Cat insurance - history of pancreatitis

[NormaTheHippo]

Hello

We adopted a 5 year old cat a few weeks ago. He came with 4 weeks free pet plan insurance but we obviously need to sort out our own before that runs out. He was originally brought to the rescue centre in January suffering from pancreatitis. He's totally fine now but has pancreatitis written on his notes. I looked at the pet plan insurance - it's pretty expensive: £25/month for £4,000/year lifetime cover or £28/month for £7,000/year cover - however they do say that they may cover the pancreatitis if his pancreas remains healthy for a specified amount of time (they wouldn't say exactly how long until I had confirmed all other details).

Looking online there are lots of options which are cheaper but most say that they won't cover any pre existing conditions so I'm not sure what to do.. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it worth paying extra for pet plan? Or are there any other insurers that you'd recommend we look at? And is £4000/year enough? (We definitely want to get "lifetime" insurance).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I pay £52 a month to cover both of mine. It renews every year. Magic had pancreatitis 2 years ago but she should still be covered if she gets it again.

Thanks for the reply Toddlerteaplease - I don't suppose you remember how much the treatment for pancreatitis cost?

It was about £5000. She was critically ill for a week. The emergency vet did an exploratory laparotomy as there was a chance she'd eaten some plastic. But they found pancreatitis. Her survival was a miracle that no one expected. I'm with Tesco and they've been amazing. Between her and her late sister they ran up bills of £16,000 in 18 months.

Wow that is a lot! Pet plan have now come back and said he will have pancreatitis AND gastrointestinal problems excluded for a year, I'd everything is ok for that period they will remove the exclusions.

I'm a bit annoyed at the rescue centre tbh - the volunteer reassured us that insurance shouldn't be a problem and it wasn't untill he was in a cat basket and we were signing the forms that another employee mentioned pancreatitis would probably be excluded. Gah!

I would definitely be cautious and go with Petplan as they will cover any recurrence of pancreatitis in the future. They are more expensive but are good with pay outs I've found. I've learnt my lesson with pet insurance.
Our old cat became diabetic possibly a result of pancreatitis (her pancreas was badly damaged but please don't worry with your cat) and Petplan paid out for the diabetes treatment and tests. The vet was prepared to help us out if they didn't but no problem whatsoever.
Any vet treatment can soon add up-tests, medication, hospitalisation etc.
Also some vets will claim direct from Petplan.
One thing if you go with them check all the exclusions/notes on the policy documents carefully.

Ah ok cross post there......

Just to chip in as another owner with a cat with recurring pancreatitis. It's cost us about £3k-£4K in each instance. We are also insured with pet plan so that we have the cover for life. It creeps up each year but I think we are on about £25 a month now.

Gosh. Thanks for all the advice - I didn't realise it was likely to be that expensive. Would it be bad/unreasonable to ask the charity if they will treat him for free if he gets pancreatitis in the first year? (they have their own vet clinic). We absolutely love the cat but realistically if they had told us he had a potentially reoccurring, expensive pre existing condition which likely couldn't be insured for, we would not have considered taking him..

It's worth asking. It's not an unreasonable request. Especially if they didn't tell you about it in the first place. One of my colleagues ended up returning her cats to a rescue as they didn't tell her about his medical problems and her insurance would t cover it.

Oh god, I hope it wouldn't come to that! We'll give them a call tomorrow anyway.

In the meantime - does anyone have any recommendations other than pet plan so we can get a few different quotes?

Yes. Tesco. Absolutely brilliant!

I have lifetime insurance for my 3 with Directline who are also excellent. Price does creep up with age but had a hyperthyroid cat and they were great.

Worth trying them.

Thanks all, sadly neither Tesco or Direct Line will cover the pancreatitis, even if it does not recur for 2 years. There is a special Bought By Many policy for pre existing conditions but it's not great and even more expensive than the Pet Plan one. I think we'll go with Pet Plan and speak to the charity about what would happen if he gets another bout of pancreatitis in the next 12 months.

Toddlerteaplease (or anyone else) - I don't suppose you were given any advice about how to minimise risk of recurrence?

Thanks again