How Important is Pet Insurance?

I must admit that taking out pet insurance was a pretty low priority in our house until recently.We have two wonderful pet cats called Tom and Chopsy but have never gotten around to taking out any form of pet insurance, which we have now discovered was a huge mistake.

Pet insurance just wasn’t one of the things you think about when your pet is healthy, but by the time they aren’t, it is far too late. Pet insurance doesn’t cover existing conditions, so by the time your pet is ill, it’s too late to take out the insurance.

Our beloved pet cat Tom is one of the family, my youngest daughter paid for him with her own money when she was four years old and they have been inseparable ever since.

Even now, as a seventeen-year-old, the first thing she says when she walks through the door is ‘where’s Tom?’

A few weeks ago when our eldest daughter came home for a visit she was shocked when she looked at Tom. I guess living with him and seeing him every day we just didn’t notice how thin he was getting, or how scruffy his coat had become. We took him to the vets the very next day where they diagnosed bad tooth decay.

We were horrified to think that the poor old cat had been suffering toothache for who knows how long. We were racked with guilt that we hadn’t noticed anything wrong with him before. The vet assured us that animals can go downhill very fast and that it is common for people not to notice anything amiss until it is almost too late, which made us feel a little better.

The vet explained that animals instinctively don’t show they are in pain, they don’t show weakness, so it is up to us to keep an eye on them.

Tom needed several teeth removed but before giving him a general anaesthetic the vet took a blood sample and tested it. Unfortunately, the results showed that Tom also had kidney problems. Kidney problems are common in cats, apparently. Cats started out as desert dwellers, where water is in short supply and they produce very concentrated urine, as a result of this, which puts a huge strain on the kidneys.

Tom came through his operation just fine but he will need to be on a special prescription only diet for the rest of his life. He will, at some point in the future, need daily medication too. All of these things would have been covered if we had taken out pet insurance. I know that it’s easy to be wise in retrospect and obviously we now have pet insurance for our other cat Chopsy.

So far, Tom’s treatment has cost us over six hundred pounds, and his special food is more than twice the price of ordinary cat food. Of course, he’s worth every penny but it’s lucky that we were in the position to be able to afford it. Pet insurance would have saved us a fortune and given us peace of mind, which we now have for our other cat.

Prevention is better and cheaper than cure and there are a few simple things that you can do to help avoid the problem of kidney disease in cats. Make sure that your pet always has access to fresh water, some cats love to drink from moving, flowing water and you can buy special cat fountains for this purpose. We are lucky that Tom is quite happy to drink from a water bowl.

Check the label very carefully on the food that you serve to your cat. It can be more cost-effective in the long run to spend a little more on good quality cat food. Buy pet food that is lower in protein, salt and sodium wherever possible.

Avoid giving your cat too much dried food as this can lead to dehydration and put even more strain on overworked kidneys. Take care of your cats to make sure you have as long as possible together. We hope to have Tom around for many, many more years.

The right food and treatment gave us another happy year with Tom. When he passed it was swift and hopefully painless. We all miss him. He was, without a doubt, one of the best cats in the world.

We have recently added a new member to our family, Nikolia is a rescue cat. When we took it in we were told that it was a two-year-old male who had been neutered. After a trip to the vets, we now know that she is a four-year-old female! We took out pet insurance the day we got her. It won't cover the jabs she needs or the check up but we have the peace of mind that comes with knowing we will be able to afford her treatment should she become sick in the future.

Buying pet insurance could very well be the best purchase you ever make. For a few pounds a month you get peace of mind and can be safe in the knowledge that, should the worst happen, most of your vets' bills will be covered.