Do you have your pet insured?

useful_contacts

Hi just wondering if i could get some opinions.

Ive a ten week old kitten. My partner and i have him insured for the year(until next july) He has all his shots and boosters and is a healthy and happy cat:)

However ive been scoffed at a lot by friends and family members for "wasting money" insuring my kitten (as hes a house cat and not an outdoors one) . It cost us 115euro to insure him for the year, and that will go down next year as we will have him nutered and microchipped.

Im just wondering does anyone else have their pets insured? Because the attitude of most people has been "its just a cat" and that really pisses me off. Hes a member of our family and we love him to bits.

catmad

I insured my ginger moggie when I got him four years ago and in the first year he injured his leg so badly it was cut to the bone. The charge from the vet was nearly 600 and of course I would have paid it - I love the little guy. Pet insurance covered almost all and I would never hesitate recommending taking it out.

lightening

If you are silly enough to buy a "purebred" (like me) dog its a must!

star-pants

I think it's a good idea to get your pets insured.
We get health insurance for ourselves, why not our pets?
They're part of the family AND if anything happens/goes wrong it can cost thousands to sort out, and if you don't have that kind of money, then you'll regret not having insurance as you'll have to watch someone you love suffer.

I gladly pay the insurance on both my dogs knowing that if needs be they'll get the best treatment.

Bettyboop

I have 4 dogs and a cat insured,it costs me over €600 p.a. but would never be without it,had to get a heart scan for one dog,an eye removed from another and other health problems.Bear in mind the access goes up after they reach 10yrs you also have to pay 35% off the bill when they reach that age.

biggybum

just got a quote with allianze for a 2 yr old staffie and crossbreed terrier also 2 yrs old for €359 p.a which is quite reasonable, will defo consider it.

boomerang

It's definitely worth it, OP - I wouldn't be without it. Never mind the nay-sayers. In one year alone my vet bills ran to €800 for a cruciate ligament operation - without the pet insurance I'd have been goosed.

Shewhomustbe...

I have my seven cats insured and would absolutely recommend it to pet owners. We got the whole "they're only cats" too but I'm still trying to find the vet that treats them for free!! :rolleyes: We don't have them microchipped as our vet said that unfortunately it would be a waste of money as the chances of them being checked for one would be slim to none.

Magenta

I hate when people say "Why would you bother insuring it, the insurance cost you more than the cat did"- I mean, who gets cats to make money?

Or "I could get a new pet for the price of the insurance"- eugh.

The Sweeper

I have my cats insured, and it's worth it for the big incidents. Just because your cat is indoors doesn't mean he's not susceptible to injury - and anyone with an indoor colony of any size needs to insure because of the risk of them hurting each other. My beautiful tabby boy had an ulcerated eye 18 months ago due to a foot in the eye during a cat wrestling match, and through insurance I was able to pay for him to have his third eyelid sewn shut to protect the eye, and we had to put salve on it three times a day - eye saved, cat still a beautful boy with two eyes. My local shelter can't afford that proceedure, so they just go the salve route, and they have a couple of one-eyed cats as a result because without the protection of the eyelid, it's touch and go whether the ulcer will get larger and then eventually the eyeball perforates.

(It's an even bigger disaster for the shelter boys because it reduces their chances of adoption - though they're at a no-kill shelter so it won't mean a death sentence for them.)

PCros

I'm looking to spay my cat in a few weeks, if I were to get insurance would that be covered too?

Munster Gal

PCros wrote: »

I'm looking to spay my cat in a few weeks, if I were to get insurance would that be covered too?

Spaying/neutering, vaccinations, worming and flea control aren't covered. It's more for accidents, illnesses and third party cover etc.

BTW, we have our dog and one of the cats insured.

ISDW

When I only had a few animals they were all insured, however now with 9 dogs and 3 cats, I can't afford it. But, I do put money away into a seperate bank account each month so that I have the money there if necessary, and if I don't need it, its a nice little bit extra.

If you only have 1 or 2 or 3 or 4:D animals, definitely get insurance.

I don't have health insurance for the animals, however, 3rd party insurance is very important I think, so if you can't afford health insurance, see if you can at least get 3rd party in case an animal causes an accident. With a cat, its not so important, but with a dog, I think it is pretty vital.

rainbowtrout

I have two dogs and have both insured. I'd hate to think if anything happened to them that I wouldn't be able to afford to pay the vets fees and they would suffer. A friend of mine has a Cavalier King Charles who has had operations on both his eyes among lots of other treatments, she had insurance so it was covered, but she said if she didn't it would have cost approx €2000. She met an old couple in the vets surgery the same day who needed something similar done and didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the operation so they were faced with leaving the dog suffer or put him to sleep. It's not a choice I would like to make for my two so I have insurance.

Demonique

No, none of our pets are insurable since they consist of snakes, lizards, turtle and cockatiel.

Allianz doesn't insure any animals that aren't cats or dogs.

mymo

Talk to your vet, I did and he said not to bother as he'd never charge ridiculous high amounts. I trust his opinion, I'm in a small town and this week had new pup checked over vac'd got worm tabs for pup, bigger pup and 2 cats for €40
Two years ago my cat got very sick, needed op and on going care for about 2 months, total cost €120. He's a great guy and didn't charge for quick wound checks and similar.
He also will take money in instalments if you genuinely can't afford it.
That said I keep a little money aside for emergencies of the pet kind. I priced insurance and it was much higher than any amount I'd paid out over the years.

lil'bug

i've got my 2 dogs insured and i pay around 30 euro a month i'd recomend it as i know what its like to go with out so your dog can go to the vet

tazwaz

i have my dog insured and would highly recommend it. last year he had to get a lump removed from his paw E300 and this year we've been to see a skin specialist (another E300 so far!!).

YOURFACE!

I have myself insured so wouldnt I insure my dogs, they are my family! I have pet insurance through Allianz. Glad I got it as one of them has to go and see an eye specialist soon which would probably cost alot!

LisaO

123.ie are also offering pet insurance now. The rates seem very competitive - not sure if the cover is comparable to Allianz?

Niall1975

There is a new pet insurance group in Ireland called 'pet insure' very good prices.

padocon

Personally I think its a lot of money. Our vet has reasonable prices. The worst our dog has had so far was milk fever & the other a broken leg. TG thats all.

Adventure Pout

I have an indoor cat and he is insured with pet insure (I found they were cheaper and offer more options than allianz). When you get a cat/dog or any animal, they become part of your family. They all have heart, feeling, soul just like us... So I hate all those prejudices of : this is just a cat/dog or whatever.
I think it is worth to have your new family member to be insured, in case something bad happened...
My cat loves being on the balcony, we are on 2nd floor.. so far he has been very good and knows that he should not jump over!
He is also neuteured and microchipped - you never know what can happen..
So YES, it is always good to have your animal insured

jen_23

biggybum wrote: »

just got a quote with allianze for a 2 yr old staffie and crossbreed terrier also 2 yrs old for €359 p.a which is quite reasonable, will defo consider it.

I got a quote off allianz for my pup (samoyed husky) of 190euro and pet insure were about 160.

tk123

It's worth it imo because you never know whats around the corner - my little guy was sick last week and had to be taken in - it cost the best part of €500 all in al and because of the insurance we were able to try every option for him.

*Lees*

Does anyone know which cover is actually better? Allianz or Pet Insure?
I got 6 weeks free insurance with Allianz when I took Ozzie to the vet and I will definitely be keeping it up, just trying to decide which company has the best cover!

Bluefrog

I recently ran into a guy I meet occasionally when I'm out walking my two who has two pugs. He was telling me that one of them recently ran head first into a sun lounger and knocked itself out cold. The poor fella still wasn't right and the associated vet bills were mounting - €450 at the point when I spoke to him.

I asked him had he the dogs insured and he said 'I do now'. Think that would sum up a lot of people's experience

I would also agree that microchipping is very worthwhile and should only cost about €20 or so. Also, its worth making sure that you have some decent photos of your pet in the event it goes missing.

tk123

*Lees* wrote: »

Does anyone know which cover is actually better? Allianz or Pet Insure?
I got 6 weeks free insurance with Allianz when I took Ozzie to the vet and I will definitely be keeping it up, just trying to decide which company has the best cover!

You might want to look into how you put a claim in with Pet Insure - in case you don't like paper work With Allianz all I had to do was sign a form and the vets did the rest. My cat was very sick and had to be put to sleep so it was a bit of a comfort not to have to take care of the claim myself.

*Lees*

tk123 wrote: »

You might want to look into how you put a claim in with Pet Insure - in case you don't like paper work With Allianz all I had to do was sign a form and the vets did the rest. My cat was very sick and had to be put to sleep so it was a bit of a comfort not to have to take care of the claim myself.

Thanks, that is something I hadn't thought of!! I would say then that since I got the free insurance from my vet that they deal directly with Allianz!! Think I will stick to them so!! I did have a quick look through both policies there and I think there seems to be a couple of things covered with Allianz that aren't covered with Pet Insure!

andreac

Allianz all the way, think they are much better, i remember reading T & C for both and Allianz are better.

tk123

Another pro is that Allianz are quick to respond to queries if you mail them.