melaniee

Does anyone have pet insurance and is it worth it ? Cheers.

Centurion

we have pet insurance for our dog. Is it worth it ? Like any insurance its only worth it if something goes wrong and you hope it never does.

However - with animals exposed to various forms of nasties such as paralysis ticks and so on here and the cost of treatment being so high, I would say its prudent.

My dog got attacked and a small bite taken from his ear. As it happened this severed an artery and cost $500 in surgery costs.

Frankly I think it stops you having to make some very difficult choices between economics and the life of an animal.

DrWho

Well said Sir...

We have just insured our 2 Staffies with PetPlan... I believe their entry to the market is fairly recent compared to others and their policy is very favourable...

Most have a limit of $6k/$8k for treatment with only 70%/80% of fees covered... PetPlan is much higher and for a lower premium...

PetPlan

Dreamy

ooohhh thats who we have our insurance with in the UK.. I wonder if they'll let me transfer the existing policies over

::makes a note to find out::

Lynne

hilary6

We're with petplan for ours too, seemed the best policy for less $$$

Pipers Mummy

Petplan here too When we first arrived a couple of years ago, I don't believe Petplan was around, hence didn't bother getting her insured as other insurance policies were just not good (in our opinion). We have had some very heft vets bills due to ear infections and currently pollen allergy problems so wish they'd have been around then!

rab

We researched this a couple of years ago and it is a total waste of money.

We have two cats and two dogs and even shopping for the best deal it would have cost us $65 a month.

We worked out that given most scenarios we would best off paying the money into a savings account.

Two years later sure we did have to spend $660 getting our cat better after a brown snake bite, but we live in the country and snake bites are quite commen in cats. Still in spite of this we are well in credit with our version of pet insurance.

So, get your quote for the premium and PAY THE MONEY EVERY MONTH TO YOURSELF!

esperanza

Like everyone I hate paying for insurance - but the whole point is that it covers you if there is a sudden huge expense. I think it depends on what treatment you might want for your pet - some people keep dogs for years on anti-inflammatories, painkillers, etc which can end up being very expensive. Also invasive surgery & the aftermath. If you would rather have your pet put down than fork out for longterm intensive care/treatment then there is no real need for insurance.
If you might want tip-top treatment for your dog if he was hit by a car or developed cancer, then the only way to be sure of affording it is to have a good insurance policy.
Watch out for 12 month limits on treatments, and capped costs - petplan UK are pretty good about this but some insurance plans are not worth the premiums as they are so stingy about paying out.
It's for everyone to weight up the pros and cons and decide for themselves!

melaniee

Thanks all. Our pet is definetly worth it. We were looking at Pet Plan as the favourite so I think we will go with that one. Cheers to all the pet lovers out there !

Alison1967

If you can transfer your policy do!
I couldn't with my cats policy with Tesco's pet plan and as she is over eight (14 now) couldn't get her insured over here.

Have to fork out $1100 for radio-iodine treatment next week as she's gone hyperT4 since she got here, wondered why she lost so much weight but being hyper-thyroid does that.

Little part of me wished we were still in UK as she would've been covered for the treatment costs but watching her sun herself in garden and chase butterflys today I'm glad we came.

Ali

esperanza

Ali, how frustrating to pay out all those premiums and not be able to claim when you need it!

Does any one know what the cut-off age is to insure dogs? Ours will be three when we arrive next year, I'm hoping that will be ok.... any info much appreciated!

DrWho

I'm sure you'll be fine... If I remember nearly all specify the age as 8... And after that you can continue as long as cover is kept up with the same insurer... Just check out the individual policies...