Archive for the 'Pet Insurance' Category

Reasons to Insure Your Pet

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

There are at least 101 reasons why insuring a pet should never be looked upon as optional luxury. Tales of dogs burning down houses, shooting people, covering themselves in industrial waste and eating weird and wonderful objects such as bicycle handlebars are no doubt y the extreme but they most certainly do happen.

More commonplace canine calamities such as cut pads, gastrointestinal problems and joint disorders don’t come cheap by the time the vet has seen the animal a few times and possibly carried out procedures to correct any problems.

In fact, a recent survey carried out by the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) estimated that the average claims cost per year has risen to over £110 for a dog and £90 for a cat. Vet fees in general have risen enormously over the past 15 years mainly due to advancement in technological procedures and specialist treatments.

Thankfully, gone are the days when owner’s regularly had to have their cherished pets put to sleep because of a lack of expert treatment for certain debilitating conditions or serious injuries. With improving animal medical research, skills and resources what were once incurable, life-threatening ailments can be dealt with effectively by many vets. With most owners, the price of treatment is secondary to preserving and enhancing their pet’s quality of life.

It is estimated that the average cost of owning a dog is around £10,000 for the duration of its life, with a whopping 40% of that total (£4,000) going toward unforeseen veterinary bills. It is known that one in three pets will require some form of extensive surgery before they are two years old and 50% of pets in the UK need extensive surgery at some point in their lives.

Pet insurance policy’s can cost as little as £8.00 per month for a dog and £5.00 per month for a cat. With an average canine lifespan of 13 years, that’s just over £1,300 for the whole of a dog’s life - a serious tumour could end up costing well in advance of £2,500 for proper treatment.

No animal lover need ever be in the awful position of having to choose between the burden of expensive medical treatment or the loss of a beloved pet if they have taken out an effective pet insurance policy in the beginning. As well as the obvious benefits of being able to cover medical expenses, many pet insurance policy’s also cover much more, such as advertising for a lost pet, payment for boarding fees should you ever become hospitalised and payment of (usually up to one million pounds) third party liability cover should your pet ever be the cause of an accident.

Insurance For Cats

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

Why insure your cat.

Discover how your cat can cost you thousands of pounds, and why one third of cat owners will need to take out pet insurance. This guide to cat insurance explains the benefits of insurance and why it is a financial win win situation.

Calamitous cats are not that uncommon. As with all animals, cats do not have the same concept of danger as humans and therefore are more at risk from injury. Added to this, there is always a risk of illness to your cat, and with the recent advances in veterinary medicine, there are a lot more treatments available to your cat should she become ill.

On the surface this seems to be good news, but how would you, a responsible and caring cat owner, feel if there was a treatment available today for something which would have killed your cat ten years ago, but you couldn’t afford to pay for it. Logic dictates that the more advanced the treatments and procedures on pet animals on the vets operating table become, the more damage your cat can do to your wallet.

Over the past twenty years more and more people have taken to insuring their beloved moggies. This is a sensible precaution to take, as domesticated animals today are more popular as companions rather than practical additions to a home. The point being, if a cat was bought for no other reason than to catch mice, it would not make financial sense to spend a lot of money an a sick cat, when she could be replaced by a healthy cat for less. However, nowadays cats are more often than not irreplaceable family members rather than pest control delegates. This is why pet insurance has increased, and with cats overtaking their canine counterparts as the world’s most popular pets it is no wonder insurance companies are offering more and more attractive policies to today’s cat owner.

Statistics gathered from the leading insurance companies suggest that 33% of cat owners with insurance will make a claim against veterinary bills procured by a sick or injured cat. This tells us that at least one third of cats will visit the vet for something other than a vaccination booster. The trend for pet insurance began in Europe and gradually spread to the USA where it is now less common not to insure your cat.

Cat owners can expect to shell out anything between £1 thousand and for £4 thousand to treat a cat with cancer or heart problems. The simple fact is, not everybody can afford this and sometimes cats will have to be euthanised for financial reasons rather than ethical ones. For a modest premium, this type of heart-breaking scenario can be avoided.

What if you pay a monthly premium to cover your cat against illness and injury and nothing ever happens to her, have you wasted your money? The simple answer is no. What you will have gained from taking out insurance is peace of mind, you will simply not have to worry about losing your cat should anything happen to her which could be rectified by a trip to the vet. Many insurance companies will give a lump sum to cat owners who have never claimed upon death of the cat.

Insurance is a concept based on risk. Gambling is based on calculated risk. You would not gamble on your cat becoming injured or ill so why not insure against it and enjoy peace of mind each time you let her out at night.