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chrislewis6563
Contributing Member
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 63
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 Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:22 am Post subject: |
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I would just say read the small print, I have got a great Dane how split his nerves to his back legs and had to go for a MIR scan and they would only cover for one and he had three at a £1000 a time  and will not cover for MIR scans again  |
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Jack
Captivebred Colonel
Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 2593
Location: west lothian scotland
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| tigerbaby2k wrote: | | Jack wrote: | | i do beleve M&S are the best aroun they have a no exess ect so are cheepest about |
Jack with all due respect, just because they are cheap and have no excess doesnt make them the best around. All the points I said above need to be looked into as with buying any insurance. Cheaper isnt always better. Please dont take offence. We deal with insurance companies all the time and are asked about which insurance is best (by the way Vets are not allowed to promot one single insurance from their vet practice anymore) so I always go through the above no matter what company it is with. |
but it was also recomended by the vets and when our cat got a nasty woulnd on his leg he needed 3 oparations nd the servise was great
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jack
http://z3.invisionfree.com/snakechat/index.php |
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tigerbaby2k
Key Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 361
Location: Cardiff / Newport
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Thats fine Jack if you have had personal experience with them and they been good.
Vets are not allowed to recommend any at a practice so thats naughty!
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Sophxx
Counting down the weeks til I get my Cham! My beardie is 10 1/2 years old 
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Lhasa apso
1.1 Lionheads
0.1 Syrian Hamster |
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Scott W
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 13355
Location: London, England.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:17 am Post subject: |
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| chrislewis6563 wrote: | | I would just say read the small print, I have got a great Dane how split his nerves to his back legs and had to go for a MIR scan and they would only cover for one and he had three at a £1000 a time and will not cover for MIR scans again |
sorty to read that Chris, which policy was it?
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk |
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Scott W
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 13355
Location: London, England.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| tigerbaby2k wrote: | I personally have the dogs under Petplan Supreme - its £31 a month in theory (I have discount for being a vet) but in my eyes they are the best one out there because they have very little exclusions and will pay out quickly. The £31 with them is because of being in the higher end of location prices. My parents pay £22 for the same cover but they live elsewhere! The supreme one I have has no limit on cost which is good, for the rare event of a serious emergency where placement in an intensive care unit can eat a maximum claim quickly (having worked in the ICU units I know how expensive it can be!)
To sum up these are what to check for:
- LIFE LONG insurance - get this as it will cover the animal for the disease for life. DO NOT GO FOR year policy which only cover for a year.
- EXCLUSIONS - check what is covered and what is not.
- MAXIMUM CLAIM - some do a max of £xxxx per disease, some do a max of £xxxx per year and restart the following year. And some do no maximum. This means that is you reach the max £xxx per disease you then have to pay the rest of the cost for the rest of the animals life - can mount up to a lot with cases like Diabetes Mellitus. Ones where you have a max £xxx per year mean if you have a claim of say a broken leg due to traffic accident, it might take you over the budget and for the rest of the year you wont be able to claim, but the following year it starts again and hopefully wont have too big claims in 2 years! The last option is lifelong cover with no maximum - this means any amount can be claimed for each disease for life.
- THIRD PARTY - always check it has this, as say the animal runs into road and causes a traffic accident then you will be liable for the drivers claims - having this will cover this aspect.
- ILLNESS COVER - some do this were say the owner was taken ill and the animal had to go into a kennels for some time, the insurance will pay for this.
- ADVERTISING - always good to know you have cover if in the worse case you lose you pet somewhere
- COVER for death - nice to have, but you have to keep the reciept for the full money or they will give "market value". Now I personally wouldnt worry if lost this money as money will never replace my boys. However Im sure its very useful for people how fork out £2000 for bulldogs etc. BUT beware, some only do a maximum on this too.
Hope these little pointers help you decide
Bri - Im so sorry to hear about your little girl. My heart goes out to you |
thanks for that, nice summary.
Do you know what dobermans are prone to overall?
Also would I be right in thinking that built up areas would be dearer than being in the countryside?
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chrislewis6563
Contributing Member
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:09 am Post subject: |
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| Scott W wrote: | | chrislewis6563 wrote: | | I would just say read the small print, I have got a great Dane how split his nerves to his back legs and had to go for a MIR scan and they would only cover for one and he had three at a £1000 a time and will not cover for MIR scans again |
sorty to read that Chris, which policy was it? |
Hi Scott he is ok now and still with us, the policy was with petlog or petplan one of them. |
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tigerbaby2k
Key Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 361
Location: Cardiff / Newport
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| Scott W wrote: |
thanks for that, nice summary.
Do you know what dobermans are prone to overall?
Also would I be right in thinking that built up areas would be dearer than being in the countryside? |
Yes, Dobermans have a couple of things (AND NOT saying yours will have either!)
- Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)- this is the BIG one that affects Dobies. This is basically where the heart chambers dilate and the heart muscles weaken (unknown reason normally) and they can suddenly go into heart failure - it can happen literally in a few minutes, but the heart would have been dilating for many months/years. If your girls every collapse, have breathing problems or have frothy blood tinged fluid from the nose/mouth it is serious and I would recommend taking them to a Vet as its an emergency and unfortunately Dobermans often dont last more than a few months once in heart failure as its is rapidly fatal in this breed (typically less than 90days). Unfortunately around 1/3 of Dobermans with DCM will have sudden death as the first sign - they can literally be running in garden then so sadly die. However, we do have one patient at college that was in serious life threating heart failure two years ago and he is still going strong now having brought him out of failure, altough the owners are fully aware he may go any time, but he is happy atm and thats the important part! This is likely to be one of the most costly problems if it happens. Always make sure your vet listens carefully to the heart at each visit as an early sign is a heart rate/rhythm change. In Dobermans DCM can be seen as early as 1-2 years old but is more typical in dogs older than 5years.
- Cervical Vertebral Malformation (aka as Wobblers - similar to that in horses). Again Dobermans are one of the breeds where this is seen more in. This is narrowing/malformation of the vertebrae of the neck region and puts pressure on the spinal chord. It causes them to have neurological signs of the limbs - firstly they have uncorordinated stepping of their back legs which can then progress to the forelegs. They can appear as if they are "drunk" or clumpsy. This again can be costly in diagnosis and repair -often needing to be refered to higher cost Veterinary hospitals. In Dobermans it is normally seen around the ages of 3-5 years old.
- A lot lack Von Willebrands Factor - this is part of the clotting cascade and if they ever need any sort of surgery then the vet should check this prior to starting surgery in case they bleed a lot. If you notice that if they cut themself and bleed quite a bit or have little blood clots in the gums then it could well be this and have it checked out.
Really REALLY hope havent worried you or made you paranoid! These are the big 3 of which the heart problem is the most common and can too often be fatal - Dobermans just dont seem to do well with it when compared to other breeds. If you are worried about it, the best thing would be to have either an ECG 24-hour placed on them which will measure the heart rate and rhythm - most cases of DCM have rhythm distrubaces. Or you could have them heart scanned maybe once a year - this can be costly (around £150 at the RVC in Hertfordshire, but probably slightly less in general practice). As this would be a screening process, it is unlikely insurance would pay, no matter what insurance company it is. However, if the disease was picked up then the company should then be fine with paying for any further costs.
Hope this helps in some way?! yes most insurance prices will vary depending on where you live. I live in Hertfordshire and may £31 for the same policy as my parents who pay £22 but they live more in the country.
xx
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Sophxx
Counting down the weeks til I get my Cham! My beardie is 10 1/2 years old
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Lhasa apso
1.1 Lionheads
0.1 Syrian Hamster |
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Scott W
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 13355
Location: London, England.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:38 am Post subject: |
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thanks for the reply, is there anything preventative that can be done for Dilated cardiomyopathy, in other words is there any advantage to actually knowing the dog has it?
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tigerbaby2k
Key Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 361
Location: Cardiff / Newport
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Yes medication can be given and which one depends on whether they are showing clinical signs of the disease. Knowing they have will mean if they sudddenly go into heart failure you can rush them to vet and can hopefully be treated appropriately as the disease is already known about. Ideally they shouldnt be bred from, so some breeders use it as a screening process to take them out of their breeding stock eg like screening Labs for Hip Dysplasia.
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Sophxx
Counting down the weeks til I get my Cham! My beardie is 10 1/2 years old
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Lhasa apso
1.1 Lionheads
0.1 Syrian Hamster |
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SteveL
Captivebred Communist
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 1531
Location: Cov
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:55 am Post subject: |
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Dog insurance is a bloody rip off ...I have found out the hard way though
just make sure you find a good vet that will let you pay any bills in installments and do away with insurance con .when you go to claim on any insurance they make it as hard as possible to claim .then when you do claim they get the cash back through premiums
it should not be allowed IMO .i mean if there giving you insurance why hike it miles up right after a claim ,there taking the risk offering it you in the bloody first place ,its not a loan OR is it ??  does me head in tbh
sorry for the waffle 
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| jezz wrote: | | I dont understand SteveL's sarcasm dohhh |
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