Help me please,

I have a much loved GS bitch who I have had for 14 months. She is 18 months old now. Since February I have been to the vets twice and need to go again.

The first time i went she had a sore tummy, this cost me £35.00.

The second time i went she had an ear infection, this cost me £35.00.

She has now got smelly wee, goodness knows how much this will cost.

I dont have massive funds and have heard you can get pet insurance for about £10.00 per month. With the events of the last couple of months I am wondering if it would be worth me getting insurance.

Can anyone tell me where and how I can obtain insurance for her.

Thank you

Your vet can advise you, but I suggest you shop around and always read the small print. When I bought my puppy three months ago I took advantage of a discounted insurance through my breeder. I looked into swapping my other dog onto this policy, as it was cheaper than the one I already had. However when the quote came back it did not cover for any gastrointestinal related problems which my dog had previously suffered from. So be wary, a cheaper quote may not provide the best cover.

Rose

All insurances have an excess Donna, so the two bills of £35 each, you would have to pay yourself anyway, as well as the monthly premiums! Insurance is only helpful when you have large bills, running into hundreds of pounds, which are all too common with Vets' charges these days.

Thanks Val and Rose

Will ask the vet when I go and see them. I havent looked into Insurance at all yet, but didnt know there was an excess to pay. Dont know whether to see how she goes, or what. I cant bear the thought of her not being well. She is a much loved family pet.

Will look into it properly and think about it.

Bye the way Im having a baby in August, does anyone think jealously will be a problem. She is devoted to us, pathetically, but its LOVELY!!! (I already have a 5 year old).

Thanks anyway.

Hi Donna

Snap I am expecting in August as well !! When is your bump due ?

I have three Labs varying from 12 1/2 to six months old.

I have a daughter who is eleven and at the time had the eldest one and her mother. They were and still are my babies and made sure they were given lots of attention amd were not put on the back burner as often happens when a baby comes into the house. Not so much I think with most of the crew that post on here though ! :) I had complete trust in the girls but remember you can never trust them 100% and always keep an eye out.

I would have thought if you already have a five year old your girl will already have been used to children in the house and so will not be too much of a trauma for her. She will not of course have the experience of a crying baby ! My eldest Min is looking at my tummy and I am sure the cloggs are working bringing back the memories of lying down in a dark room with her paws covering her ears !! The other two don't know yet what is to come !!! :D

Lucy

The best insurance I've found so far is Intervet Lifelong (the vet should have details). They have the same "covered for life" policy as PetPlan, but they also send you a voucher each year towards the cost of vaccinations and a health check :)

I would say YES to insurance, as although your dogs trips to the vets have been relatively cheap so far, if they get really poorly or have an accident the bill could run into thousands of pounds.

Hope this helps :)

KathyM
xxx

You've got to remember that there is an excess that you will still have to pay, which is roughly 40 pounds (it differs with each company). So you still wouldn't have been able to claim anything for these trips to the vets anyway. However if you were to go back a second time with the same complaint then the insurance company would have to pay out.
You need to be careful which policy to go for.
The best is Pet Plan. Then there's Pinnacle and Pet Pals.
These all do lifetime cover (this means in the event of your dog getting a condition that will be with her the rest of her life, the company won't exclude after a year).
I learnt the hard way about insurance. My dog needed a major op, which i couldn't afford, so i took a loan out to cover it. The op didn't work and i ended up having to have her put to sleep. All my dogs are insured now.
Just remember to read the small print.
You could do a search on the internet or buy one of the dog magazines available (they advertise quite a few companies).
Or try ringing Neil on this number 01642 714880. He is a pet insurance expert and will help you find the right policy for you.
Hope this helps.

How about the Kenel CLub insurance - apparently they dont exlcude after a year also or have I got it wrong?

Hiya Pat, according to the Dogs Today magazine, the Kennel Club will only pay upto a certain amount of money for problems that don't go away. It also states that they would PROBABLY exclude expensive repeats, i.e gastric torsion.
The issue i've got that did a spread on insurance is a bit out of date, so possibly they could have changed their policies since.

i've insured my dogs with E and L insurance.it costs about £7 a month each, and seems to be good value for money.i can dig out the details if you're interested.

E and L have a very bad reputation.
There are a lot of people that have complained about the fact that they're so slow to pay up. Aparently they quibble about everything.
I was told this by a freind of mine who works in a vets. Also many of the forums that i frequent have had topics about pet insurance and no one has ever said anything good about E and L.
Just a word of warning.

Re. insurance, well worth it in our opinion, just one of Dylan's legs has cost around £3000, thank goodness for insurance, we are with UIA as we get it cheaper through other half's work, not sure on their normal prices though

Re. your dog and the new baby (congrats by the way) there is a good practical book - I think it was about a fiver) called 'Your Dog and your Baby - A practical Guide - by Silvia Hartmann-Kent, very simple commonsense stuff, I found it really useful when I had the two children after having the 2 dogs

All the best with everything, Hayley

I would say DEFINATELY YES to insurance - you never know what is around the corner and it would be nice to know that you can afford to treat your dog should anything happen . Although you need to pay excess this is buttons compared to the price of an operation etc
Lel

HI there, Have a look at more than I have found then very good. You get the first 2 months free , then 10 payments of £11.99. The cover is quite good and although they don't given £6000 every year per condition the £6000-£8000 cover balanced out in comparison with the payments I think makes for very good value. They were also rated hery highly in the which insurance report.

Have a look. [link]http://www.morethan.com/bin/bladerunner?REQUNIQ=1051504244&REQSESS=vj07ZR79&REQHOST=gb04qws080rsas7&REQAUTH=0&23050REQEVENT=[/link]

Just had a look - they give a max of 6,000 not reinstated every year. Pet Plan does 4,000 reinstated every year. I know that 6,000 seems an awful lot, but imagine the costs of long term treatment for a diabetic dog who is diagnosed at 1 year and lives to 15?

Although it does seem much more fair than other plans like Asda's or Tescos which is 12 months or 2,000 whichever comes first.

I personally like the idea of cover for life - I know a lot of people don't worry about the 'what if' factor, but I do. I don't ever want to have to make the choice between money and my dog. Between the two of them I can better afford £22 per month than I can £3,000 at a shot for emergency surgery. So I may not get it back - but that's the risk you take with ANY insurance. At the end of the day I have the peace of mind of knowing my dog can come first.

Wendy

I have done a bit of investigation and found Pet plan one of the best. They cover for life time illness (one months free if apply online). I asked if they covered for agility as I had read an article that stated a lady made a claim for her dog that was injured whilst competing and she was not covered. (sorry dont recall the company). Kennel club are now introducing an excess and for continuing illness they are charging a % excess. Be careful and check out all the small print. Do your sums and look for other additional benefits.

Pinnacle is also £6000 reinstated each year! We insured our imported boy with them.

I've just made a claim through Pinnacle, they couldn't have been more helpful when I phoned about it, I asked how long they took to settle claims, and they said no more then 2 weeks except in exceptional cases which is becoming more common, as vets bills are being hiked up on claim forms, she told me.

Robert

Hi Wendy you are right about the reinstated figure.

For me I was happy with this and insuring soon 2 be 4 dogs is expensive ( not that I mind). I decided that the difference between Pet plan payments and More than was just under £100 per year x 4 dogs so if I stuck the £400 in the bank I would be fine.

The £6000 was a figure the insurance companies decided that in worst cases this should still be enough. I can't argue for or against.

I do however have a fantastic vet who is very reasonable in price so felt my £6000 would go alot further.

There is arguements for and against them all but I guess it is down to what is best for the individual.

Pam

well to be honest I'm so disgusted how insurance can keep going up and the vets
putting their fees up.I'm not going to insure any longer.I'll insure my new puppy until 2yrs
by which time if anything genetic should show up it would have done by then.
I intend to put the money away and have one card for vet use.

I'm seeking out 3rd party cover only,I think if enough people do this vets and insurance
companies will soon get the message they can't rip people off.I always demand
a breakdown of all my bill to see exactly where my money is going,and how much i'm
being charged for drugs .

Briony

Not just vet bills going through the roof - the cost of all medical treatment is getting astronomical - you should feel VERY lucky we live in a country with a national health system - even with it's flaws. Where I originally come from (Canada) we also have a relatively good health system, but still often need health insurance above and beyond that (esp for medications which are NOT included on the national health!).

Medical costs - whether vet costs or human costs are rising - procedures take time. Costs are rising because the things that can be done these days are things we never dreamed of even 10 years ago in some cases. And to train for these specialist things takes a lot of money and years of specialist training. A human doctor does not have to know the diversity of anatomies, structures, etc that an animal doctor does.

Trust me these guys are not necessarily getting rich off of us!

We don't have (or didn't when I left almost 10 years ago), insurance for pets in Canada. I was THRILLED to find out that there was insurance available here for pets. As I said in a post above - although it may cost more than I may get out of it (and if I had more dogs I might have to re-think it) I am SO grateful I NEVER will have to make a life-costing decision for my dogs on the basis of cost.

Just the thoughts of someone coming from the outside.

Wendy

Sorry - didn't mean for my comment to say anything about your choice - was just explaining my choice. By far of the non-reinstating insurances this definitely sounds the fairest!

Wendy

YOu are right Wendy it is imprtant to bring everything to peoples attention.. The vet bills are getting crazy.

I am blessed having an excellent vet near by who doesn't over charge.

My last vet who I also loved , got a new practice and new prices so I left him..:-)

It is something I think all pet purchasers shoudl really look at before they stretch their budget..

BFN Pam.

Hi Donna,
For many years I have had my dogs insured. But the premiums go up every year, and should you make a claim because your dog became ill, then I found that this illness was excluded from the following years policy. Also I had to pay the first £50 of any treatment at the vets. Another downside of pet-insurance is the fact that when the dog reaches 8 years of age, the time when your dog could possibly require more medical treatment, most insurers refuse cover.
So now I do NOT insure my dog. Mind you when I first brought him home as a puppy, I did insure him for the first year. Two years ago I opened a savings account at the bank and put £10 a week into this account, I know that it is a risk, but he is still a young dog and fit and healthy. So far I have not had call use any of this fund, thank god. So unless something major should befall him the money is there for any treatment. And if he is lucky enough not to require any treatment, then the money is in my bank and not the insurance company's.

You pays your money ( or don't pay your money ) and take your chances!!!!
Best wishes
Harry C.

Harry's right, they do go up every year.
But if you find a decent company they won't stop the cover at the age of 8.
Most companies won't insure a dog over the age of 8, but if you're already insured by them they will continue the cover.
However you need to be careful as some companies put the excess up.

I have never totally trusted pet insurance companies so, similar to Harry, I set up a building society account and I put in a set amount each month to cover any large vet bills.
I wouldn't dip into it for the routine stuff - like annual check-ups etc. but it's good to know the money's there if I need it. And as Harry says, if I don't, then at least it's in my account and not some big company's. :)

Hi
We had a Standard Poodle who we took on at 6 years and had 8 very happy years with her. We never had her insured but when she had a twisted gut at 2 in the morning a couple of years ago we wished that we had her insured! We were on holiday at the time (with her!) and found an emergency vet who gave her very little hope as she was 11 at the time but operated never the less the op was a success she stayed at the vets for 3 nights and we stayed and then we bought her home.The operation only cost £100 which we were gobsmacked at but when we came home we needed to take her too our vet to have the stitches removed they charged us £45 just for the nurse to remove them !!! We mentioned to her about what we were charged on holiday and she said for the same operation in our town it would have cost more like £1000-£1500 so we were really lucky to be in the right place at the right time how can vets charge such different prices??? Just a few hundred miles down the road. So after this experience we decided the next dog we bought would be insured we looked around and heard some bad things about E&L not paying up and was advised by the vet not to go with them, but i still didn't go with who the vet wanted. We had 6 weeks free insurance with Pet Plan but when i read the info through we were hardly covered for anything and to get the level of cover i expected it was gonna be about £20 a month so i looked about and found Pinnacle and found the same level of cover with a cheaper excess £40 instead of petplans £60 and they cover conditions for life and after the dogs 8 and things like diabetes all for only £10.95 a month so i thought that was really good! a bit too good to be true really! Also i found some that you pay an excess but also you have to pay a percentage of the total cost which i think is unfair!! Pinnacle seemed the best for me and my GSD puppy!
Jinny (sorry it was so long)

Hi Donna,
IMHO insurance is a must.When our dog was 2 he managed to catch tetanus,we had to take him for daily jabs etc and our insurance covered everything(except excess).When he was 8 he got cancer,we took the decision to try chemo which was very expensive but again the insurance paid up in full.Unfortunatly he only lived another 6 months but when we took the decision to have him pts the insurance company again paid in full then reimbursed the money we paid for him in the first place!I am sure they made no money out of us whatsoever!In fact we questioned how they could make money at all??
We have a new puppy now and they have quoted us the same price for cover-no premiums going up like with cars!!I know cheaper insurance doesn't cover past the age of 8 and won't pay for ongoing illnesses and drugs etc but ours do.I think it is a case of you get what you pay for!!
Hazel

Hi Hazel
Sorry about your dog but hope you are enjoying your puppy, I am due to pick mine up in 5 weeks, feels like forever. I was interested in how helpful your insurance company had been, who do you use as I feel im in a mine field trying to find a good one.
Pauline

Hi Pauline,
I can't recomend this company enough.They have been brilliant.We have been with them for 9 years and now have our new puppy with them.They have always paid out quickly with no question and as I say I was amazed that we even got back the money we paid for George in the first place!
With our new puppy we got 6 weeks free insurance from the breeder(petplan) the kennel club and with the microchip.I had a look at the policies and none of them came anywhere near!The Kennel clubs is more expensive even!!
I think the poster after me uses the same company.They are called Pet healthcare services and I think are run by Royal sun alliance.Their number is 01491 571999.As I say I cannot rate them highly enough.I have heard so many friends and relatives moaning about dog insurance saying that they won't pay for this or that and I always tell them that you get what you pay for!This company has never questioned anything and I am sure they paid us more than we ever paid in premiums(I know the industry is in a bit of a slump!).They will keep paying up untill the age of 11 I think and the cover is so much higher than the others.
When we first joined them there wasn't many dog insurance policies out there and I am sure they were called something to do with horses.I think they were a company insuring livestock in general and then branched in to pets.
Anyway I hope this has been of help.As I say I have never had any cause to complain about them and my daft Boxer managed to contract tetanus when he was a pup and then we went through it all at Christmas with the cancer.The company even sent us a lovely letter saying how sorry they were(although they were proberbly quite pleased the amount he cost them!!)
Hope this helps and very good luck with your new pup!!
Hazel

Hi Hazel
Thanks for the advice, I will give them a ring.
Regards Pauline

Hi Donna

Pet Insurance - a subject close to my heart!

My last GSD (sadly pts Dec 2002) ran up vet bills of in excess of £10,000 in her lifetime. She was insured but with DBI who excluded on conditions after 12 months. I would NEVER have an uninsured dog. My dogs are now with Pet Healthcare Insurance Services, with a vet fee limit of £7000 per condition, no exclusion for age. I find them helpful, prompt and fair.

I have always thought how sad it must be for an owner who's dog develops a condition which can be treated, but is very expensive. If they cannot afford it, how must they feel. Yes vets fees are high, but look at the progress made with animal health and surgery. Let's face it, not all conditions are going to show up by 2 years old, hereditary or not. One of my shepherds problems was anal furunculosis, which didn't show up until she was 7 yrs old. The drug to treat it (a human transplant drug Cyclosporin) cost us £180 per month. You never know what is round the corner, but I never want to be in a situation where I can't afford to treat a problem.

Personal view only, but especially with a GSD I wouldn't take the chance. Insure before something does develop and then becomes an existing condition which is excluded.

Katrina