Dog Insurance - A recommendation....you need it!
Discussion
There's been a number of posts recently regarding dog insurance. There seems to be two chains of thought regarding putting money away in case you need it Vs paying expensive insurance premiums.
I think we all realise insurance is best, but for you lucky buggers whose dogs are never ill or not accident prone, it's safe to say that you could look back and say it was all a huge waste of money and ultimately it comes down to risk. All my dogs are insured an can summarise that it really is very expensive. I've had a claim (well, 2 subsequent claims) that came to around 13k, so I'm a keen advocate of insurance and getting the RIGHT insurance.
I have three Dobermann's, a breed that get in to a lot of mischief, are VERY playful but like other dogs, do have a number of common health issues ranging from DCM (Heart problems!), usual large dog ligament issues, pancreas issues......the list goes on.
Sadly, I'm sat writing this with two Dobermann's at my side, a UK bred male with very well decorated family tree of poncy rosettes and awards, that subsequently has gone on excel at Schutzhund / IPO.......until he developed a hip issue, and a small brown female UK rescue of unknown origins.
The one that is missing came from Serbia. She was a proper RSPCA Christmas Advert model, abused, ear cut off, tail removed literally at her back and weighing in at 14kgs clinging on for life. Obviously you can't have favourites, but as none of the dogs ever log in to Pistonheads, they won't see this so can write here that she's the nicest!! She's the sensible one in the bunch and just grateful to have a stress free life.
Unfortunately, she started being sick on Monday evening, not uncommon for dogs of course, but this was enough to be concerned about and she kept arching her back so assumed a blockage of some sort. She started being sick yesterday and it wouldn't stop so took her straight to the vets. Within 2 hours they still weren't sure what was wrong with her so have had to perform exploratory surgery to see what's going on. As expected, they have found a foreign body, probably part of a squeaky toy or something. Our dogs can destroy anything in minutes so never have toys unsupervised due to most things being reduced to pieces in no time and we are picky about what they can have. What I'm trying to say is that we're pretty responsible and most things in the house are dog proofed.....they can open baby gates that flummox most humans so have to be extra careful!
Due to part of a toy being lodged inside her, she has developed peritonitis so had a section of her bowel removed. It's now a waiting game to see if the resection works and while the vets do their best to keep the area clean, to see if any bacteria has escaped causing further infection.
To summarise, a 'sensible' dog with pretty cautious owners has somehow managed to eat something which is going to create some vet bills. My main concern is of course that she is ok, but to help others, I will post in here how much the vets treatment costs to help people understand the financial risk if your animal needs treatment.
Incidentally, my dogs are covered by Pet Plan. I'm not sure how policies vary, but in my case, the vets and insurers deal with claims between themselves and I kind of stay out the look a little bit and don't have to pay up front and them claim back....a big consideration!
I do understand the Insurance Vs Money Squirreled away debate, but from my experience, I'm VERY pleased mine are insured even if it does cost a small fortune.
I think we all realise insurance is best, but for you lucky buggers whose dogs are never ill or not accident prone, it's safe to say that you could look back and say it was all a huge waste of money and ultimately it comes down to risk. All my dogs are insured an can summarise that it really is very expensive. I've had a claim (well, 2 subsequent claims) that came to around 13k, so I'm a keen advocate of insurance and getting the RIGHT insurance.
I have three Dobermann's, a breed that get in to a lot of mischief, are VERY playful but like other dogs, do have a number of common health issues ranging from DCM (Heart problems!), usual large dog ligament issues, pancreas issues......the list goes on.
Sadly, I'm sat writing this with two Dobermann's at my side, a UK bred male with very well decorated family tree of poncy rosettes and awards, that subsequently has gone on excel at Schutzhund / IPO.......until he developed a hip issue, and a small brown female UK rescue of unknown origins.
The one that is missing came from Serbia. She was a proper RSPCA Christmas Advert model, abused, ear cut off, tail removed literally at her back and weighing in at 14kgs clinging on for life. Obviously you can't have favourites, but as none of the dogs ever log in to Pistonheads, they won't see this so can write here that she's the nicest!! She's the sensible one in the bunch and just grateful to have a stress free life.
Unfortunately, she started being sick on Monday evening, not uncommon for dogs of course, but this was enough to be concerned about and she kept arching her back so assumed a blockage of some sort. She started being sick yesterday and it wouldn't stop so took her straight to the vets. Within 2 hours they still weren't sure what was wrong with her so have had to perform exploratory surgery to see what's going on. As expected, they have found a foreign body, probably part of a squeaky toy or something. Our dogs can destroy anything in minutes so never have toys unsupervised due to most things being reduced to pieces in no time and we are picky about what they can have. What I'm trying to say is that we're pretty responsible and most things in the house are dog proofed.....they can open baby gates that flummox most humans so have to be extra careful!
Due to part of a toy being lodged inside her, she has developed peritonitis so had a section of her bowel removed. It's now a waiting game to see if the resection works and while the vets do their best to keep the area clean, to see if any bacteria has escaped causing further infection.
To summarise, a 'sensible' dog with pretty cautious owners has somehow managed to eat something which is going to create some vet bills. My main concern is of course that she is ok, but to help others, I will post in here how much the vets treatment costs to help people understand the financial risk if your animal needs treatment.
Incidentally, my dogs are covered by Pet Plan. I'm not sure how policies vary, but in my case, the vets and insurers deal with claims between themselves and I kind of stay out the look a little bit and don't have to pay up front and them claim back....a big consideration!
I do understand the Insurance Vs Money Squirreled away debate, but from my experience, I'm VERY pleased mine are insured even if it does cost a small fortune.
Edited by Autopilot on Wednesday 11th April 08:32
Hope your dog gets better.
It depends on the type of dog though in my opinon
We have a rescue king charles x and he doesn't bite anything or chew anything or do anything remotely dangerous!
The worst thing he does is run away up the road sometimes but he is sensible enough to stay on the footpath.
He's had a few ailments, he has a minor heart murmur but apparently he's had that for a long time and hasn't gotten any worse.
He had most of his teeth out which cost around £700
And recently he contracted pneumonia which came to around £380.
I haven't ran a pet quote but I imagine it would be close to £100 a month as he is an older chappy with existing conditions, it certainly doesn't make financial sense to insure him for that based on his past and likely future prognosis.
I could certainly see if you had a rare or larger breed that got into trouble a lot more, or was more destructive / crazy , but for effectively a lap dog I don't see the issue.
It depends on the type of dog though in my opinon
We have a rescue king charles x and he doesn't bite anything or chew anything or do anything remotely dangerous!
The worst thing he does is run away up the road sometimes but he is sensible enough to stay on the footpath.
He's had a few ailments, he has a minor heart murmur but apparently he's had that for a long time and hasn't gotten any worse.
He had most of his teeth out which cost around £700
And recently he contracted pneumonia which came to around £380.
I haven't ran a pet quote but I imagine it would be close to £100 a month as he is an older chappy with existing conditions, it certainly doesn't make financial sense to insure him for that based on his past and likely future prognosis.
I could certainly see if you had a rare or larger breed that got into trouble a lot more, or was more destructive / crazy , but for effectively a lap dog I don't see the issue.
bobmedley said:
We had quotes for a £500 Chihuahua that cost substatially more than comprehensive insurance on a £46k Evoque.
If your chihuahua had suffered injury that cost over £500 to put right, would you have been happy for your insurer to write it off. Give you £500 to buy a replacement, and they keep the salvage! We have accident insurance and cash in the bank.
A year or two ago cat had a stomach issue which was £900 for the Operation (Vet suggested PTS as she was 15!). That is pretty much all this cat has ever cost us.
At one stage with a dog our premium was £250 pcm and they didn't cover more than 50% of the treatment which was another £300 pcm....
And just this month we are £400 out of pocket for blood tests etc on a dog which I suspect would not be covered by insurance in any event with another £100 yesterday as she managed to cut her foot somehow or other... Also not covered by insurance I doubt.
It is, as is the case with insurance, a punt. Half the time the policies wouldn't pay out for treatment etc but when it goes really wrong you tend to be pleased you have it (with 5 dogs and 3 cats even just accident insurance is, well, not cheap)...
A year or two ago cat had a stomach issue which was £900 for the Operation (Vet suggested PTS as she was 15!). That is pretty much all this cat has ever cost us.
At one stage with a dog our premium was £250 pcm and they didn't cover more than 50% of the treatment which was another £300 pcm....
And just this month we are £400 out of pocket for blood tests etc on a dog which I suspect would not be covered by insurance in any event with another £100 yesterday as she managed to cut her foot somehow or other... Also not covered by insurance I doubt.
It is, as is the case with insurance, a punt. Half the time the policies wouldn't pay out for treatment etc but when it goes really wrong you tend to be pleased you have it (with 5 dogs and 3 cats even just accident insurance is, well, not cheap)...
Hope all is going well with your Dobe, having grown up with that breed when younger I have a big soft spot for them. Good job on rescuing her too, sounds like she had a tough start for sure!
I moved to Austria and there doesn't seem to be as much choices for dog insurance here, but thankfully I got insured with a combined house and pet plan with Allianz and it wasn't very expensive at about 40 euro per month for both.
So far I think it was paid out more than we have paid in, we do have to pay up front and then claim back which isn't the best for bigger bills, but they are usually quick to repay it anyway. I would also definitely recommend having insurance in place.
All the best for your dobe!
I moved to Austria and there doesn't seem to be as much choices for dog insurance here, but thankfully I got insured with a combined house and pet plan with Allianz and it wasn't very expensive at about 40 euro per month for both.
So far I think it was paid out more than we have paid in, we do have to pay up front and then claim back which isn't the best for bigger bills, but they are usually quick to repay it anyway. I would also definitely recommend having insurance in place.
All the best for your dobe!
Thank you all for your well wishes!
She's still at risk of peritonitis, but as each day goes past, it's less likely so starting to feel a bit more comfortable and 'almost' relaxing.
The final bill for her treatment came to £4400. She's insured and covered up to £4k, so walked away only paying a modest £400 bill. She had part of her bowel removed and seems to have reattached well and the scars healing well. Luckily she's not a nibbler so has left the stitches alone. Had it been one of the other dogs it would be much worse as they won't leave anything alone!
She's still at risk of peritonitis, but as each day goes past, it's less likely so starting to feel a bit more comfortable and 'almost' relaxing.
The final bill for her treatment came to £4400. She's insured and covered up to £4k, so walked away only paying a modest £400 bill. She had part of her bowel removed and seems to have reattached well and the scars healing well. Luckily she's not a nibbler so has left the stitches alone. Had it been one of the other dogs it would be much worse as they won't leave anything alone!
Insurance is a hot topic in my house atm. The other half has taken care of it for the last few years, and both our Jacks have had claims with Tesco. One for work on his leg, the other a few weeks ago for some weird stomach bug thing. That bill was circa £1300!
In our discussions it turned out that dog 3, Chewie wasn't insured! She thought it ran out this September where I was planning to take his insurance on, but I could do with sorting it now but it looks like a minefield with 4 different policy types, and frankly pathetic "limits"
Can anyone give me some recommendations on who and what type of policy to look at please?
In our discussions it turned out that dog 3, Chewie wasn't insured! She thought it ran out this September where I was planning to take his insurance on, but I could do with sorting it now but it looks like a minefield with 4 different policy types, and frankly pathetic "limits"
Can anyone give me some recommendations on who and what type of policy to look at please?
We have 3 dogs and have had others in the past.
We always insure ours. One dog had around 6k worth of treatment, which the insurrance covered, but that was an extreme case and he is no longer with us (lived to a estimated 17, so had a good run after he was "fixed").
The others are all insured and I think we break even over the course of a year but I like to have the feeling that if anything big is needed, we are covered.
We always insure ours. One dog had around 6k worth of treatment, which the insurrance covered, but that was an extreme case and he is no longer with us (lived to a estimated 17, so had a good run after he was "fixed").
The others are all insured and I think we break even over the course of a year but I like to have the feeling that if anything big is needed, we are covered.
h? My doberman Dudley died in October at 11 years old, but the insurance saved an absolutely fortune over his lifetime.
He had a ruptured tendon replaced with a synthetic one in his leg. The bill was around £7k and insurance was through Pet Plan. Some of the medication for skin problems was expensive too, so having insurance helped with that.
Loved my doberman though, would absolutely have another when the timing is right. Incredibly smart dog, sometimes too smart. He was about 50kg, so I was quite happy to get 11 years with him.
He had a ruptured tendon replaced with a synthetic one in his leg. The bill was around £7k and insurance was through Pet Plan. Some of the medication for skin problems was expensive too, so having insurance helped with that.
Loved my doberman though, would absolutely have another when the timing is right. Incredibly smart dog, sometimes too smart. He was about 50kg, so I was quite happy to get 11 years with him.
We would never be without insurance either and we were very careful how we chose insurance for our GSP. We also have a springer and she s staying with her previous insurer due to existing conditions (cruciate operation). Her insurance has gone up considerably since.
Our GSP is with PetPlan and whilst quite expensive, they offer a lot of cover.
We used to have a collie and he got epilepsy. This was very costly for us. Unfortunately the insurance we had whilst a cover for life, only covered up to a specific amount per condition. Medication for epilepsy cost a lot from the vets and ate into it quite quick. Just wish I had read the terms more carefully.
Throughout his life they paid out 7k for the epilepsy (max amount) and about 1-2k for other stuff. We lost him at 6 and half years old.
Our springer has had about 4-5k payout in her lifetime.
Thankfully we have not had to use it for out GHP yet, but you can be sure that when something happens, it will cost a lot,
Our GSP is with PetPlan and whilst quite expensive, they offer a lot of cover.
We used to have a collie and he got epilepsy. This was very costly for us. Unfortunately the insurance we had whilst a cover for life, only covered up to a specific amount per condition. Medication for epilepsy cost a lot from the vets and ate into it quite quick. Just wish I had read the terms more carefully.
Throughout his life they paid out 7k for the epilepsy (max amount) and about 1-2k for other stuff. We lost him at 6 and half years old.
Our springer has had about 4-5k payout in her lifetime.
Thankfully we have not had to use it for out GHP yet, but you can be sure that when something happens, it will cost a lot,
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