I don't insure my dogs but I do put money away each month to pay vet bills.
One of my dogs has recently been unwell she had a bowel ulcer and was in hospital for a week why the vets worked out what was wrong with her. As a consequence she has been shaved to an inch of her life. Now I have people asking what's been wrong with her fair enough when I explain they say hope your insured when I say no most people pull a face and make me feel as if I'm a bad owner. But she's had all the medical care she needed.
So I can't understand what there problem is really surely as long as the dogs had the medical care she needed it dosent matter if she's insured or not. Does anyone else encounter this or is it just me ?

Why not just say Yes instead of no? It's none of their business anyway! :)

One of mine isn't insured, although he has a healthier bank account than I have! Other one is insured, however they both get all the treatment they need. It's a matter of choice whether you insure, nothing to do with anyone else, if you choose not to insure it doesn't make you a bad owner - on the other hand insuring doesn't make you a good owner! Ignore people, there is always someone that is happy poking there nose in to your business - it's not as if you are asking them to pay the bills!

I have never insured any of my pets.  Last summer my little dog sustained a nasty eye injury and I really believed he would lose his eye.  However my lovely vet tried very hard to do what she could, and after numerous visits spread over a 5 week period she finally said his eye was 100% back to normal.  Yes, it cost me a lot of money - but probably not as much as I would have spent for insurance over 9 years plus the excess on the policy.

When they say they hope he is insured there prob mean that it sounds like it's was a big pricy vet bill, not everyone can afford to pay out all at once for a big bill, so it's just something people tend to say. When mine had a big bill people said that all the time, they didn't mean anything by it. The faces were prob because when u said no he wasn't insured that would mean that you would have to pay the bill yourself, they could either be shocked that you could pay a big bill or thinking about how much the bill might be or thinking themselves 'man I'd not like to pay that bill' sort of thing. Again They won't be meaning anything by it normally.

As someone else said its none of their business.
We dont & never have insured ours, we put an amount away & add to it when we can & when it is needed it is there to use. We certainly arent out of pocket & in all possibility less than paying out for insurance every month. Would add up to quite a bit with 8 to do. It is a big plus that we have a breed which is fairly healthy & have experience to know what/when we need to go to the vets with.

I robotically took out insurance just shy of 40.00 per month for a puppy. I am wondering now if i did the right thing. Made me chuckle at the one who is wealthier than the owner!!

I insure mine with Sainsburys - thought about putting it into an account each month instead. But worked out that over 15 years at £16 a month the possible payout benefits are more than the total we would "collect". So decided to carry on with insurance. I would agree that it is certainly none of their business, but the way the world is these days with everyone claiming for everything most people presume by default that everything is insured!

The only dog we didn't insure needed £10-£15k worth of treatment, luckily we could afford the treatment but I still kick myself for not getting him insured.

Well I can't afford to Insure all 6 of mine, and fortunately never have spent more than the equivalent of one dogs premiums on all of them in any year.

If something big came up I'd rely on savings or lines of credit.

Mine are all insured except for the 14 year old, as it would have cost too much for her.
Sometimes I think 4 premiums is a lot to pay, but then sods law if I decided to cancel you can bet then I would get a massive vet bill for one of them.
I have been considering setting up an account, but I would need to top load it with a few thousand pounds to start with just to cover any eventuality and that is not possible at present.

As I said I do put money away monthly for my dogs so the money was there when I needed it no problem. But how I choose to do things is up to me as long as my dogs don't suffer is all that matters. But people seem to think your stupid or not caring enough all because you don't have insurance.
I've had this girl 3 years she's now 8 and she's never cost me a penny in vet bills until now so not bad really.
I think if anyone asks it's easier to just say yes she was insured as it's what people expect.
And hope her coat Hurrys up and grows back.

Just to add an amusing little tale, I was telling a very elderly friend that my boy has a good bank account rather than insurance. She didn't like that idea because she couldn't understand how he signed the cheques at the vet, and what would happen if he died - had he made a will??? I found it easier to just tell her that I had sorted it all out with the bank so it would be ok. Bless her, she was so concerned.

Ours aren't insured, the premiums v payout finances are just ridiculous with 4 of them. We put money aside in a virtual account each month instead.

It may well be worth joining Dogs Trust for £25 p/a  (£12.50 for "pensioners") as this will give you third party cover for all your dogs in case they cause an accident.

Of course you don't have to insure Thats personal choice.I do because I have seen the size if vets bills that I have incurred and would rather not take the chance of not being able to treat. If you feel you can cover it yourself then great. Your choice.I do however thing gets point is a good one or check your household insurance to see if that covers your digs for third party incidents. Most insurance is choose not legislation..

>Now I have people asking what's been wrong with her fair enough when I explain they say hope your insured when I say no most people pull a face and make me feel as if I'm a bad owner.

Why do you let it make you feel like that? Surely their expression simply means a sympathetic "Gosh, that's a shame, it must have cost you a lot of money" rather than criticism? They're admiring your love and committment to your dog!

As we've always kept numbers, I have never been able to insure - not viable!!    And what finishes it for me too is the excess.   Most of my vet visits come in just under the excess figure (of course!) so I'd end up paying the premijm AND the vet bill!    Over the years, I had vets who allowed us to 'stage pay' if it was necessary, we hit a bad patch too.   I may yet regret not insuring, but right now we are in as good a financial situation to pay an unexpected bill as we have ever been.  Insurance Companies are in the biz. for themselves, not you - so even with interest rates as low as they are atm, I'd rather have the money in my a/c.    My intention was always to put money aside but that never happened!!

It always worries me however, that when I switch vets (moving) one of the first questions is 'are they insured'.   Why?   Is their treatment going to be inferior if they are not - or are they going to charge MORE if they are insured?   Is insurance putting up the overall charges vets make, because they know their clients can claim off their insurance?

If people ask about your dog/insurance - you don't have to answer!!!

Why do you let it make you feel like that? Surely their expression simply means a sympathetic "Gosh, that's a shame, it must have cost you a lot of money" rather than criticism? They're admiring your love and committment to your dog!      I think this is probably accurate!! 

ps   Down to 2 now, I went for quotes - shock!   I wanted insurance, not to buy the companies.   And one of mine isn't an 'at risk' breed either.

I don't have particularly "unhealthy" breeds but have been unlucky that I've claimed an awful lot from my insurance companies over the years.  They have certainly paid out more than I've paid in and that is with 6-7 dogs at a time. Just last week, when I lost Winnie, I paid out over £1500 in her treatment. It makes her premium of £52 a month seem very reasonable (and we'd already had a claim of over £600 earlier in the year). Last year Faith swallowed a stone resulting in a blockage, now that could happen to anyone. Vet fees = £1150. Her insurance for that year around £180.

If you have a lot of money in reserve then insurance probably isn't essential. I'd rather not take the risk.

So I went to a see Trevor Cooper today at one of his semiars, and he was talking about insurance. Which got me thinking, if you dont insure (rather save the premium each month) how do you insure against third party and liability? (Like through the dogstrust or another company/charity?)

I have 6 dogs. A st bernard (almost 7), a german shepherd (6), a doberman (3), a cocker spaniel (almost 9), a springer (1) and a cocker (almost 5). My annual insurance premium is almost EUR950 which I pay in monthly payments. I have insurance for them as I could not afford a serious vet bill so I was glad to have it when my dobe was ill last year. My renewal premium didnt go up which I was surprised at.

third party insurance. Check your household policies some will cover you or take out a subscription with dogs trust and then you get cover. Goodpoint not everyone will think about that personally I think is very important

Gosh I wonder which country you are insured in,  Euro 950 equates to £757, if that is annual total for all 6 dogs that is amazing.
I paid £491 for ONE 6yr GSD in Oct 2013 and I imagine it will be up again this time.