Pet insurance
Article donated by Dr. Paula Short, Tasman Bay Vets, Mapua
I don't know about all of you out there but I have become a big fan of Telecom's latest round of adverts featuring Molly the Birman cat and Rex the dog. Not only are they cute but they also deliver some pretty good one liners! The one that has stuck in my head most recently has been where Rex has obviously done something bad and phones his owner, who is away on holiday in Sydney, to ask if Molly is insured.
Having worked in England a few years back where pet insurance is very popular, I am still at a loss to explain why not all that many New Zealander's have taken to the idea. Pet insurance has been offered in New Zealand for some years now but has not been widely publicised until recently.
From a veterinarians perspective we find that it gives us the opportunity to pursue both medical and surgical cases further than might normally be possible. There are a huge range of new technologies and techniques becoming available in veterinary science these days, but as you can imagine they do not come cheap. For example, we frequently refer orthopaedic and spinal cases to a veterinary specialist in Christchurch. They now regularly use technologies such as MRI scans and these alone can cost over $1000.
We have several clients who have taken up pet insurance and been very pleased with it. For most people the major benefit of pet insurance is knowing that should anything happen to their pet they will have the financial assistance of the insurance company in paying a large part of the veterinary expenses that arise. Unfortunately when a pet becomes ill it is usually very unexpected and thus the bill is unexpected too. With pet insurance you make regular small payments.
For most people one of the first experiences they have with paying a vet bill is when having their pet neutered (some pet insurance policies cover this too). So this is the yardstick against which they may measure the likely cost when something goes wrong. However most veterinary clinics heavily subsidise the cost of neutering to encourage pet owners to neuter their animals and thus reduce the size of the unwanted pet population. We often fail to explain this well to our clients, who are then surprised when they visit with a cat requiring surgery for an abcess and find out it costs far more than speying the cat did!
We recommend Ellenco pet insurance as we have had most experience with their policies and found them to be very good to deal with. They have a company representative locally who can come to your home and discuss your options with you. As with all insurance policies it pays to read the fine print and ask carefully about any areas you do not understand. We have brochures available in the clinic for anyone who is interested.