I also have a cat called Wilson. It was the surname of the people who left him at the RSPCA but I thought it suited him.

You'll be delighted and enraptured to hear my man-eating pitbull is called Lil.

OMG they are the best names ever!!!

I was with PP over here and had huge problems with them, not taking premiums out and then taking them all on the same day several times over, the insurance ombudsman got involved and we actually had to visit the bank to block them from taking more.

They also took far to long in processing my puppies hip claim and then demanded a full history from the owner that surrendered him at just under 4 months old and wouldnt listen when I said confidentiality would be breached if the rescue place gave me previous owner info for a dog under 4 months.

Spoke to our vet today who agreed with my concerns on this company. Now I know people on here have used them with no problems but for me, them taking out a couple of hundred dollars more than once in one day, despite me being on the phone to them begging them to stop as they were taking money that was allocated elsewhere - couple that with the hassle I had for claiming with my puppy, no thanks - I wont give them another chance.

We are with Medibank we pay $31.95 for Gordon which covers him for $15,000vet fees.

This also allows an annual benefit for all of the following:

1. $30 – Vaccinations or Health Check (we shall claim this for todays booster shots)

2. $10 – Heartworm test or Blood screen

3. $10 – FeLv/Fiv test or urinalysis

4. $45 – Flea /Tick/Worm control

Plus

1. $70 annual benefit for ONE of the following: De-sexing
Micro-chipping

2. Heartworm preventative medication (we have had a 6 pack of heartworm stuff already which normally costs around $70)

3. Teeth cleaning (this is routine dentals)

4. Council registration fees (not applicable to us)

5. Alternative therapies

6. Prescription diets

7. Dewclaw removal

8. Cremation or burial

9. Behavioural therapy (by a qualified animal behavioural therapist or vet)

10. Dental illness treatment (dental trauma included under main benefits accident cover)

11. Obedience training (at a recognised training facility)

Now with PPlan, we paid $27.40 for $12,000 cover and that had no health extras included so for the sake of paying $5.00 extra which equates to an extra $60.00 a year, we get $100 worth of stuff which is purely vaccination and heartworm control plus we are insured for $15,000 which can make all the difference in certain injuries and illnesses.

Actually I think we pay a bit less than $31.95 as we are already Medibank Private members.

aaawww poor Wilbur. I love Vizslas. Both Simon and Dave were vizslas but are now in the big field in the sky chasing bunny rabbits.

That is such a painful condition to have With cats they can die quite suddenly with pancreatitis.

My whippet had that with frequent flare ups, she had to be on a low fat prescription diet and absolutely no treats whatsoever and we had to do her blood tests frequently to check her enzyme levels. I remember holding her tiny body during one particular bad episode while she was in her kennel at the vets, she was wriggling about and crying, they gave her an injection and some fluids if my memory serves me and she settled but it was awful to watch.

Hope Wilbur gets over it.

Special dogs... and probably about to become flavour of the month after winning Crufts... which is a shame because, as you know, they need plenty of exercise and 'trendy' dogs don't always get the treatment they need.

Thank you! Brilliant thanks for the info had looked at Medibank and thought they sounded good but would rather go on a recomendation.

Nope they don't. Dave came from the same breeding line as Yogi. He was a wonderful dog and did very well when shown. Miss him lots.

I have met many people here who love their dogs just as much as people in the Uk do, and plenty of people in the UK who didn't want to spend money on their pets health.

I know one person here who spent $5k on vets fees after his dog was attacked by a kangaroo!

Personally I don't have pet insurance, and never had. There has only been one thing in my dogs life that insurance would have covered anyway (she is 9) and that was when she was attacked by another dog. The dogs owner did however pay all the vet fees. I am in a position where I could afford to pay vets fees, so I think this is actually better for me.

My dogs name is Charlie by the way.

A few years ago my dog jumped a gate and got her leg caught in it. It dislocated her hip and she was in agony.
We didn't have pet insurance at the time, having read an article that concluded it was generally a waste of money.
We rushed her straight to the vet and she had emergency surgery at the cost of approx £1000. It wouldn't even have occurred to me to have her put down, unless the vet had said there was no hope.
We put it on the credit card and paid it off. Best money we ever spent - 7 years later she is still with us and I love her to bits

I can't understand why people have pets if they are not going to take care of them when they most need it. If somebody doesn't want to spend £X on a cat then that is fine, but don't get a cat.

I have always had pet insurance but thankfully have never had to use it. I will have to get some organised over here soon. I paid about £20 a month for two cats in the UK and barely noticed it so well worth the peace of mind.

I also have a bit of a bugbear about people who dump their animals when they emmigrate, because in many cases, I think that it is cost driven and nothing to do with the welfare of the animal. As if being rehomed is good for them.

We're emigrating, hopefully, in September and wouldn't dream of leaving our 3 cats, they are 5 years old and healthy. I think that if they were elderly, then yes we would think about whether it was best for them not to come, but would never consider dumping them or having them put down. Our cats are a part of our family.

With regard to insurance Alan (our white cat), is one that seems to attract trouble, he's twice been bitten by foxes, first time more seriously than the second and also got flu whilst in a cattery which he past on to the other two, of course these all happened over weekends. We had insurance but other than the first incident didn't claim. We decided to cancel it in the UK and put money aside instead. However we have no idea what Alan will do in Oz and feel it best to arrange insurance cover at least for the first year.

Derek is above exerting herself too much and will most likely stay inside the vast majority of the time and is scared stupid of anything that moves or anybody she doesn't know. Clive, well, he's the sensitive type really, likes a bit of exploring but not too much and if Alan leads him on an adventure you'll find Clive cowering afterwards - it's all too much. Alan, is just Alan, a curry eating, boiled egg stealing, I'm so cute feed me salmon cat.
Attached is a couple of photo's taken today of a couple of things they dragged home .. lol. OK it's the kids but we thought it was funny. (The tabby is clive, the white one is Alan, the one in blue top is Kate and one grey shirt is Alex).

We've ad pet pal (uk) as long as we've ad our dog. 8wks old...more than glad of it wen he was 8month old, wen he ad a GDV twisted gut, vet bills over £1000..i would ave paid it tho.......was told if we heard from the vets within 3hrs, it was bad news.

we got 4n call bout 2 1/2hrs later....but was good news, and by the following afternoon asked us to pick him up as he was getting strest at the vets, even tho we were told we wouldn't get him back 4 3days.

he is coming to Melbourne with us, i dont care how much he cost me.

then get insurence as soon as we get him there.

or even pet plan!!!!

As an Australian who appreciates our native wild life, it might be a good idea to leave your cats in the uk, or if you do bring them keep them inside.
A lot of Australians are not as " cat friendly" as most europeans, and shooting them is a national pastime ...............MM