Lifetime - RSPCA £15.42 per month.

None of our previous dogs were insured and thankfully lived long and healthy lives. However our last rescue cost us a small fortune from when he was about 4 years old and so our current little mutt was insured as soon as we got her from the rescue home at about 9 weeks (makes you even more appreciative of the NHS, doesn't it?).

It's really just a gamble sonyhamster whether to take out insurance or not. We never even thought about insurance for our previous dogs and - fortunately I suppose - never had to pay out much in vet bills. It was only when we purchased our current pair that we received 'complimentary' pet insurance via the breeder and I started looking into the subject. The majority of folk will never use their insurance, but I know of some friends who ended up with very large vet bills. It's all personal preference, but I am now more comfortable with insurance.

Oh. I guess I'm on lifetime then. I pay about £95 a month to Petplan for 4 dogs. Given that they're all pushing 15, that's not bad, I suppose.
Each condition resets every year, in February.
I have 1 dog on 2 meds for dementia
1 dog on 3 meds for a non-worsening heart condition
1 dog on 2 meds for arthritis and 1 for dementia
1 dog on no meds whatsoever!
That sounds a grim list but they're generally happy dogs, honestly.

The excess per condition is quite high: £105 plus 20% of the total. So after the first £105, I only pay 20% of the cost of everything else. It can still add up to a fair bit - but I guess their meds cost around £1500 a year, and I couldn't afford that.

I reckon you've been wise to have taken out insurance Iphigenia and your dogs have had a much better life than had you not been able to afford their meds. All the best to you and your dogs.

We have 2 American Bulldogs on a lifetime plan with Direct line. The first year was £39 and then raised to £67 per month when we got the second.

They have been insured since we got them which is 2 and 3 years respectively. We have had in that time £11k (yes that is £11000!) worth of treatments when Stanley developed not only dodgy legs but also a cancerous tumour (sadly he has since been pts)

By my calculations they have had just £2076 worth of premiums for those claims..... sooooo glad I had insurance!

I have M&S Pet insurance its now about £12.95 per month.....when I first got policy 2006 it was £8......I've had one claim when my little girl was ill, I had to take her to emergency vet which was expensive......I have 3 cats.....one puss cos we really dont know how old he is.....my little girl thats insured, now I have my late sisters puss who is 15 this year.....so only one puss is insured..

It depends whether you could afford the bills if, e.g. your cat needed surgery or was diagnosed with a chronic condition which could cost £££ in vets bills. If the answer is no, you need insurance.

When we first got our cats we had insurance for all of them, and made good use of it when three of them needed various types of surgery and inpatient care over the years. However we've now got savings so can fund the cost of vet's bills without insurance.

Thankyou! (and licks. from them. )

Lifetime cover with Axa.

Lifetime cover with Halifax. It costs me about £32 for the two per month, and the excess has risen to £75 per condition, but i wouldnt be without it. It takes the worry out of it.

Mine's costing over £70 per month now, and the excess per condition is £80. Annoyingly, she just went to the vet's and had 2 conditions, so we won't see anything abck from the ear infection. Will, however, see some benefit as now she's been diagnosed with dementia, she'll be on Aktivait for life. It's annoying they charge 2 excesses for 2 conditions when the vet diagnosed both in one consult, so only charges for one consult?

I suspect the drug's cheaper than the insurance, per month.

I wish vets would run their own schemes like a Friendly Society kind of thing where you pay in a set amount per month, and then just get treated if there's a problem. I'd much rather give it to the vet -even if they had excesses etc - than mess around.

Phoned Direct Line the other day and there's nowt direct about it. They promised to send claim form but it never turned up so i had to call again. The second time I was kept on for ages and the robot was going on and on - must have been a good 20 mins before i ever spoke to a real person, then he insisted on reading me a tonne of legalese. And had the phone manner of Basil Fawlty after a particularly exasperating day. But I'm told the claim form is slowly winging its way towards us.

We're thinking of getting a second dog - and I won;t be using Direct Line.

I swear when we took it out I did all my homework, spent ages comparing and they offered limitless cover. Now, each condition's capped at £6000 I think it is. I am sure it wasn;t 10 years ago, when I started the policy.

Hog, that's interesting about the caps. Mine - 15 years ago! - had no cap and now they do. I just assumed it was because my doglets are so ancient but maybe it's been sneaked in across the board.

My only complaint about Petplan is that if one course of treatment goes across a renewal date, you have to pay 2 excesses. I can see that if it's an ongoing condition but if it's say, for surgery and a follow up, or a one off infection and follow up, it seems a bit mean. For anything elective, I make sure I'm nowhere near the renewal date. However, the dogs haven't quite worked out how to fall ill or have an accident to order.