Insurance renewal

[Thermalpants]

I am deciding whether to renew the pet insurance for my cat. He is 14 years old and in good condition for his age. We pay £44.50 per month at the moment. If we had to make a claim, we would have to pay an annual excess of around £60-£70 plus 20% of each claim made.

I wouldn’t put him through surgery or any kind of invasive treatment now. He is an outdoor cat and wouldn’t tolerate crate rest. I’m trying to work out if the insurance is worth having now. I think the main deciding factor is what if he has kidney disease or needs thyroid medication and the cost of that. I wouldn’t want to put him through daily insulin injections if he becomes diabetic, but I would try to give him daily oral medication if he needed it. Even though he hates having worming tablets.

Do you think it’s worth continuing to pay each month?

I would at that price, it's not that expensive.

I wouldn't. Put the money in a savings account instead.

I've had to make that decision several times when my cats got to about that age. I make it on the basis of the individual cat. I have two 14 year olds and earlier this year I renewed the insurance for one, but not for the other due to his state of health and treatment history. Of course if it was something easily treatable then I'd pay for it myself.

With the cat you've described, I wouldn't renew. You could put aside the monthly premium to go towards more minor treatment.

My late girls ran up bills of £25k and Penelope who is only 6 has also had huge bills. If you can put your hands on several £1000 easily, then fine, but otherwise keep
up the insurance.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did the bills rack up to £25k? I wouldn’t pay for scans or invasive treatment now my cat is over 14 years old. I would be willing to pay for a blood test if the vet suspected a thyroid issue. I would also pay to treat him for things like eye and ear infections. As per my OP, I wouldn’t be willing to inject him daily with insulin if he became diabetic. I don’t like the thought of doing that. I’m just weighing up whether to put the money I save from cancelling the insurance into a bank account for him.

@ThermalpantsThey were rescue Persians who were young and the issues were all fixable. One got triaditis and almost died but survived, that was £5k her sister then had jaw problems that needed repeated intervention before a permanent fix was done. That was another £5k, One got HCM and the other was possibly diagnosed with it. The. The remaining cat had an eye injury and then lost her other later on. Currently at also had lots of issues but she’s ok now!

That sounds horrendous. I have decided to wait a few more months before making my mind up. I have a feeling I might regret cancelling it.

We went through this decision making process with both our cats and their insurance ended up paying out about £3-4k each in the last year of their lives. Solensia injections for arthritis, a scan or two each, blood tests, medication, more frequent vet visits, the cost of PTS in the end - it all adds up incredibly quickly. Keep the insurance, you don’t want to find yourself in a position where you’re having to make decisions about your cat’s care based on the affordability of something that could give them another year of good quality of life.