not poor dental hygiene) and has had treatment and tests amounting to approx £1,100. Luckily they were both insured. You could be unlucky.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 30/10/2013 12:48

My cats are 13 and 12. my premiums with Petplan are £19 per month EACH. It was a fiver a month each when they were kittens. However, one of my cats has had a lifetime of illness that wouldn't have killed her, or meant putting her down, but she'd have been very ill without treatment. No worries about the cost, we just let the vet do what she needs.

The same cat - cholangio hepatitis developed, cat was hours from death (rapid onset, the cat came home desperately ill). Intensive care for one night, standard care for another night - total bill of £600.

We are getting a puppy after christmas, first thing I did was price the insurance. Unless you're made of money, you'd be a fool not to take it. Just my opinion of course.

SunshineSuperNova · 30/10/2013 13:13

I would recommend insurance. I cancelled mine because the excess seemed stupid, and as the boys got older I spent a fortune on the vet.

My lovely ginger tom had cancer and a leg amputated. His last year cost me £5000 from my savings, £1000 of that over his last weekend.

We've just adopted a 12 year old, and will insure him shortly.

Squashedbuthappy · 30/10/2013 14:56

I just got a quote from Petprotect for £7 a month, £4000 life time cover. £0 excess. Surely, this is too good to be true? Does anyone have experience with this c

Squashedbuthappy · 30/10/2013 14:56

Sorry, meant to say: with this company?

JsOtherHalf · 05/11/2013 13:24

squasedbuthappy i googled them earlier in the week and there are a lot of reviews saying they refused to pay out.

JsOtherHalf · 05/11/2013 13:30

squasHedbuthappy

cozietoesie · 05/11/2013 13:37

squashed

I had a quick look see and there seem to be issues with the fact that they change their terms and conditions - eg the excess - once you're into the policy so what you get now may not be what you get a year or two down the line.

They're backed by one of the big boys so won't be going out of business any time soon - but I think this is one to (in any case) look at the very small print.

Happy to stand corrected on this if anyone has good experience of them.

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