Lurchergirl - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend with what I said about stopping insurance.
Appology accepted, though it did make me quite upset. The thought of putting a dog to sleep when faced with high vet bills purely based on his age is not nice.
... but I still think the amount you are paying M & S is excessive.
And I so agree! But what can I do... Dylan had TPLO (cruciate) surgery three years ago, the other cruciate is also damaged, but so far holding well... that might change any day though. If that needs surgery too, it will come to several thousand pounds if you include preliminary investigations and rehab (the first one was around £6000). He also has a few dry discs in his back. They are so far not causing any problems at all and possibly never will, but if they do, it could also become expensive - though back surgery is probably not something I would consider for most dogs. He's also hypothyroid, though that is well under control and not expensive to treat.
Dylan is one of these dogs that the insurance has earned absolutely nothing out of. He has had near enough 30 anaesthetics in his life time; stitches after accidents and bite wounds, lump removals, knee surgery... He also had exertional rhabdomyolsis (exercise induced muscle breakdown resulting in kidney failure) which is something sighthounds can get. Luckily he was treated quickly and effectively, so there was no lasting damage from that. It cost around £800 to hospitalise and treat him though.
I would say that overall, he has cost me and my insurance around £20,000 - so you can imagine that I will not take any chances with him re insurance!
But, I suppose, if the dogs had pre-existing conditions before you took out the insurance then maybe that accounts for it.
He didn't have any pre-existing conditions when he went with M&S many years ago (only accident/bite wounds incidents which don't count as pre-existing), but he has had a lot of treatment since and yes, that will account for some... as does my London postcode... and the fact that lurchers are considered high risk by many insurances due to being very prone to accidents that cost a lot of money to fix.
My saluki has also had several accidents that cost a lot of money to fix, e.g. inhaling a grass seed, nearly cutting off a toe, deep cuts etc. Then he has unfortunately a dry disc in his back, in his case symptomatic. At the moment controlled with food supplements and herbs, but that might change in the future as it is a degenerative disease.
My spaniels however are the ones that balance everything. My American cocker had some expensive bills when he was younger due to hypothyroidism and resulting allergies, but this has been under control for years now and he is fine without causing any vet bills. Skye is under investigation for hypothyroidism, but is otherwise healthy as well and neither of them have ever had any accidents or other illnesses...
and I hope it stays that way.
So the moral of the story is... if you don't want any high vet bills, don't get a sighthound! LOL