Soldato
True, however, I don't know if there's a shared database for pets between insurers.
Vet bill is climbing
- Thread starter kinger8938
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True, however, I don't know if there's a shared database for pets between insurers.
Insurers are not stupid, this is an easy fraud to detect. Registering an older pet and claiming it has no medical history just as you lodge a big claim is going to get their attention straight away. Really better just getting a cover for life policy at a young age, these policies where treatment is limited to one year then you cant claim again are pretty poor, especially with these low claim cover limits as well.
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Soldato
I agree, and it's not something I'd do personally.
Both my pets have been insured since we took ownership. Though we adopted our cat so weren't aware of any preexisting conditions. Turns out he didn't have any other than a ridiculous sense of self-entitlement and bravado. It does make me wonder if, a few weeks into ownership, something came up, would the insurance have stumped up.
Soldato
There's that and there's also a quality of life argument. Having animals means having to make decisions in their best interests, not yours. I think the scenarios you can rack up massive vet bills which are in the animal's interest, rather than the owner's, are relatively narrow.I have two dogs. 11 year old black lab and a 6 year old husky. They are both part of the family but you also need to be realistic with costs. Would I pay 2k-4k to save them as a one off cost yes. But if something kept happening then its either putting them down or giving them away if anyone would take them. In the end of the day they are animals and I have to make sure I have enough money for the Human family
That's not to mention the increasing number of animals being treated for chronic health conditions (long term diabetes, obesity related conditions etc) because they are poorly looked after or suffer the effects of inbreeding.
Man of Honour
Our dog developed an illness before Christmas that, after some failed treatment and back and forth, turned out to be Pyometra.
Initial vet bills:
1300 EUR
Surgery:
2600 EUR
She made a full recovery and is now back to her old self.
It was expensive but there we go, the alternative is to let her die and that wasn't deemed an alternative. I've got a good job and it's only money.
Initial vet bills:
1300 EUR
Surgery:
2600 EUR
She made a full recovery and is now back to her old self.
It was expensive but there we go, the alternative is to let her die and that wasn't deemed an alternative. I've got a good job and it's only money.
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Glad she's back to normal!
Everyone's situation/circumstances will vary. I hope our guy is ok, he seems alright today but still not expressing loads of wee. He's happy in himself.
He's due a check up to see tomorrow morning, but if they find he's still blocked then I feel I may need to make that decision. Will Be hard if it comes to it. But here's hoping it doesn't.
Soldato
Good luck, hope it's good news, I know it's heartbreaking, and I hope we never end up having to make that decision for purely financial reasons
I guess it would be more likely to apply in one-off injuries rather than ongoing illnesses. When Ember was hit by a car earlier in the year, there was no question as to whether we wanted to go ahead with the surgery, insurance or not (luckily it was covered). She's since made a full recovery, but if it was just a matter of "keeping them alive" even if that life is miserable... Yeah, not such an easy decision (even if it should be)
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Good luck, hope it's good news, I know it's heartbreaking, and I hope we never end up having to make that decision for purely financial reasons
I guess it would be more likely to apply in one-off injuries rather than ongoing illnesses. When Ember was hit by a car earlier in the year, there was no question as to whether we wanted to go ahead with the surgery, insurance or not (luckily it was covered). She's since made a full recovery, but if it was just a matter of "keeping them alive" even if that life is miserable... Yeah, not such an easy decision (even if it should be)
Thanks!
Yeah they did talk to me about how some people go down a surgical rabbit hole with this sort of condition, where they literally remove the cats "bits" and other stuff to bypass the issue but doesn't necessarily stop the discomfort (if anything, sounds like it adds to it.) I'd sooner let the chap go peacefully than chasing it like that, plus the cost would then go up and up too no doubt.
Associate
If it was one off cost then maybe but probably not. To have such ongoing costs is just stupid though reading some examples on this thread.
Then again we live in a "society" where people refer to their für babies. Anyone who does this should be a shot tbh.
Soldato
Yeah, when prices go up we should just have our pets put down.
Thing is that prices have gone up massively in a very short time.
In the medium term, insurance has made matters much worse. Prices have gone up ~500% in the last twenty years.
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Yeah I don't think there would have been any contest from the insurance as you genuinely wouldn't have known for sure the cats previous history.
Dogs have to be chipped and I do wonder whether they use that as an identifier for the dogs permanent record. If you gave away a dog, it wouldn't be too hard for a new vet to find out its history. But a cat that's not chipped could be a lot harder to discover that history.
Soldato
Yup to me that's just insane.
Obviously I hope that Ops cat is fine, I don't want any harm to any pet animal, yes of course look after them.
But as you just pointed out, when things happen, you can end up spending thousands of pounds, and for what?
I think there are occasions where it can be justified, eg, dog/cat whatever gets an injury that could be life threatening, so you get that sorted, but it's pretty much guaranteed that's that and your per us better after, then fine.
But in the case if illnesses particularly when there is no guarantee, as you literally posted you can be spending thousands of pounds just to prolong the inevitable.
The vets are there to help your pets, but they are also very much there to make money. We had a cat wasn't very well was getting on, we could have gone down that road, but decided to have him out down, after we had made that decision, the vet after actually told us that was the best thing to do, but they will never suggest that before.
That sounds quite sensible but I don’t believe it to be the case.
Everything in this thread just reinforces getting insurance, I’ve been paying 50 per month for years(papillon now 10) and it’s worth the peace of mind. I’ve even had things like dental covered.
My mums uninsured cat got knocked down and transferred to an overnight at VetsNow. They decided it would need extensive surgery and treatment that was simply not affordable with her circumstances at the time so on their recommendation, I drove them to PDSA. I’ll never forget the atmosphere in that reception, I can only describe it as the less fortunate of society sitting waiting to have their pets put down. Needless to say, her cat didn’t come home with her.
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So far so good, he went back for a check up Tuesday, he's been himself and weeing as he should. Need to now just keep an eye on those habbits and continue with the urinary food diet.
Fingers crossed that's it. Didn't want to have to have him in to be expressed again as that would probably have been the point we may have called it quits. It could crop up again any time, if it's a few years from now, sure we will go through it again. But if it's next week
Hopefully he keeps healthy for a good while longer
Fingers crossed that's it. Didn't want to have to have him in to be expressed again as that would probably have been the point we may have called it quits. It could crop up again any time, if it's a few years from now, sure we will go through it again. But if it's next week
Hopefully he keeps healthy for a good while longer
Both of ours have been in for teeth extractions twice. One time for each they said they didn't actually need to remove any teeth, just a clean. We paid about £300 each time and of course dental work isn't covered by insurance. We joke each time the cats go in for a check up that the vet is going to suggest some dental work.
Petplan covers dental.