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Pet travel insurance

Pet travel insurance

Old Jan 6th 2009, 9:19 pm
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Default Pet travel insurance

Hi all
New to the forum here, but have been browsing for quite some time - thanks for all the helpful info from everyone.

I have searched the forum & can't seem to find any info for my question. Hopefully someone is able to help.

I'm trying to find out about travel insurance for pets while in transit to Aus?
I've got the shipping quotes from various companies (think we'll settle on AirPets) but many don't offer insurance for while the cats are travelling. I'm looking for the kind of insurance that will cover them for emergency medical treatment (say, when they arrive in Aus), or that will cover costs if they need to re-arrange their flight etc. for some reason.

Does anyone have any idea if such cover exists? I've only seen 1 company include it with their quote, but as their quote is more than 2x all the others, I can't see it's worth it just for the insurance cover.
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Old Jan 6th 2009, 10:42 pm
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

I looked into it when we were bringing the dogs over from Ireland. In the end I didn't bother as it was expensive and didn't cover much at all I don't think it covered vet costs or death in transit. We decided to take the risk and they got here fine.

I'm sorry, but I can't remember the name of the company I called.

Katie
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Old Jan 10th 2009, 8:11 pm
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

hi sorry 2 push in on ur thread but im in the process of applying for a visa and am extremely concerned about takin my dog 2 oz if we get the go ahead. she's a very shy timid dog n is 9 yrs old. im so worried the flight n commotion of it would be 2 much 4 her. the tought of leavin her behind tho fills the family with dread. any advice would be really appreciated.
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Old Jan 10th 2009, 8:50 pm
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

We brought two cats over almost 2 years ago using Air Supply Shipping Agents http://www.passportforpets.co.uk/ They were the most helpful company to deal with, there was always someone available to talk to and they gave me tonnes of information, talked me through the whole process repeatedly and dealt with all my worries very patiently. (If you haven't spoken with them yet I'd give them a call and ask everything you need to know). They were also the cheapest. Other companies took ages to send quotes, never answered the phone and just came across as being money grabbing.

One of our cats has anxiety issues and was on a monthly injection to help this as she severely over-groomed and was always needing to go to the vets, so I was worried that everything would flare up and become infected and need vet treatment. Fortunately it didn't. TBH insurance wasn't something that crossed our minds. If your cats weren't fit to fly, the vet doing the final check wouldn't let them on the plane. Once on the plane animals tend to go to sleep (I think their blood pressure lowers) so the likelihood of anything undetected happening while in flight or transit is pretty slim. Cats are checked again by a vet when they land in Australia and if I recall the vets fees weren't that high, so again we didn't feel it is was something to worry about. I doubt animals will be checked on while in transit.

Not sure about what happens if flights are cancelled but again it is unlikely, but I think that Qantas is normally the airline used as not all airlines have licence to import.

Both our 15 year old cats made it through the travelling with no concerns and love it here in Australia. Our anxious one was diagnosed with kidney and heart problems by our Aussie vet, but at their age it wasn't a huge surprise. Vet bills aren't cheap though. We are so glad we took the risk of bringing them over.

Last edited by Weird Fish; Jan 10th 2009 at 8:59 pm.
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Old Jan 11th 2009, 12:03 am
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

I used pet air and couldnt fault them they were brilliant... I didnt iinsure our dog and he was just fine.

When i was waiting at quarantine to collect him i was waiting with a pet transport company and got talking to him... He said it always makes him laugh at how upset the owners get and how chilled the animals are with the whole travelling business. He said as soon as the owners go the animals calm down and usually just go to sleep... he could undertand why they get upset but said the animals travel much better than the owners could imagine.

Once out of quarantine the animals adapt so quickly its like they've never been away from you!
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Old Jan 11th 2009, 12:18 am
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

We were offered insurance, but it only covered the cost of our dog if she were to die. No vet bills, none of the money paid out to ship. We didn't bother.
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Old Jan 11th 2009, 12:37 pm
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Default Re: Pet travel insurance

Thank you everyone for all of your replies....

Believe it or not, you have no idea how much your replies have re-assured & calmed me. I am quite stressed about my 2 cats going, although they are my babies so there is no question they are going with! But the most stressful part of this entire move for me is the cats going on the plane.

They are only not quite 4yrs old, so Weird Fish your story is incredibly re-assuring for me, particularly as the one cat is very timid/shy/scared.

homewardbound - your story also puts my mind at ease, thank you so much for that. Although I've heard my vet say they'll be fine, and the transport company says they'll be fine, it's just so nice to hear that the general wisdom is that the cats will travel so much better than I think they will.

A huge help - thanks again everyone!


I have read in some other threads here that I can get pet insurance that will cover them in Aus, even while in quarantine. Does anyone have any experience of that? Think I will get them signed up from when they arrive at least.
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