Small Animal Insurance (or equivalent)

[betty]

As mentioned on another thread - it would be great to hear if anyone has any policies or savings options that have worked out well for small animal healthcare. Or if anything is available - even if you haven't signed up yourself.

Although a consult and treatment-free euthanasia appointment can be as little as £10 at some vet practices and a routine nurse appointment for nail/teeth/beak trims can be around the £20 mark - most standard first consultations in the UK (where you pet needs to be assessed medically by a vet) are around £30-60 - and that is before any treatment options or medications.

I have found one exotic pet insurance policy (UK only) after getting through all the typical SEO rubbish at the top of searches;

exoticdirect.co.uk/small-mammal-insurance/

This seems to include a huge number of exotic breeds so that's a good start!

Looks like (after filling in loads of gubbins): £24.48 a month (for 10 months) for a years cover for 2 (young, healthy) Mongolian gerbils. Basic cover here with £2000 in that year for (new) accident, sickness or disease shared between both pets. There is also an excess per 'condition' of £65. This would leave you £300+ in over the year if you make one claim. (there is also an advanced policy for £30.00 a month (x10) which gives you up to £2000 per gerbil (so £360+ in the year for one claim).

I went back in to look for duprasi gerbil (it wasn't there) but I put one gerbil under 'gerbil' (not mongolian gerbil) and it came up at £15.36 a month (x10) - so that's around £220+ for one claim in that same year. Basically £200 in is most likely almost the cost of first consult, pain meds and a surgery - certainly more if there is a referall.


Anyway - I will now just have a read of the schedule itself to see if there are any annoying clauses - here is the link if you want a read yourself: their policy document: exoticdirect.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Exotic-Direct-Policy-Booklet-v13022023.pdf

[LilyandDaisy]

I've looked at Exotic Direct before and decided it wasn't worthwhile for me. I decided it was better value to set up a monthly direct debit transferring a set amount of money into a savings account, to be used when needed, but still available when not needed.

With a £65 excess, that means many basic consultations wouldn't be covered. For reference, the other month a tooth trimming under sedation, antibiotic injection and steroid injection for a hamster cost about £55 at my local vets.

I know that sometimes people with maybe just a single rodent, like one hamster or one duprasi (or even just a pair of gerbils), might find insurance worthwhile in terms of peace of mind even if it doesn't necessarily work out in monetary terms. The peace of mind to know that if any scans or surgeries, or expensive ongoing treatment were to be needed, they should be covered, might be worthwhile for some.

[betty]

Reading the benefits schedule it certainly seems more focussed/beneficial for larger and/or more expensive exotics or collections (mainly due to the focus on theft or force of nature) - although I certainly didn't look into the prices for those such animals or collections.

Certainly for peace of mind for gerbil people who have had costly treatments before - such as a scent gland removal, or ovarian cysts etc it might seem like a reasonable deal in year 2 or 3 - although we would need to speak to the insurers about these two things specifically as their clause on 'pre-existing condition' is very generous.

As with all insurance policies, it doesn't cover routine things (check ups, teeth/nails), or any consultations where no immediate treatment is required - so you may end up paying for first consultations and various clippings on top of your monthly installments - just like cat and dog owners do (although their excess is usually £120+)

However, like you and many others, I have always had a savings pot for small animals where I popped in something every month by direct debit just after payday (so I don't even have to think about it - or even spot it leaving) and I let it stack up somewhere quietly - unattached to any specific animal - so it is still mine if noone gets ill or injured.

Years back for me this was actually in Premium Bonds (where, although you have to stock up on the initial purchase - you get a chance to win every month with every single £1) and actually that savings pot grew without me even thinking about it. Looking about other options of course this could be switched out for any type of high interest account where your monthly amount allows for it, or a plain current account/split account if only small or variable amounts are spare here and there. Again - this leaves all the unspent money as instant access* for you if you need it.

*always make sure it is instant access - and no fee access so you can get it the day you require funds.


Even the smallest amounts put away regularly can make a difference: £5 a month from the purchase of a new pet could already be £60 in year one without interest, and after 3 years of good health with the first gerbils (fingers crossed), your next pet or pets will already have more than £200 in the pot. A comfortable amount to cover you if you need an emergency appointment as a one off.

If you can spare the same as the premium (above) for the 2 gerbils premium policy - that's £360 in the first year in your savings account - and over £1000 (not including interest) after 3 years. More than enough for most surgeries in that time if you can stick with it.

Certainly lots of options - but like anything that could cost a lot at once - and suddenly - it is always better to have planned for it in advance as this opens up more options and reduces stress. Knowing you have some of the cost already tucked away means that you can make more informed choices at such important moments. Even if you don't end up having to spend it all - at least that option was on the table.


As for veterinary costs - we have recently seen the costs of several medications go up sharply due to shortages or supplier changes. Our practice were cushioned nicely for some products with one supplier but when we have to order it the odd time from a different supplier we absorbed the cost, but now we have to do this much more often, we have had to raise the unit cost part way between the two so we aren't losing money on keeping the more expensive ones in stock. And sometimes there is quite a big difference between the two.


There are other ways to save money on your pets overall along the way - leaving more 'spare' for your savings in the first place. So working out what you currently spend (if you are brave enough) and seeing what your unit costs are for substrate and foods/treats over a month or year could make it easier to spot bargains when you see them in other stores or online. I always send a shopping list to several stores every few months to see where the best prices are for the products I use and get the best deal. At one point this was nearly £3 a pack on just my substrate - and I was buying 6 at a time - so that £18 went straight into the saving pot (and that included the cost of a delivery charge) so that certainly worth doing every time.

I do buy more than most people so individual savings might not be as much - but I have more trips to the vets too!!!

[Markpd]

Interesting discussion, I wonder about pet insurance (again) after Avon and Blake became ill (I think I did briefly look into it beforehand, but either decided it wasn't worth it, or it wasn't available at the time).

betty
This would leave you £300+ in over the year if you make one claim.
I'm not sure what you mean here, do you mean it would cost us £300+ in 1 year if we made a claim, or £300+ better off if we made a claim?
Oh wait, I think I get you now, it would cost ~£315 for 1yr insurance and making 1 claim.

Looks like (after filling in loads of gubbins): £24.48 a month (for 10 months) for a years cover for 2 (young, healthy) Mongolian gerbils.
Another question, do they not cover older gerbils? If so that would make it pretty pointless.
What do they consider the threshold for young/old?

[betty]

I only clarified in brackets there what I entered on screen for the search - so I put in a young age and ticked the box that said they weren't currently suffering from any known health conditions.

There may be a different price for older gerbils - or it might be the same - I didn't try all the age options - and I didn't list any pre-existing health conditions although as with most insurance policies, I would imagine that would be where any issues surfaced.

[tanzanyte]

I was thinking the same as Mark, if it's going to be harder to get cover for older gerbils or if it's going to be significantly higher in price then it's a bit pointless. I'll have to have a look and see, but would imagine there would be some difference.
I do know that pet insurance won't pay out for the silly expensive meds I had that were over £60 for 1ml as it was only licensed for humans and not animals. This basically means it's a licence to print money for the vets. The same meds for a whole bottle costs a chemist around £10 as I got someone in the industry to check for me, so how they could charge almost 70 for 1ml is beyond me.

[betty]

That does seem a bit strange for a vet to have such a ridiculous mark up? I do know that some brands of medications are not available to vets - and so they have to order only through their approved ones which don't always include the same subsidies as human drugs so appear more expensive when dosed in such small amounts as a result.

It might also be a date breach issue - so if a vets practice doesn't normally hold a product and they hardly ever use the product you need, they may change a client for 'the whole bottle' no matter how much they use - as otherwise they will end up throwing the whole other unused part of the bottle away at a loss.

However, always remember that a vet can give you a WRITTEN prescription (usually around £15-20 in the UK) so you can go buy the medication elsewhere at a licenced pharmacy at the cheapest price you can find it. This isn't always cheaper of course for most meds - but in the case of your bottle - you still could have been over £30 better off that way.


Tanzanyte - did you go put in a quote for an older gerbil in the end?