Apologies for typo's my keyboard is not functioning properly.

Sadly I have had to have 2 of my dogs referred for specialist surgery at The Queen Mother Vet Hospital Potters Bar for soft tissue repair for Brachycephalic Airway Obstruction Syndrome (BOAS). I had my dogs insured previously with M&S but as I am on my third biopsy for breast cancer & have had to give up work & study I let all policies lapse a while back. I've just come through 3 op's on my 6 yr old dog through licking crumbs from the floor which resulted in a gastrotomy due to her intestines becoming blocked  as she'd swallowed my hair when I was very unwell & unable to exercise them as usual so restricted their diet. She had further complications including peritinitis (spelling sorry) that could have been avoided had her initial surgery not been badly manged, however due to my helth I had, had to transfer from my private vet to a subsidised service. I am now keen to reinstate insurance on my remaining healthy dogs as I have had additional serious problems with my other dogs. I worked as a broker years ago so realise there will be exemptions for the one who had several surgeries from the initial gastrotomy and since then has been diagnosed with a grade 2 heart murmour (any other policy holder feedback re this welcomed).

I have no local support network, my bill with the 2 dogs not previously mentioned is currently over £5,000 in 2 days but I don't care as these doggies have licked my tears and kept my spirits up regarding my own health probs. I realise that BOAS will not be covered for the ones currently critical however I will post seperately about that. I am not sure how the heart situation stands for my older dog, but have her & 2 healthy ones can anyone recommend the best insurance company to approach for a lifetime insurane who if anything is diagnosed in the first or subsequent years are not excluded as the annual policy is renewed. Obviously I have 5 dogs so if there is a discount for more than one pet it would be hepful.

At the present moment I have 1 dog with laryngeal collapse (which could have been prevented had the vet been on the ball when I was insured) but she has come through the ansthetic well. My younger dog however is seriously critical and has had to be sedated on IV drip and tracheotomy (spelling sorry) as she is not able to breathe whilst up and about energetically due to throat surgery.

I have already in 2 days reached a rising cost of £5,000 with the blow of pallative care for my dog that has the laryngeal collapse so I just would like to hear from people who have experience of any of the above and an help me out with advice as to how to get the best overall cost effective insurance on my remaining 3.

I have had a head trauma myself so please bear with me as I can take a while to process and understand/interpret things correctly.

I feel beside myself with worry over my furry family in distress that have helped me through so much so far.

Any response is greatly appreciated & once again apologies for the blips on my dodgy keyboard.

Hi I am not sure if saying I am so sorry for your situation is of any help at all oh dear doesnt life sometimes offer us such awful situations to get through and often for no fault of ourselves or anyone else either.

I am not sure of which ins companies can offer exactly what you are looking for but would consider giving a few a ring. Including Petplan ( expensive but good) animal friends who I have just changed to and were prepared to offer me cover with an couple of exclusions for previous illness on one of my dogs
I dont know if you are in receipt of benefits but if so have you spoken to the pdsa as to costs of treatment.

I may be totally wrong but I thought there was a charity other than the pdsa that could help with costs of vet care.
I know that wasnt quite what you were asking

oh yes and another company that seems to have recently popped up offering good policies at a price is vet sure
I do hope you can find some help and that you and the furries have improved health soon
I nothing else cd is a good place to come to vent your feelings and feel you are not alone with almost anything just have alook at the variety of non dog problems that are talked about without the dog ones
Dont worry about your typing just look at mine, fortunately most people here are very tolerant of people with dyslexic fingers  !

I am sorry to hear about the troubles with your furries,and can imagine how you feel,veterinary care can quickly escalate, i know because i am in a similar situation.

I have three dogs and all are with different companies,the newest company that i have put my young dog in is John Lewis, for £16 a month the level of cover per year is £10.000, plus £1000 for complimentary treatment,in my opinion that is good compared with some of the well known ins companies. Sure they will offer a discount for more than one dog.

Hope this helps a little, it,s a tough time for you,all the best.

John Lewis offer a 5% discount for another dog, I also got my girl insured and even though she had exclusions they were very accomodating and as I was so specific and had everything checked out by experts they will actually cover her completely, with only one specific exclusion which is fine as she has been specialist checked and given the all clear...

Also just a big ton of sympathy for your situation it sounds so difficult xx

Please excuse typos I have a problem with my keyboard malfuntioning, so it is not through carelessnesspartiularly the a nd c buttons.
Thank you everyone so far and anyone else who can add positively and negatively to assist me further. I was previously with M&S but this was yrs ago before the revisions they made to policies. I had to canc my ins policies, without details...................
I consulted the RSPCA best UK hosp, however, they are not like the Rolf Harris Show and hence I had to deal with inppropriate treatment and misdignosis, even disputes bout treatment needed. I encoutered refusal (this was by only ONE specific notorious member of staff) to admit my potentially life threatened dog under their care (previously mentioned & ther member of staff begged me to complain to David Grant  the director of the facility as it was re-ocurrant (SP) however I haven't had time due to the latest probs). I am afraid it depends on which vet you are assigned to, and I was physically assaulted in their main reception by other animal owners whilst waiting to pay a bill because those queueing were annoyed the vet nurses were taking a while to calulate my bill. I have PTSD agoraphobia and am recovering from 2 burgularies attempted on my home in the past 8 months whilst inside! In addition to an assault. The RSPCA continued to treat these people's pets, despite me having to take loans out as I had violent repercussions that same time span in a calculted manor just outside the premesis (thus exempt from RSPCA laws) from 'steeetwise twenty-something'  aggressors with big dogs saying stuff INSIDE reception like "If you hurried up and died from cancer it'd have been quicker for us to pay our bill bitch". This is why I make this enquiry.............sorry I am very upset. Looking after the 2 of my dogs that have come out one with a fairly non committal prognosis, but the other one if she gets thru it a good chance. I suffer from anxiety and I fear that this is exacerbated from living in London in the first place. I relly would like to make certain I can hear back from those who know I can attend a different non poorly/income based vets and feel reassured that altho on a low income the only worry I have is to go without myself to save the already diagnosed as well as to py a yearly fee to cover my dogs from everything. The funds I have already paid have meant there is nothing that they can do for my other dogs, however, I m going without essentials to cover my recovering dogs. This is why I need the best advice for the remaining others. I have no family support. They are my reason for being

sorryy these are my reasons for being in search of a sound relible policy that will cover my dogs reamining who have no lifelong diagnosis to make sure I can try to avert all funds to the ones ot covered by insurnce due to my own poor health. i do not want to rely on the rspca. also aside from a vet requesting their notes is there a data prtection act thatt allows me to see the notes on my dogs to evluate things. it seems to be hit and miss s to who answers the phone as to whether hey re avialable on the rspca. I am sorry for bad grammar I have taken my night medication. Hope you understand x

Oh my goodness, I really feel for you...xx I don't know what to say, except that for a time I was also reliant on the same place. Rolf Harris it ain't.

Misdiagnosis, arguments, wrong treatments, hours of waiting which is a nightmare if you suffer from agoraphobia as I did for a time... Meaning I had to leave and miss my turn, then have to come back another day and start from square one.

And despite what people think, it's not free.

Do you live in a PDSA catchment area? I did when I was in E9 meaning if I had the right benefit proof (Council Tax/HB)I could go there instead. Just a bit better than the hellhole you mentioned, and it was bad enough a decade ago when I had no other options.

The PDSA refer me to the RSPCA as catch ment sorry for gap unintentional. The PDSA also state they will only treat 1 pedigree dog per family whereas I have rescued Chihuahuas so even if I was in the Victoria catchment it would be no use.
I was assaulted at the RSPCA due to impatient clients waiting to pay their bills. Sadly Terry and Ben (who you may know) were not around and Stan was in op so the female vet nurses had to take me back with the receptionist Mandy. Having suffered assault already and had a supposed support worker turn up 2 and a half hours late for their admission and leave before I was seen, the vet then said she may refuse to even treat my pets due to no shows (entireley down to professional employed support workers no show). My dogs have made me stay here for them, so I was devastated. A cab switchboard operator risked his job to accompany me out of the building as the female workers were too intimidated. This took an hour and 10 mins. There was a gut off the premesis waited all that time to have a go at me. I was shouted at "hurry up and die of caner as we could pay quicker then" and it was horrendous.

I really need a decent long term reliable and ongoing lifelong no exclusions policy to please please cover my remaining dogs who I cannot let down.

The RSPCA failed to diagnose laryngyle collapse in 1 dog and also never mentioned that a younger one almost died on intubation via a dental.

I looked up things on the internet and got a great vet Seb Prior who referred to the Potters Bar centre. I am not working due to the health probs I have but need to protect my others so please everyone give me some positive and negative feedback re insurane as if I have to be hospitalised I must know that even though I am saving for the 2 badly affected who cannot have kennel cough vaccs to be home cared for. That I can cater adequately for my other 3 dogs.

I never intended to have 5 dogs, it was just that my health situation became apparant and aggressive before I had a chane to home two.

Please please help, I am totally at my wits end and just want to do the best for them all.

Thank you in advance for your advice

Very sorry to hear your situation, must be very stressful. Just to add my own current experience of insurance.

Pets at Home seem quite reasonable in terms of cost/coverage and I have 6 dogs covered with them. I would definitely avoid Argos, I have 2 other dogs with them. They are extremely slow at paying out, lose paperwork repeatedly, often can't find their own paperwork on the system, split bills up so it looks look a new condition etc etc. Very stressful to deal with ime. They have just upped the renewal for one of my dogs from £330 to £550 so I won't be renewing with them as this dog had a couple of small vet bills this year so will look elsewhere.

Hope you get sorted and best wishes to you and the dogs.

M xxx

Thank you everyone and any additional info welcomed. I am trying to keep up but am quite poorly myself as wll as caring on a high level for my recently discharged doggies.

I am checking in as often as possible and am very thankful to those of you who have given me feedback.

You are lovely selfless wonderful people, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. x