They probably can't afford the insurance either!! The sort that covers recurring illness, which is what I should have had, is about £20 a month, I think. Assuming that your animal will hopefully only get ill a couple of times in its lifetime, a lot of people take the chance, then find they don't have the money up front when disaster strikes, unfortunately.

How many here could honestly pay a £1,000+ vets bill right now if it cropped up and be able to aford it, possibly even further treatment as well?
So anyone who does not have several £1,000 in savings just in case the pet falls ill should not have one?
I think as long as you can afford the regular costs, suh as vaccinations, food, any other regular expenses then the rest cannot be planned for.
Plus vets vary a lot. In the summer we were told that both of our cats needed dental treatment costing around £400. At the time we could not afford it and they were in no obvious pain from it, so we left it a while. taking them elsewhere a month or so later we were told that they were fine, given a course of antibiotics each at £20 and to see how they went.
Some vets are just after money in some cases.

I would say that, generally, if you want a pet you have to allow and provide for possibilities like vets bills. If you can't afford them you shouldn't have a pet, or be prepared to face the consequences. We once had to pay around £600 for treatment to our cat and I remember a so-called friend saying that she would never do that as it was only a cat and she could not understand hwo we could do it. But he was a member of our "family" and I would do it again and we got four extra years of him because of it so it was worth it.

How do we know that another animals would be miserable and how would we know that all humans in a similar situation would be happy?

We always assume that the prolongation of life for a human irrespective of circumstances is always a good thing and almost inevitably decide that the prolongation of life for other animals even in cases of fairly limited suffering/lameless/disability is always a bad thing. Race horses for example are shot when they break their legs.

I don't necessarily agree with prolonging any life human or non human if it is only a case of putting off the inevitable and causing more suffering.

It sounds like I am contradicting myself here. It's one of those difficult ethical dilemmas and what may seem to be the answer in one case may not be the answer in another.

I pay £18 a month for unlimited cover for two kittens - they weren't neutered or injected at the time I took up the policy either, so when the policy is up for renewal, the premium will go down. If you can't afford £5 a week for pet insurance, then you shouldn't have a pet.

You're certainly right on that one. Our last vet refused to prescribe more than two lots of insulin without doing a blood test on the cat, at about £150 a go! Their fees were extortionate as well. I think there's a "cheap" veterinary service (?Blue Cross), or if people are really desperate, contact the RSPCA, they might be able to help.

I think PDSA do cheap or free treatment if you are on benefits.

That's obviously true, and I've often thought that we're more humane towards animals than humans in the matter of euthanasia. Biologically speaking, though, in animals the higher centres of the brain (the ones that humans use for creative thought, reasoning, etc.) are relatively undeveloped. Animals obviously do form relationships with their humans, but this may simply be learned self-interest - less so with dogs, I suspect, than with cats. In its daily life, though, an animal operates largely by instinct. It's designed to do a certain "job", and if it can't do that job, I personally feel that it's cruel to prolong its life, although others will feel differently.

Anyway, that doesn't really solve the problem of people not being able to afford veterinary bills, but IMO, pets should be insured, and people should be able to provide basic veterinary care out of their own pockets if they want to keep a pet. Doesn't seem too much to ask!

great post.

Every circumstance is different. To make blanket statements of what people should or shouldn't do is, IMO, a blinkered view.

When my dog had his accident, we didn't have him insured. Please don't jump to the conclusion that we were in some way irresponsible or couldn't afford it; it was due to circumstances at the time, personal to us.

We were given the option to have our dog put to sleep or spend a lot of money to help him have the best chance possible. We chose to do the latter; as a result our dog is probably one of the most expensive dogs in christendom.
We went into debt, and I don't care; it was a choice we made, and one we deal with.

Other people I'm sure would say we were stupid, it's only a dog, have him put to sleep, you should have had insurance, whatever; thats fine, they are free to think what they like (I don't particularly appreciate it when they voice that opinion, but hey ho, again it's something we deal with).

I believe that as long as the best interests of the animal we have chosen to bring into our lives and care for (and thereby taking ultimate responsibity for them) are paramount in our minds when making these decisons, then others shouldn't judge, especially if they are unaware of all the circumstances.

I actually think the way you've described other animals sums up humans quite well too! I think human relationships are based on learned self interest and we also operate a lot by instinct. I think in terms of intelligence humans too often judge other animals by their own references for intelligence. We've been guilty of doing that within our own species. In the past, IQ tests were geared towards the white middle classes for example. Also, other animals have genders too!

As you said though, all of the above is not really relevant to the discussion and I agree with you about the vet bills!

Well I have 2 small yorkies, and we have them insured for unexpected illnesses. We always keep a little cushion of money though in the event of an accident or emergency.

A couple of months ago the oldest one snapped his dew claw climbing out of the car, we didn't see it until he started furiously licking it later that day. Took him straight to the vet, he clipped it off (bless him) and bandaged it up for a few days and gave him Anti Biotics to prevent infection. All in alll it was about £30, worth it IMO so he isn't in pain.

We knew the potential costs before we took on the dogs. We also considered the size of dog to get, as I am the one in with them during the day and I am not always in great health. So we got smaller dogs that don't require as much excersize as say a Lab or Staffy for example, who need a couple of miles walk a day.

I know there are still people that just get a dog 'cos they want one', infact my o/h brother has just done it. It pisses me off, as its not the dogs fault, it depends on you to get it right and give it what it needs.

Well insurance doesn't cover everything. I think I would have done exactly the same thing in your position.

Our oldest dog had a distended testy when he was born and we did not have him for the first 6 months of his life. The vet wanted to give his testy a chance to drop but didn't want to wait too long incase it turned into a tumor. I just wanted to get it done, the insurance didnt cover it and we paid out £200 for the op as they needed to do an Ex Lap to find the missing testy. He has been so content and happy ever since and like you said we chose him to come into our life.

Be sure to read what you are covered for. £5 premium doesn't cover much!

We pay £44 per month for the 2 dogs. And thats not even the maximum cover.

Also with most insurances they don't cover pre exisiting conditions. Because we got our older one at 6 months old and he had to get the Ex Lap op to remove his testy, his insurance doesn not cover any future condition that might occur in that area.

Insurance is a good idea, but people should not rely on it to cover everything.

The PDSA are wonderful. they just did surgery on my dog worth £400. it was their recommendation so that she would suffer less when she was older. great charity

If you can't afford the vets bill, don't get a pet. Why should Rover have to suffer because his owner is a bit on the poor side?

but what if you already have the pet and then your own circumstances change ie lose your job? what are you supposed to do with the pet? give it away?

My dog had quite a lot of health problems throughout his life. Initially we had him insured with Petplan, but when his leg problems first became apparent at around 4 months they got arsey about paying towards any treatment.

They believed it was something we should have been aware of before we got him (he had a growth problem which affected the bones in his back legs, they ended up bending in at the knees then splaying back out again) despite the fact even regular vet check ups had never uncovered any problems until obviously he'd grown quite a bit. His condition was always a source of great fascination for the vets that he saw throughout his life, so it was obviously quite uncommon.

We ended up cancelling the insurance and saving frantically for the operation we were told he'd probably need in the next couple of years. In the end he saw a specialist vet in Fife who felt an operation would be painful and pointless. Luckily that left us with plenty of money saved (which we added to monthly) because over the next few years he slipped a disc in his spine, was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur and then hip dysplasia and several other problems. In the long run he cost me a fortune in medication, tests, x-rays etc. but I don't begrudge it.. he was worth every penny.

Last month his legs just suddenly stopped working and we made the heartbreaking decision to get him put to sleep. It was nothing to do with finance, I'd have paid whatever it took to make him well again, but he was in pain and miserable and the vet felt nothing more could be done.

Pet insurance does seem to have improved over the past few years, so if we get another dog I plan to insure, although I am a bit wary. Anyone have any companies they'd recommend?

My FIL won't even pay for flea treatment for his 2 cats as he can't afford it makes me so angry, he really shouldn't have pets as he's not a responsible pet owner.

One of my cats is inherited from SIL, she moved to Australia. She broke her leg as a kitten and SIL paid £600 for treatment. I know when she gets older her leg is going to cost us money that the insurance policy we have for her and our other cat won't cover .................. and I will find a way to pay it.

you wouldnt buy a car if you couldnt afford to run it.....so dont buy an amimal that you cant afford to keep healthy

molly xxx

People can easily say "don't get a pet in the first place", but sometimes money troubles can hit very unexpectedly. You don't always know if you're going to get made redundant from your job or encounter a really nasty fee that you haven't planned for. It's too easy to judge and criticise other peole when it comes to this type of thing. Before people speak when it comes to this issue, try and think a little bit first. It does not mean people don't love their pets or don't way to pay, or that they are not responcibile. It can just mean that sometimes really bad luck happens to us all and has a way of sneaking up on you.

Applauds Time Lady for such a sensible post

What about the situation where a pet is left behind by another owner, and considering that owner would be cruel enough to dump a pet on someone? They, of course are now forced to take on the bills through no fault of their own. The alternative is abandoning the pet, rehousing them or worse.

I think this "if you can't afford a pet, don't own one" tough love argument is an easy way out of this debate, when there can be more circumstances outside of a persons control.

I have pet insurance, but use the local RSPCA clinic aswell. I pay a nominial amount for a consultation (about £10) and then for any treatment. (Which is cheaper than the local rip-off vet - who are useless, but that's another story) Anyway - the clinic is run by Vet students at Cambridge uni. If the treatment needed is more than they can offer, you can take the pet to their animal hospital. (Thankfully, not needed that in a while!)

It's a shame not everyone can access such brilliant facilites. However, I'm afraid I agree that if you can't afford pet insurance, then you probably shouldn't have a pet. (I had a cat when I was poorer than the local church mouse. And it has been insured since I've had it)