Pet insurance

[BeautifulDayintheneighbourhood]

I have just taken our insurance for my doc eye wr ole cat. I w never had it before for any pet but she recently had a UTI and I overheard several people paying enormous
at the vet, which scared me.
It does feel like £12 thrown away each month though. How many people have it and do you feel it’s worth it?

Five year old cat!

It’s absolutely worth it unless you have thousands in the bank that you are willing to spend on the cat should it be involved in an accident . Do bear in mind that pre existing conditions will likely not be covered so that pretty much includes anything you’ve been to the vet about before taking out the policy .

I stopped it with my dog as it grew to £70/month as he aged, even though I had never made a claim. He had cancer this year and it cost £1200, but that's still cheaper than the £1000s I would have paid in insurance. I have not insured my other animals.
It is partly luck though - you could pay for years and never need to claim, or you could have an animal that requires £1000s for treatment. You could put the equivalent in a savings account so it's there if needed and you still have the money if not, though it takes a while to build up obviously.

All my animals are insured and it's 100% worth it.

All it takes is a sickness bug requiring them to stay in overnight on a drip at the weekend and you have a bill well into the thousands (and it always happens at the weekend!).

I've had two cats need emergency surgery for various issues and together their bills came to around 2k in a matter of weeks.

Unless you have thousands sat in the bank (or access to an emergency credit card) I would get insurance.

All my cats are insured and it’s definitely worth it though it’s £140 a month.

Two of them are 4 years old and so far between them have racked up £14,000 of surgery!

Oh my God! What for if I could ask?

Harry's insurance is nearly £50 a month but in 3 months we've claimed for over £2k. He's on medication for the rest of his life, one of which is £80 a bottle every 2 months. We also claimed thousands when he broke his jaw a few years ago so all in all I think we've broken even!

Insurance is definitely worth it. Lifetime cover and check which companies vets will claim direct from.
just a heads up that all conditions she’s needed treatment for so far will be excluded.

Definitely go for insurance. Yes, it’s annoying if you pay out for years for nothing but, if something goes wrong, you will be so glad you did.
A word to the wise: if you have a cat from a breed prone to dental disease, please make sure you get a policy that includes teeth. I paid £600 on Friday for my 2 year old Siamese to have 10 teeth removed. It wasn’t included on his policy and I never thought to check.

Only one if my lot are insured because despite him being the baby of the house, he has a habit of getting into scrapes, falling off things as unaware of edges and all manner of stupid things

To me with cats, the biggest risk is being run over so I have eliminated that risk by fencing them into my garden.

Of course there are other risks, but with the number I have, I'd be paying around £300 a month in premiums so I self insure

Our elderly cat has been on medication all his life & now the premiums & excess are large it is still worth it. He hasn't had many operations but as soon as they need aGA or to be kept in on a drip it can soon mount up. We had one cat who kept getting abcesses as another cat but him, that cost a fair bit. Worth it for peace of mind I think.

Are you able to share which insurance companies you use? I need to insure my kids cats as haven't got round to it.yet...

@CoQ10 Petplan are excellent and pay out really quickly

Harry's with Petplan as well. They cover dentals which is handy as he's had several over the years!

I’ve taken out insurance with Many Pets.

Thanks for this.

Could you advise which type of plan you use - the short term or the for life one?

For Life plan, definitely.

We've got a for life plan for Harry which has worked out very well considering the amount of medication he's on!

I've just moved from Petplan to Manypets as they have a moratorium on pre existing conditions. Means after 2 years, if no symptoms, treatment or advice then they cover. Also got the free 24/7 video vet service which is great and can save on vet bills. If anyone wants a referral, let me know!

My premiums are £118 a month. And that's come firm from £137. I almost cancelled it last September, but since they gave me a good deal I've kept it. Good job I did as one of my cats has just run up a £1000 bill. Making the total claims up to £23k!!!!!!!! (That's between her and her late sister) other cat has not had a claim yet😰

@whirlyhead yours sound as bad as mine!!