Our first ever kitten

[SkyOfficer]

Hi, we've got our first ever pet, a little kitten. Want to make sure am doing the right thing. Our nearest vet is Vet for Pets, luckily they have good reviews. They have a health plan that is £16pm and seems pretty comprehensive so am going to get that.

For ease was looking at their pet insurance too, and I really don't know what kind of cover I should consider. Would appreciate any advice on the below please.

• ongoing care, limited to £4k each year, cost £10.88pm
• ongoing care, limited to £7k per year, cost £12.43pm
• ongoing care, limited to £12k per year, cost £18.27
• short-term cover for 12 months, up to £3k per injury/illness, cost £9.23pm

Each includes £75 excess, dental, and other benefits.

Thank you.

My cat was one of three kittens. His 2 brothers were adopted together. So getting 2 kittens isn't always possible.

Congrats on beautiful kitten.
I've had a solo kitten and also had 3 kittens altogether at one time or another. All of them thrived.
Some people say better to put money aside in savings account each month rather than pay pet insurance as pet insurance can come with a lot of loop holes.
I made the mistake of changing my pet insurance and leaving a two week gap between old policy and new one, in which time my cat fell poorly and wasn't covered for the first two weeks of the new policy and sadly l had to put him to sleep.
So please be aware of that if and when you change over, keep old policy until new one officially starts.Don't get caught out like l did, l was heartbroken.

Yes I foster with a rescue and general rule is they don’t rehome as singles unless 1) they hate others 2) they are going into a home with another cat. So much better for them.

insurance wise I would go for what you can realistically afford. I’m just starting looking after adopting one of my fosters (yes single one after I said the above! But he’s around 3) and I’m finding it all a bit complex about what is best

The cost to you between a and b is very little but gives almost double the cover, the cost between b and c is almost 50% but gives the best cover...

don't waste your time / money with d. It is only a few pence more to get the basic one with ' ongoing ' cover which I think you mean is lifetime.

Didn’t say it was! Although you could have gotten one from a different litter if it worked for you. I said it’s better for them

Tesco are brilliant for insurance and will include dental as well

We were glad we got insurance with at least £7,000 cover (can’t remember exactly how much it was) when DCat had an incident with a car and had a serious smashed ankle and also dislocated hip that cost nearly that much to mend.

re 1 kitten ' v ' 2 kittens.

I recently got 3 kittens - such ' fun '
not all related to each other, no 1 came first then numbers 2+ 3 who are brothers.

it took maybe 48 hours for 2+3 to accept no 1, but now...
they are all bonded and play

and play and play and play

as I said such ' fun '

Gorgeous kitten OP 😻

I would go with the second as that would cover you for most big ops. Petplan have been great for us. We do have premium protection on ours, so she is 13 now and only the excess has changed. I've had three claims for over 10k in the last 10 years and they have paid it all.

I could have got one from a different litter.

Yes, but... it's also about £25 a month for mine, who is on lifelong meds and monthly vet trips.

Definitely get lifetime cover.

cutee!! I’ve not had a kitten… I’ve always adopted one adult rescue cat at a time actually- as many can only live in one cat households plus one cat is cheaper than two or thee.
but now I’m sadly catless I’m tempted by a kitten hmmm

You do know it's compulsory to post a photo? 😂

Ah sorry,just spotted the photo!

We've got Animal Friends insurance for 2 of ours, about £30 pcm for the two (teenaged now) cats. Lifetime cover, £7.5k per illness/ injury per year. Very well worth it, I've claimed several £k for one cat each year and they pay with no problems.

And what a beautiful little kitten!

Kitten is gorgeous. Insurance wise, I would go for either 2 or 3. 6 years ago, my cat cost £2.5K in one afternoon due to an accident that turned out to be not very serious, but we didn't know that at the time and he had to have an mri. I don't think 4K gives enough peace of mind.

I recommend animal friends life time policy. It's been really good. Used for my 1st cat 4 times in the first year for illness.

Used for new kitten the other month. He went in to be neutered but ate the plastic slow feeder in after care at the vets. Vet had to have someone in to remove the large plastic from his stomach and throat. I was surprised they would cover it (should have been the vets insurance in my opinion) but they covered the £2.5k bill.

Don’t you take them for a yearly check up and vaccinations?

Company and friendship.

We ended up adopting our cat (age 2) because she had been originally adopted as one of a pair of kittens. They were inseparable until around eighteen months when they fell out and the other cat started to bully his sister. They were not getting on at all by 2 yo, and the original owners had to rehome her because she had become very unhappy. With us she blossomed into a lovely contented Velcro cat on her own. So sometimes the kitten pair doesn’t work out.

(Our vet even told us that she thinks cats should generally be on their own because any other cat in the home is a stressor, so not everyone thinks they should always be in pairs!)

OP the kitten is gorgeous. Enjoy ❤️

@Dontsayyouloveme my cats are indoor only. I used to take them to the vet every year, but one of my cats found being in the car so distressing that I felt I was causing her more harm than good. The vet said she didn't really need the vaccinations since the only place she ever went was my garden and even then only rarely.

Gorgeous photos! She is the spitting image of one of mine. I have two but got them a few months apart (they are not related) when I realised it would be nice for her to have company once we were all back to work and school after Covid. It worked brilliantly settling one and then finding her adopted brother (neutered asap!).

A potential issue with not vaccinating cats is that reputable catteries are likely to be very wary of housing them, if at all. Which is fine and good for me at present as DSis lives close by if something happens, but I'm a bit of a belt and braces person & would worry about what would happen if I have to go into hospital when she's away.

Unfortunately Tobias, who was a stray, turns out to have FIV. So not only would most catteries be very reluctant to take him in even if isolated, but vaccination for the usual ailments is contra-indicated in FIV positive cats. However because of his condition he will still need to have an MoT every year, especially as he has a bit of a colon issue that may or may not be related - again, any operation for that is highly contra-indicated due to his lack of resilience.

Beautiful teeny tiny kitten @SkyOfficer ! Do you have a name for him/her yet?
Please post pictures as it grows, I am sure it will stay gorgeous but never quite as cute as it is right now! 😻😻😻