Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi, just wondering what pet insurer to choose. Do most people choose pet plan?

Do you initially go for the yearly option or choose lifetime?? Or no insurance? So confusing!

My advice is always go for lifetime cover, and go for the maximum amount per year you can afford, preferably a minimum of £5k. Yearly cover isn't great, if they develop a condition for life, you are left paying it yourself.

When should you get it? Insure new kitty immediately? Or after it is neutered?

If you choose lifetime cover with an insurer, can you change to a different lifetime insurer when the year is up for a better quote? Or do you have to stay with them?

I will admit that we have never had ours cats insured (frantically touching wood), I did look at it when we got the two youngsters and decided that the amount we would would spend would go a long way to paying any vets bills. Like any insurance, pet cover is a gamble you hope you never win. However when I did look at it I knew that there was no way I could go for a one year policy, it would have to be one that would cover them for a lifetime condition.

The reason for me making this decision was that several years ago my Mother's cat became very ill very suddenly. She was rushed to the vets and put on drips while tests were done, they didn't really expect her to live the night. The tests came back that she was in a diabetic coma, and they started her on treatment immediately. When morning came my parents contacted the vets expecting the worst and were told what had happened. When they went to collect her she was bouncing around as if nothing was wrong and she hadn't been at death's door hours earlier. My parents had to make the decision as she wasn't insured, she could go onto insulin for life and would probably live for many years, or they could accept that the next attack would kill her. They were fortunate to be in a situation that they could afford the insulin.

I can accept not having the insurance and paying for what we can, I am not sure I could accept having an insurance policy that would pay for a year's treatment and then turn around and say that that, either pay yourself or the cat dies, I would have to know that any treatment started would be covered for the cats lifetime.

I once heard someone say that if every pet owner calculated the cost of insurance, and saved that money for emergencies, they would be in pocket.

And she was a vet nurse.

Admittedly I'm biased and may live to eat my words (though I hope not!) but I've had bad experiences with insurance in general.

Personally I feel that if you're strong-minded (and fortunate!) enough to keep a sum of money aside for any vet bills, this is better.

But I think it also depends on circumstances and the feeling of safety that insurance may bring ...

Good luck to us all (and our cats.)

Hi Vanilla
As stated above, it is a gamble. Mainly between whether or not your bank balance can cope with a £3,000 to £4,000 bill in the first 10 years or so of your cats life. If so, put the money you would have paid for pet insurance into a deposit account for them. Otherwise I would seriously consider taking out a life time insurance policy. Of my cats, Sally appeared well before pet insurance came along and I provided for her by putting £300 aside for her (just about all the spare money I had at the time) which I added to as finances permitted - this covered all Vet bills throughout her long life. There was enough left to do the same for Misty, who was too old (9) for pet insurance when I got him. I did insure Honey (3) who I got at the same time as Misty. Financially, it would have been more economic to do the same as I had done for Sally and Misty as she only started getting large vet bills in her old age, when the annual excess was larger than the vet bills! So Honey was quids in for Petplan. However, with Badger and Tilly the tables have been reversed, as Tilly especially has given Petplan a few large bills. There is also a perception that vets will be prepared to try more difficult (and consequently expensive) cures when they know they will be paid by an insurance company.

Like Lilith I'm not a big fan of Insurance companies. They are fine in theory but never seem to work in practice - perhaps that's just my experience.

I think if you have just one or two cats, from kittens then lifetime insurance would probably be a good idea. We have a little money set aside for Kitty emergencies and, so far, touch wood, it's been enough - though Bob needs a fund of his own!

Lilith wrote:I once heard someone say that if every pet owner calculated the cost of insurance, and saved that money for emergencies, they would be in pocket.

And she was a vet nurse.

Admittedly I'm biased and may live to eat my words (though I hope not!) but I've had bad experiences with insurance in general.

Personally I feel that if you're strong-minded (and fortunate!) enough to keep a sum of money aside for any vet bills, this is better.

But I think it also depends on circumstances and the feeling of safety that insurance may bring ...

Good luck to us all (and our cats.)

Sadly, I don't have that kind of luck - I've had Lucy 14 months, the claim in her first 12 months was £377, so far this year she's just had 2 acupuncture sessions but this month she's going spending the day having tests, plus another acupuncture session. To be fair, I do adopt older cats, although I hoped an 8year old would have a few healthy years!

I've never had insurance for the 3 cats that I have had so far. Two were strays an old cat and a young kitten. She went to the vet once to get spayed after she had her kittens and she's never been since (touch wood). We kept one of the kittens and he's the one I have spent the most on. He currently has cancer So far I have spent under £2000 on him since he was a kitten. Looking at the lifetime insurance costing between £200 - £300+ and multiplying that by average cat age of 16? Thats' about £3000- £5000 on insurance.

I think like one alanc said, probably best to set the money aside my self.

Thanks for helping me come to a decision!

Lilith wrote:I once heard someone say that if every pet owner calculated the cost of insurance, and saved that money for emergencies, they would be in pocket.

And she was a vet nurse.

Admittedly I'm biased and may live to eat my words (though I hope not!) but I've had bad experiences with insurance in general.

Personally I feel that if you're strong-minded (and fortunate!) enough to keep a sum of money aside for any vet bills, this is better.

But I think it also depends on circumstances and the feeling of safety that insurance may bring ...

Good luck to us all (and our cats.)

Well yes and no... When Jamie was just over a year old she was hit by a car (Good Friday 10 years ao it was) so emergency dash to the emergency vet - oxygen tent etc, three nights stay for her and then surgery to repair a ruptured diaphragm. The total cost of everything then was about £2500.00 - a lot of money. I pay £20 per month for her now (it wasn't that much all those years ago). So if I take the £20 and times that by 12 for an annual fee and then that by 11 (her current age) it comes to £2640... And I have had other claims for her so I definitely am more than quids in for her insurance

Personally - after that - I'd never not have a cat insured.

If you're like me and no good at saving, I can recommend taking out another credit card just in case you need to pay an otherwise unaffordable vet bill unexpectedly

To keep it live I put one small supermarket shop on it each month and pay it off at the end of the month

that's a good idea Kay.... may just do that.

Kay - that's why I had a separate deposit account for Sally!