Brodie is insured (with PetPlan), and boy am I glad
. We've certainly got our money's worth. It doesn't even need to be something serious for those bills to pile up. I must have claimed for thousands over the years to treat chronic ear infections (three appointments at a specialist alone were £1000). Another £1000 was claimed for a bout of pancreatitis.
And as has been said, if something big happens, those savings will very quickly be spent. Brodie was diagnosed with a very nasty and aggressive cancer in February, just before her seventh birthday. But her cancer was in the very early stages, and a four week course of radiotherapy means she has a good chance of living a good few years. In the four months after the tumour was found, her bill reached almost £7000; the radiotherapy alone was £4500. A lot of people would make the decision not to treat, and I was once in that camp, but the fact that she was insured meant I had
the choice of deciding whether to put her through it. If she hadn't been insured, that decision would have been taken out of my hands. Now thanks to the insurance and radiotherapy she is hopefully cancer free (will find out next week) but she'll need ongoing scans from now on to make sure it doesn't return, and those will cost a few hundred £££ every three months.
I'm a massive fan of PetPlan, as although they are expensive, they are very, very good at paying out (I say that while crossing my fingers as they process that £7000 claim
). Be aware that they, like some other insurers, will ask for you to pay a percentage of every claim once your pet reaches a certain age.