Four years ago I took over a wonderful and darling black lab. aged 4. . Insured him through a well known supermarket insurance company. The yearly insurance then was under £200. He is very healthy and apart from his usual yearly jabs, has never needed treatment - no claims. This year, the premium has gone up to £500 for just £4000 of cover. 150% increase.
I phoned this afternoon to cancel and was told it was up to his age and gender.
He is 8 now. Is it just me - or is this a totally crazy increase?
I am fortunate - because if the worst came, I could manage £4000 of vet treatments, but I honestly think a yearly cover of £500 is ridiculous. Anyone else faced with the same sort of cover?

That's a lot of money.

We just had a quote for our 9 month old Labrador, about £150 for £4000 cover.

We haven't had a dog insured before but I've heard it does go up a fair bit with age.

Definately worth trying the comparison websites such as "compare the market" etc.

Obviously there are different types of cover, for an 8 year old lab, time limited cover of £3000, the premium is £130.

Not quite so good for a condition that lasts longer than a year.

We can't afford to insure so we keep an empty credit card it then gets paid off ASAP after the treatment. It has the bonus of we can put all treatments on it so we cover ourselves for the spaying Elsie has just had and pay it back before we owe any interest.

Pet insurance is an expensive thing, we just insured our Rottweiler puppy with Pet Plan, it's the Life Cover option with £7500 vet fees per annum.
£77 per month including a 10% online discount and a £90 excess!

Obviously it's everyones choice but my 9 yr old whippet cross has just been diagnosed with kidney and liver problems. Paid out quite a lot already in blood tests and meds and he's currently on meds costing £150 a month. I could get them online for less but they'd still be almost £100 a month and then he needs regular bloods and wee sample sending away every couple of months at over £100. He was absolutely fine until he developed pancreatitis out of the blue and this was discovered from the tests for that. We could just let him get on with it but the treatment will give him the best chance of living as long as possible whilst staying happy and comfortable.

I'm so glad he's insured, the cost is something I don't have to stress over. The meds will be for the rest of his life. I'm a firm believer in insurance if you can afford it and yes I know all the pros and cons and pitfalls but I've experienced the best of it too. All 4 of my dogs are insured.

I'm pro insurance even though I pay nearly £700/ year to Petplan for my 3 cats. My Bernard has just spent another few days at the vets, having tests and treatments which I know insurance will cover bar the excess (the bill is probably near to £1000) - and they already paid out over £1000 a few months ago for him and almost as much last year for my other cat.

I would never want cost to be a determining factor when considering treatment options. I prefer having security and peace of mind - which is why I have almost everything insured, home contents, TVs, boiler, plumbing, shower, electrics etc. I prefer not to have to find large sums of money at short notice. It suits me better to pay out smaller amounts in premiums every month. I have claimed many times on pet and other insurance policies so, for me, insurance is worth the monthly expenditure.

Well it's something we can all only do what we can about I guess, insurance isn't endless so even with it you may one day face can you afford the treatments. I tend to think some people keep animals alive sometimes longer than they should any way especially with insurance paying the bills.

I'd be interested in comparing notes. My border collie who is going on 15 has liver, kidney and bronchial problems!
She is on Zentonil Plus (bought online), milk thistle, salmon oil, COQ10, vitamin E, B complex, a steroid inhaler plus Furosemide and a special diet. I regret never having her insured.
The new vet says when she saw the paperwork she wondered if it was kind to keep a dog with so many problems going. So when she came bouncing into the surgery looking the picture of happiness and health she was amazed.
I try to keep blood tests to a minimum. That's because there is little to be done anyway. 18 months ago when she suddenly got ill she was given 3 months to live but she got better week by week so I'm glad I didn't give up on her.

Insurance isn't endless but it does pay out thousands of pounds for possibly one episode of illness (depending on severity and tests/treatments required). You would have to be very unlucky or have a very sick pet to exceed the covered amount - or perhaps have chosen to go with cheaper and unreliable insurance policies. My Bernard is at home back to his usual, happy self, playing, eating well, rolling on his back and snuggling up with me and one of my other cats, Lucy. I'm certainly not keeping him alive ''longer than I should'' because he should live for many more years with the right remedial care. The vets don't even know what's causing his recurrent illnesses because his kidney function has now reverted back to normal values, having been rehydrated while at the vets although he does have small kidneys on ultrasound.

I have seen too many people make decisions based on cost rather than what is possibly the pet's best interests. I appreciate some people prefer not to put an animal through a lot of stress with treatments but I personally want to give my pets every chance of quality survival, particularly with treatable and reversible conditions - but also, if need be, with chronic, life-limiting conditions where a good quality of life can be reasonably maintained.

We all only have one life and those lives are short enough. I work in an area where we strive to maintain lives except when all hope is lost and euthanasia is, for me, the very last option for my pets and never decided upon because I couldn't afford the available treatments. When the NHS ceases to exist, which is possible in the foreseeable future, what will happen to those people who can't afford private healthcare insurance? - because they certainly won't be able to afford the astronomical costs of healthcare without insurance,

I am someone who doesn't believe putting them through things they don't understand and will damage them is always the best way forward. I was distressed when Duncan was eventually PTS we had left it too long trying to let the vet find the cause of his internal bleeding, a weekend was wasted with him in a cage vomiting blood when we should have just said on the Friday enough. We had the money so we kept trying. I was ashamed we did that.

I have only ever PTS one dog because of cost, but my husband had just had a stroke and I was nursing my dying father and if I had kept him going it would have been only a few weeks the vet later told me before we would have had no choice. So I feel less shame about Benny's death.

We can all only make decisions we feel are right at the time and better to PTS with dignity than bankrupt yourself and still eventually have to give up.

My dog is fine, no different from normal. We found his kidney disease early so the meds should keep him as healthy as possible for as long as possible - its not a question of putting him through anything because we have insurance but getting him the best treatment just as I would want for myself or my human family. Insurance enables me to do that without worrying whether I can afford it. Despite the ins I won't be putting him through scans or biopsies, which we could but I think that's a step too far.

On here or message?

PM'd you

I guess it depends what you can afford.

Our older dog's insurance is £139 pcm, but her meds are nearly triple that!

Mum's dogs knees are probably worth nearly £12k in all.

My dog has to go for an MRI after a relatively minor injury, that will be £2500!

£4k is not much in terms of vet fees, would you be able to live with yourself if you had to have your dog pts because you couldn't afford treatment?