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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

Are your cats insured?

30 replies

girliefriend · 02/10/2014 15:23

Most people I know in rl don't seem to bother with cats, my boy cat is insured on a very basic insurance with Argos pet insurance and am in the process of adding our new girl cat to the policy.

In my mind it's worth it as if they were seriously ill or injured I couldn't magic up £1000 for vet bills.

Lots of people seem to for dogs but not cats

What is the mn consensus?

OP posts:

isseywithcats · 02/10/2014 16:05

i have five cats so insurance would be beyond my budget each month but i have a bank account for the cats which i put a fiver in each month and in the last 8 years (oldest two are 8) i have put more in than i have taken out their bank account has more in it than mine lol

cozietoesie · 02/10/2014 16:08

I haven't insured Seniorboy but that's purely circumstances - he was fairly getting on when he came to live with me and he's a housecat. (Nobody actually thought he'd last more than a week or two anyway - he just happens to have kept going.)

We've been very lucky though and if I had a new and younger cat, I'd be insuring him. I know that we often hear bad circumstances on this board but there are so many cases of people who would potentially suffer real financial hardship to give their cats the treatment they need.

AlpacaLypse · 02/10/2014 16:09

I don't insure AlpacaCat. I budget for routine vaccinations and small scale treatment and would use savings if she managed to severely injure herself. But she doesn't come into contact with cars or other animals (apart from the rats and pigeons that she kills).

AlmaMartyr · 02/10/2014 16:15

Our kitten is insured (from today!) because we've had a run of bad luck with other pets and I can't bear the thought of having to make a decision about her welfare based on finance. Our older cat has never been insured, I was going to get her insured alongside the kitten but she seems to have left home for greener pastures so might wait to see if she comes back first. DH was keen just to put money into savings account but I'm worried I would end up dipping into it

MrsMinton · 02/10/2014 16:19

We insured Minton cat because we have had massive bills in the past with our,now departed, dog. It's a relief to know it's all sorted if I ever need it because the stress in the past of bills was too much on top of worrying about the poor dog too.

superbagpuss · 02/10/2014 16:21

nope - three cats here and we have savings to cover any vet bills.

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 02/10/2014 16:23

My 3 (chipped & neutered female moggies) are insured with Argos - just over £20 a month for the platinum policy. They're all pretty young though - 2 are 2, the other nearly 1. The premiums have stayed about the same for 2 renewals so far.

I think I kind of superstitiously believe that they're less likely to get ill or injured because I have it

Boysandme · 02/10/2014 16:24

Our two cats are not insured and at 14 are too old to be insured for a reasonable cost now. Thankfully they have not cost us much in vets bills over the years, certainly under £1,000 between them so far less than insurance would have cost.

That said, when they have gone and we hopefully get new cats I would insure them as it gives peace of mind. I worry now about the cats getting anything that requires ongoing medication, whilst we could afford it it could be a lot of money. I'd prefer certainty of monthly costs.

IHaveBrilloHair · 02/10/2014 16:24

No, but I can pay for any treatment, including major surgery for one of them recently.

Original poster

girliefriend · 02/10/2014 16:26

Thanks for replying (always nice )

I am not sure I could put enough into a savings account to cover a large bill, my friends cat was hit by a car and the total bill came to about £3000!!! The cat survived and is fine now but it scared me as there is no way I could find that kind of money.

The insurance I pay for one cat at the moment is only £7.50 a month and am hoping they do some sort of two cat deal

OP posts:

Bluestocking · 02/10/2014 16:29

Yes, both insured. They came to us from the Cats' Protection League with three months' Petplan insurance (disclaimer, other pet insurers are available!). The vet practice we take them to has, on the couple of occasions they've cost us money, been brilliant at claiming it back so we didn't have to pay up front and claim.
Now they are starting to turn into senior cats, it's really a no-brainer to keep them insured.

Original poster

girliefriend · 02/10/2014 16:31

theOne I think like that as well

OP posts:

BetsyBell · 02/10/2014 16:37

We ensure our 2 cats and it already more than paid for itself after one of them got a nasty foot injury. The insurance money was paid quickly, in full and with no quibbles. Combine insurance is around £11 pm for a basic plan.

hugoagogo · 02/10/2014 16:39

Yes she is, we were very grateful our old cat was insured when she was ill and although it was horrible and ended up being an inoperable type of cancer and she died- we never had to worry about the cost.

We use John lewis because they insure your pet for life, so if they develop a chronic condition they will pay out for as long as it's needed rather than just until the end of the year.

soddinghormones · 02/10/2014 17:17

Our elderly Battersea cat isn't insured and adding up what we've paid out in vet's fees against what we would have paid out in premiums then we've come out ahead. However she's a very timid little thing who prefers to be inside most of the time and when she does go out she doesn't go far.

We have insured our boy cat (4.5) as he's very adventurous and when we brought him over from Dubai last year I suspected that at some point he'd put himself at risk. I'm very glad we did as he recently got hit by a car and has had major orthopaedic surgery for a fractured pelvis - without insurance we'd now be looking at a bill for £5,500. We are lucky in that we could if absolutely necessary find the cash from somewhere but I'm very glad we don't have to

Original poster

girliefriend · 02/10/2014 17:17

Betsy who do you use if you don't mind me asking? £11 a month for 2 cats sounds good.

OP posts:

VivaLeBeaver · 02/10/2014 17:20

For the past 15 years I have always have two cats. Different ones as some have been run over and died and then a new one bought.

So how much would premiums have been for 15 years...? £10 a month for two? £120 a year. So I've saved £1800 in effect.

Only bill I've had to pay was £300 for a poisoned cat 12 years ago. So I reckon I'm winning.

JadeJ123 · 02/10/2014 17:25

Yes, oldest is 7 and on a special diet as he has kidney failure and youngest is 5 with no health problems but was hit by a car and cost £4000. We can afford to not have insurance bit always have. We're with pet plan but they're both pedigree cats.

Calaveras · 02/10/2014 17:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

smokeandglitter · 02/10/2014 17:34

I have 2 cats - both Ragdolls. Both are insured. If anything happened to them I would struggle to make a large amount of money appear and I would be devastated if something happened to them. Both are indoor cats (go out on leads), they are a huge major part of our family so insuring them is important to me.

micah · 02/10/2014 17:40

No. Mine has so many health problems he is/was uninsurable. I looked into it when he was young and they wanted £15/month, and his head, neck, chest, cardiac and respiratory systems were all excluded. So his legs and arse would be covered, basically :)).

I put the £15 in a savings account instead, and 15 years later he's loaded. It's only really there in case I absolutely can't afford treatment, or there's an emergency. I don't use it for day to day costs.

catsrus · 02/10/2014 17:40

Did for the first 6-7 yrs of cat ownership but then it got silly expensive with 6 cats (don't ask) so decided more sensible to keep the money. It's definitely worked in my favour over the years.

If one of mine was in a horrible accident or got seriously ill I know I would euthanise rather than try to keep alive. I went that route with a pet once and never again, he had a miserable last few weeks at the vets before dying and I swore I would never let that happen again but would let them go in as little distress as possible. I have the dog insured, low cost, large excess, mainly for the third party cover.

JoanJettPack · 02/10/2014 17:45

Jettpackcat isn't insured.

My last cat was, but she went missing over a year ago and, despite being microchipped, I still don't know what happened to her. She was very much an outdoor cat, so she is most likely dead :(

New kitten isn't leaving the house, so I'm not going to bother.

ConcreteElephant · 02/10/2014 17:46

Two cats, insured since kittenhood, now aged 13. It's costing us a fortune now they are older but goodness me, we've certainly got value for money out of one of them - tail pull injury leading to amputation, broken leg (to name but two of his best efforts!)

We keep thinking, given the premiums now, that perhaps we could stop, but we have lots of experience of enormous vet bills thanks to our more adventurous boy and we've never had to worry about the financials - it gives us peace of mind.

ConcreteElephant · 02/10/2014 17:50

Oh Joan :(

Our adventurous boy, very much an outdoor cat too, doesn't seem to appreciate that we've moved house (over a year ago) - and has been heading back to the old place every once in a while. He's been gone two weeks this time and we know he's there but can't seem to get him when he fancies coming out into the open. He merrily walks into the box when he sees us but it's just finding him. He lived there 12 years and it's very much his familiar ground. One day I know we just won't get him back :(

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