This, if possible. One of my papillons had a build up of bladder stones that had to be controlled with food. Sadly, we bought a slight variation of the urinary food(same brand) thinking it was the same and kept reordering for a year. As a result she had to undergo surgery to remove a blocked bladder because it got so bad.. we were heartbroken at the time.
Vet bill is climbing
- Thread starter kinger8938
- Start date
It’s all labour and prices set by pharmaceutical companies. If you get a prescription in the UK you can buy the medication cheaper online.
The cost of human medication is astronomical, too.
Caporegime
I would like a dog but I’ll never own a pet at this rate…
I'm surprised that it wasn't suggested you put the cat on special food the first time round. This happened when my dog had bladder stones because it refused to drink enough. The urinary care food must have something like a higher amount of salt to encourage the animal to drink.
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Man of Honour
It's not that simple, pet insurance is even more a rip off than car insurance. I insured my two kittens last year with Petplan for £240 for both of them for the year for a total of £4000 cover. This year they hiked it to £302 for the pair of them for the year despite never claiming. If they hike it that much every year it rapidly becomes unaffordable for many people. I switched and got it back down to £260 to cover both of them for a year with £5000 cover plus get a £75 Amazon voucher for each policy after 4 months. Depending on how much they hike it next year will depend on if i stick or switch again but from my understanding of pet insurance I will only be able to do this for so many years because as they get older it becomes more and more difficult to get competitive cover and once they pass 7 years many will refuse to insure new customers at all. Personally I would never have a pet if I couldn't afford the vet's bills and weren't able to keep them safe and fed. Even when I didn't have pet insurance on a older cat I took in he never went without and got treatment as and when he needed it.
Going by your way of thinking it should be applied to children as well, if you can't afford to raise them, don't have them. Far too many people have kids that they then can't afford to feed and clothe and depend on the state to fund them. It's no different really except that pets have to be entirely funded by the owner.
Based on what some of the guys are posting above you all need to find different vets because compared to our vets prices yours are astronomical!!
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While I agree somewhat, our old dog isn't insured for the reasons of:
£70 per month - £1500 cover per year, with first 40%(?I think it was this) covered by us, plus £100 excess.
So £840 a year, and if we to claim the full £1500 we'd be paying £600 (+£100 excess) towards that..means, what is the ****ing point?
We just put the cash aside for him and hope he doesn't need it until it's his time.
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They don't offer this any more. We have 3 cats and one dog on this and as you say, expensive at the time, but great in the long run as they get older.
They wouldn't allow one of our dogs on as he was 5 when we got him, and the other was young enough but they had changed policy or something and no further pets could be put on the lifetime plan.
It makes future ownership tricky, as with normal insurance, the goal posts shift so much you can't make a sensible plan unless you want to remortgage your home every now and then.
Or at least get the animal put down rather than dumping or something.
We kill animals in the thousands, brutally. Although I would never put my boy down.. If you can't afford to insure you need to be able to make the decision to put them down.
Soldato
Sorry to hear this. My old cat George had this problem his whole life. We put him on royal canin urinary s/o and it mostly eased the issue right off. Expensive food but well worth it. He lived to 18.5 in the end.About 2 years ago, our cat went to the vet with a blocked bladder. I think it cost about £500 (wasn't insured). We then insured him as the shock of a vet bill scared us a bit.
None of the following will be covered as they will class it as a pre-existing condition
Present day, it's happend again. Took him in Thursday, cost £790! Came home with the hope he would now wee by himself. Come Friday morning, he hadn't but was clearly trying so took him back and confirmed he was blocked again. Left him there. Another £895!!
This time they put a catheter in, and said he needs to stay somewhere to be monitored over the weekend. They got an estimate of £160 per day and I had to pick him up to take him just over an hour away
When I got there to pick him up and take him to the other place, the estimate was way off and it's actually £320 a day
And that's where we are currently. Waiting for a call this morning with an update.
Just not really sure how far I can justify this to go. With this first day being monitored, the bill overall sits around £2000.
It could just happen again down the line if not right away. He's otherwise a happy healthy chap, 9 years old and doesn't seem right to cut him short over this but need to be sensible financially.
Any one had similar? At the moment its a credit card job and will hopefully do a transfer to 0% once we know the final figure but again, how longs a piece of string
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Im desperately hopeful that it doesn't come to it for us. He's my little mate. Honestly the most clingy cuddly cat I've ever known
Even on the drive from out vet, to this over night one, he stretched his paws out of the bars and rested them on my knee for most the trip! Guilt trip or what!
But I'll do what's right if it comes to that. Just need to decide on our limit for how far to let it go money wise if he's not better after this bout.
Sure, I wish I kept the original insurance in place, and the last episode made me take it out incase he suffered anything worse. I knew this wouldn't be covered but there we go!
Vet did say I could try, but it's pretty clear
Yeah I can imagine they would try and wriggle out at the best of times. Can't imagine they'd pay except for a mistake on their part.
I totally empathise. I worry a kodas insurance not being enough. I think it's 3k per year per condition.
I'd pay whatever I could for him so have to have insurance really.
I have some ex battery hens which can't be insured and at some point it crosses into "this isn't worth it". But it's easier with chickens as usually.. If the bill is expensive 9 times out of 10 they can't be saved anyway.
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My cat had cancer, cost us around £10k for the treatment all told, due to insurance it cost me the grand total of around £120, plus fuel to take her for chemo.
It's a lesson I learnt the hard way as I had a dog with epilepsy and no insurance.
I hope you get a favourable outcome
It's a lesson I learnt the hard way as I had a dog with epilepsy and no insurance.
I hope you get a favourable outcome
Soldato
I'd agree with you if there were also legislation preventing insurance companies from increasing their premium more than x% at renewal, but that's not going to happen, so what do the people who could afford it do when their insurance increase by 500%, put the animal down or dump it on the street?
I can easily afford the £60/month we pay at the moment, but if that went up to £300 it would be a different story...
Associate
About 2 years ago, our cat went to the vet with a blocked bladder. I think it cost about £500 (wasn't insured). We then insured him as the shock of a vet bill scared us a bit.
None of the following will be covered as they will class it as a pre-existing condition
Present day, it's happend again. Took him in Thursday, cost £790! Came home with the hope he would now wee by himself. Come Friday morning, he hadn't but was clearly trying so took him back and confirmed he was blocked again. Left him there. Another £895!!
This time they put a catheter in, and said he needs to stay somewhere to be monitored over the weekend. They got an estimate of £160 per day and I had to pick him up to take him just over an hour away
When I got there to pick him up and take him to the other place, the estimate was way off and it's actually £320 a day
And that's where we are currently. Waiting for a call this morning with an update.
Just not really sure how far I can justify this to go. With this first day being monitored, the bill overall sits around £2000.
It could just happen again down the line if not right away. He's otherwise a happy healthy chap, 9 years old and doesn't seem right to cut him short over this but need to be sensible financially.
Any one had similar? At the moment its a credit card job and will hopefully do a transfer to 0% once we know the final figure but again, how longs a piece of string.
What's the limit of too much is too much? If it starts impacting your life heavily is it worth it?
Also can't you just get someone else to take it to the vet?
Wtf. In my opinion that is unethical but people love their pets!
This is unfair, as it seems like vets are not above taking the **** it seems. Growing up (fairly poor) we had pets that just lived and died.....natural way of life. 2.000, 18.000 etc treatment is just madness.
Soldato
So your 7 year old cat gets hit by a car, and a £2k operation will save them and let them live a normal life, but, nah, just let them die?
My petplan covered for life hasn't gone up 500% since we started the plans 12 and 9 years ago.
The price doesn't go up for claiming either, it goes up each year regardless but not 500%.
That's a very expensive policy for £1500 of cover. But regardless, you have to question if you'd put an old dog through major surgery anyway. Putting money aside is fine but if on month 2 you get the £10k bill and you've saved £140, not great.
Soldato
Vets are taking the pee with their costs! Why so much?
Man of Honour
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- 21 Nov 2004
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I think there was a time when insurance was optional, but with the way vet bills have gone now, its worth its weight in gold. Even with routine stuff it almost pays for itself. Hope you manage to sort it OP.
Unfortunately, he's not going to have 10k spent on him if he needs that to survive
finding insurance for an old dog at that level is difficult, and for good reason, insurers don't want to be spending 10k on keeping elderly dogs/cats alive.We'll do our best to keep him happy, but if there is an illness or injury on his path, then it will be decided on a cost/benefit basis. So, yea, a cream for a skin condition, an injection, tooth, minor stuff, well pay for. Broken bones, ligaments, cancer etc, he's done for at that point