Cat Insurance

Our family pets are often treasured and held very dear to our hearts; ultimately we like to think of them as another member of the family and thus we feel that they should be afforded the same kind of treatment as we would give any family member. This not only means showering them with gifts and presents and expensive foods but it also means that we like to insure them as well should anything go wrong.

When looking into whether to insure you cat there are several things which need to be taken into consideration.



With vets bills getting higher and higher many people often have to have their beloved pet put down because they simply cannot afford the treatment which would be the only other option. This is where insurance comes in; by making regular contributions to the cause you can ensure that whatever treatment your pet needs will be provided swiftly and efficiently. As with any other type of insurance, the amount you ultimately end up having to pay will be based on how much of a risk the insurer feels that your particular pet is; its age, its medical history and social factors will all go into determining how much you will be charged for premiums. Because a large party of this determination will go into considering the medical history and health of your cat you should be aware that premiums may well change as your pet gets older. As pets age they are more likely to need more medical attention and thus your premiums may well rise in order to meet this demand. However, this is something which you would have to discuss with your individual insurance provider as this may well not be the case for all policies.

As well as covering the medical expenses for your cat, some policies may well go further into offering different things. As devoted cat lovers out there will know, buying the equipment and the comforts which keep your cat happy can often be very expensive and, whilst the larger items can be covered by any normal home insurance policy, there is always the option of having things like carrying baskets covered under your insurance should they get damaged lost or stolen. This will obviously increase the price of your premiums but will mean that, ultimately, you will have much more coverage should the worst happen. Indeed, some insurers will offer all sorts of things; from picking up your pet to take them to the vets to offering to pay for posters should your cat ever go missing and need to be found. However, you shouldn’t be immediately wooed by offers such as this. You have to consider what will be right for you, your family and your pet. Indeed, if you live only a minutes’ walk from the vets then why pay for home pickup of your cat? If your cat has never really gone missing and is now too old to be very mobile then paying out for help with finding the cat is really an unnecessary expense, however attractive the offer may seem at the time.

When applying for cat insurance, you will need to fill out detailed forms about your pets medical history. This next point is one which really cannot be stressed highly enough; no matter how tempting it may be, do not lie on these forms. You will be found out and your insurance will then become invalid and this could leave you facing huge vets bills which you will have to somehow pay yourself. The forms which you will be asked to fill in will vary from insurer to insurer but they will all ask you to detail any operations or illnesses your cat has had before, how old it is as well as other broader questions which will help them to determine how likely your cat is to need treatment. If you are lucky and have a very healthy cat with a clean bill of medical history then you will probably be facing very low premiums until your cat gets very old. As your cat ages these premiums may well change but you can worry about that another day.

Cats are a very important part of nearly all the families which they are a part of and, as such, they should be protected accordingly. Pet insurance is often something which gets pushed down to the bottom of people’s agendas but it really shouldn’t do. You should get your pet insured and then you don’t have to worry about what to do when you are landed with a very expensive vets bill.