Pet Insurance query

Edmundomee

Hi all

I'm just checking what everyone thinks about pet insurance? Is it worthwhile and if so who are ye with?

I have a 1 year old miniature schnauzer. He's just recovering from a kidney infection at the moment and I feel it may be a warning for me to get this sorted, even though I'd pay anything to keep him well anyway regardless of insurance. On a side note, I see that it won't cover pre-existing conditions (obviously enough). What would be classed as a pre-existing condition? Considering my little fella has a kidney infection now, would they not cover anything in relation to his kidneys in the future?

They can be a bit prone to kidney problems the poor guys...

wexie

Edmundomee wrote: »

Hi all

I'm just checking what everyone thinks about pet insurance? Is it worthwhile and if so who are ye with?

Yes, absolutely and Allianz.

Edmundomee wrote: »

would they not cover anything in relation to his kidneys in the future?

Probably not but you'd have to check with them.

em_cat

+1

We’re with Allianz as well. Our rescue has some issues related to genetics & indiscriminate/ poor breeding, but we insured him as soon as we collected him before he began to present with issues related. So far we’ve made 1 claim and recived the refund less the excess with no issues so defo worth it.

I probably won’t claim for all issues as it may not be worth it, but defiantly will for orthopaedics related.

tk123

We've claimed over 13k now so yes insurance all the way lol. More than likely they'd class anything kidney related or they may have a clause where you can't claim again for x years - my friend had that with gastro issues on her dogs policy because it's always eating stuff and having to be cut open! o_O

Edmundomee

tk123 wrote: »

We've claimed over 13k now so yes insurance all the way lol. More than likely they'd class anything kidney related or they may have a clause where you can't claim again for x years - my friend had that with gastro issues on her dogs policy because it's always eating stuff and having to be cut open! o_O

Thanks! Might be worthwhile for me to check with the vet exactly what they put down on his report as it was never properly diagnosed. She suspected a bad infection when they ran his bloods so gave him a strong dose of antibiotics and luckily, it seems to be doing the trick so far cause he's in really good form. He has a little bit to run yet with his antibiotic before a final check up (hopefully final!) with the vet so I'll mention the insurance to her then and see what she thinks.

aonb

Sods law: if you DO have insurance, your dog will be the healthiest little yoke on the planet. If you DONT have insurance, your dog will have a track worn to vet.

Another subsection of Sods Law: little mixed mongrel yokes are usually healthiest
Yet another subsection of Sods Law: if you think of getting insurance, and then dont, your pet will be on first names with your vet!
Do it OP - you just cant take a chance...
(ps, a photo of your min. schnauzer would be good too!)

Edmundomee

aonb wrote: »

Sods law: if you DO have insurance, your dog will be the healthiest little yoke on the planet. If you DONT have insurance, your dog will have a track worn to vet.

Another subsection of Sods Law: little mixed mongrel yokes are usually healthiest
Yet another subsection of Sods Law: if you think of getting insurance, and then dont, your pet will be on first names with your vet!
Do it OP - you just cant take a chance...
(ps, a photo of your min. schnauzer would be good too!)

Unfortunately, he actually took a bit of a turn yesterday. I thought he was over the worst of it but he was just real down in himself and wouldn't eat any of his favourites. I'm hoping for now the heavy medication has got his tummy a bit upset and it's not something even more serious. He's a handsome little fella, just after turning a year old 2 months ago. Please keep him your prayers, poor little guy.

tk123

Oh no! I hope he'll be ok.

Stratvs

Another +1 for Allianz.

Reasonable excess and fast response. Usually forms go direct from our vet to them.

JustMe,K

After having massive vet bills on a previous pet, the first thing I did was take out insurance with the current one.

Hope your dog will be ok & make a full recovery

boomerang

Allianz for sure, don't go with anyone else!

aonb

so sorry to hear your little dog not well. The meds can def wreck havoc on their tummy/appetite - as long as he's drinking? A tiny meal, just a spoonful, of boiled chicken, or scrambled egg - several times/day - might tempt him

Let us know how hes doing

AndrewJRenko

It is worth it for the cats, or do their nine lives suffice?

Edmundomee

aonb wrote: »

so sorry to hear your little dog not well. The meds can def wreck havoc on their tummy/appetite - as long as he's drinking? A tiny meal, just a spoonful, of boiled chicken, or scrambled egg - several times/day - might tempt him

Let us know how hes doing

He is eating a small bit and there's no trouble with his drinking thank god... He was always a bit choosey with his eating anyway. Vet has re-taken his bloods today and wants to recheck them in the hope that they'll be a bit better after his antibiotics. She did warn that even though hes so young it could unfortunately be the signs of some more serious kidney trouble but hopefully not. Hope you liked the picture of him? He's such a good little fella, really hope he'll be alright.

Nody

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

It is worth it for the cats, or do their nine lives suffice?

Worth it for cats as well; one badly broken leg, need to draw blood and wait etc. and you can easily start looking at four figure sums in cost. As always insurance is not there to cover the day to day cots but ensure you don't get insane spikes in cost (and also ensures you don't have to worry about if you can afford test X or not).

aonb

Edmundomee wrote: »

He is eating a small bit and there's no trouble with his drinking thank god... He was always a bit choosey with his eating anyway. Vet has re-taken his bloods today and wants to recheck them in the hope that they'll be a bit better after his antibiotics. She did warn that even though hes so young it could unfortunately be the signs of some more serious kidney trouble but hopefully not. Hope you liked the picture of him? He's such a good little fella, really hope he'll be alright.

Hes such a cutie - Ive a soft spot for schnauzers

Scary, if vet is talking about serious kidney trouble :eek:

JustAThought

What a georgous litttle fella! Brilliant photo.

So sorry he is not well - will say a little prayer for him to get better.

Allianz are fantastic - dont even think about going with anyone else .

And yes - even with an exemption for kidneys absolutely take it out. You cannot mitigate for swallowed rocks, cut paws, enthuiastically torn ligaments and stupid accidents. Just do it!! I would have a new car sitting out front if I had done things differently! And the abslutely last thing you want if some idiot mounta the path and knocks over your dog on a lead or if your dog eats a poisonous leaf or slug is to be thinking can I afford this bill or will I have to amke a terrible choice between my mortgage payment or precuous pet. Get Allianz insurance.

& Get well soon to your super Schnauser.

Edmundomee

aonb wrote: »

Hes such a cutie - Ive a soft spot for schnauzers

Scary, if vet is talking about serious kidney trouble :eek:

Absolutely devastating blow. She said that his bloods have actually gotten worse so unfortunately his kidneys look to be shutting down. She couldn’t offer a timeline and said that they couldn’t really do anything for him in their practice. My world has just fallen apart.

She has sent his bloods to a vet hospital in cork to see if there’s anything they could offer. On a complete side note now does anyone know any vets that specialise in kidneys. He’s in too good a form at the moment for me and my girlfriend to give up and I don’t want his outcome decided by numbers on a sheet (no matter how bad they are). I’m sure there’s a better chance a specialist would take him if they saw him jumping around and trying his best to be his usual self. Cost/insurance is no longer an issue if we’re given any sort of decent chance. We’ll raise it from somewhere. Its just awful.

Edmundomee

Edmundomee wrote: »

Absolutely devastating blow. She said that his bloods have actually gotten worse so unfortunately his kidneys look to be shutting down. She couldn’t offer a timeline and said that they couldn’t really do anything for him in their practice. My world has just fallen apart.

She has sent his bloods to a vet hospital in cork to see if there’s anything they could offer. On a complete side note now does anyone know any vets that specialise in kidneys. He’s in too good a form at the moment for me and my girlfriend to give up and I don’t want his outcome decided by numbers on a sheet (no matter how bad they are). I’m sure there’s a better chance a specialist would take him if they saw him jumping around and trying his best to be his usual self. Cost/insurance is no longer an issue if we’re given any sort of decent chance. We’ll raise it from somewhere. Its just awful.

Just to update everyone, a veternairy hospital in cork that specializes is in kidneys has agreed to consult him given his age. They want to check for a disease that mimmicks kidney failure in both symptoms and blood results (addisons disease). They said that even though it’s dangerous in its own right it’d be a hell of a lot more treatable than kidney failure. He had his bloods checked for it today and the results will be back next Wednesday. Least we have gone from a point of no Hope last night to a point of some hope today... fingers crossed

tk123

Fingers crossed for him. I've been to Gilabbey for ortho stuff and my friend's dog saw the heart specialist in Sunbeam for months. Both great hospitals.

Edmundomee

tk123 wrote: »

Fingers crossed for him. I've been to Gilabbey for ortho stuff and my friend's dog saw the heart specialist in Sunbeam for months. Both great hospitals.

Yeah, it’s gilabbey we have been sent to. The only thing that has struck a chord with them is that he’s only a year old and it would be very young for kidney failure despite the bad blood results. Where there’s life there’s hope

aonb

So very sorry to hear this OP - its heartbreaking to have a loved young dog suddenly start to show scary illness symptoms. The fact that he is so young makes it worse nearly. Everything crossed for you, that the results turn out to be something treatable. Did your vet say anything about a low-protein , low-sodium diet to help keep pressure off his kidneys in the meantime?
Keep us posted

Edmundomee

aonb wrote: »

So very sorry to hear this OP - its heartbreaking to have a loved young dog suddenly start to show scary illness symptoms. The fact that he is so young makes it worse nearly. Everything crossed for you, that the results turn out to be something treatable. Did your vet say anything about a low-protein , low-sodium diet to help keep pressure off his kidneys in the meantime?
Keep us posted

Yeah, he tried some of the hills kidney food this morning and actually eat it strangely enough cause he’s picky even at the best of times! Unfortunately the results won’t be back til next Wednesday for the addisons test but at least there’s hope to hang onto for now. Last night I felt he could pick up on our form and it put him in an even worse mood. At least if we think there may be a way out of this we should be reacting better around him which he should feed off of too. He still loves his usual favorites, like visitors calling and tries to play with his toys even though his energy is not really there to do it for long. The goal now is to try make things seem as normal as possible for him until next week when hopefully we’ll be closer to some answers one way or the other. It’s a tough balancing task, between not getting our hopes up too much and yet not completely giving up. I’ll keep ye up to date

Phoebas

There are a few posts here suggesting that Allianz are the company to go with.

Has anyone gone with a different provider and why are Allianz so popular?

cocker5

Phoebas wrote: »

There are a few posts here suggesting that Allianz are the company to go with.

Has anyone gone with a different provider and why are Allianz so popular?

Well I suppose as Allianz offer the best claims in terms of limits .. I’ve been dealing with the nearly 14 years now .. super quick to process and pay claims etc

Some other providers can be difficult.. refuse to pay , exclusions etc

Nody

Phoebas wrote: »

There are a few posts here suggesting that Allianz are the company to go with.

Has anyone gone with a different provider and why are Allianz so popular?

From what I've read most users who've gone with other providers (while potentially cheaper on paper) ended up with issues down the line where as I've yet to hear anyone having issues with Allianz. Having said that we're obviously a limited group here on boards in general but based on that group Allianz is the way to go.

Edmundomee

aonb wrote: »

So very sorry to hear this OP - its heartbreaking to have a loved young dog suddenly start to show scary illness symptoms. The fact that he is so young makes it worse nearly. Everything crossed for you, that the results turn out to be something treatable. Did your vet say anything about a low-protein , low-sodium diet to help keep pressure off his kidneys in the meantime?
Keep us posted

Another blow this evening, when we were told unfortunately the blood results showed it wasn’t addisons. they said the best we can do now is wait til Thursday when he’ll be assessed by the veternairy hospital in cork to see if there’s any possibilities... just hope he stays in decent form until then and doesn’t take another downturn. Hopefully there’ll be some little miracle. Wish the vet didn’t ring until the morning so we could have enjoyed our evening at least 🀷*♂️ Gotta keep fighting

cocker5

OP don’t loose faith just yet .. until your have a proper diagnosis..

Fingers and pawed crossed for your lovely dog x

Edmundomee

cocker5 wrote: »

OP don’t loose faith just yet .. until your have a proper diagnosis..

Fingers and pawed crossed for your lovely dog x

Thanks. Our vet said we have to take hope from the fact that the veternairy hospital is even willing to see him. She said they have turned down pets sometimes when they’ve seen bad blood results so at least they are willing to see if there’s anything that can be done for him. Roll on Thursday now. Just hope he keeps getting by as he is now until then cause he has gone very picky with the eating... (i have to turn on National Geographic and get him to think the lions are going to eat his food before he takes some!) loves tv... he’s such a funny little lad. Here’s hoping for something special to happen

cocker5

Edmundomee wrote: »

cocker5 wrote: »

OP don’t loose faith just yet .. until your have a proper diagnosis..

Fingers and pawed crossed for your lovely dog x

Thanks. Our vet said we have to take hope from the fact that the veternairy hospital is even willing to see him. She said they have turned down pets sometimes when they’ve seen bad blood results so at least they are willing to see if there’s anything that can be done for him. Roll on Thursday now. Just hope he keeps getting by as he is now until then cause he has gone very picky with the eating... (i have to turn on National Geographic and get him to think the lions are going to eat his food before he takes some!) loves tv... he’s such a funny little lad. Here’s hoping for something special to happen

Reduction in appetite can happen with kidney issues .. have you googled diets for dogs with kidney issues? Low purine I think they are called?

https://lifeoptions.org/learn-about-kidney-disease/what-to-eat-and-what-not-to/

https://lifeoptions.org/learn-about-kidney-disease/what-to-eat-and-what-not-to/

I’d say do some home cooking for him
And this will encourage him
To eat x

I had an issue a year ago now .. thought my guy had tonsil cancer (thankfully not) but the waiting and googling nearly was the death of me ..,

Best of luck keep us posted x

Edmundomee

cocker5 wrote: »

Reduction in appetite can happen with kidney issues .. have you googled diets for dogs with kidney issues? Low purine I think they are called?

https://lifeoptions.org/learn-about-kidney-disease/what-to-eat-and-what-not-to/

https://lifeoptions.org/learn-about-kidney-disease/what-to-eat-and-what-not-to/

I’d say do some home cooking for him
And this will encourage him
To eat x

I had an issue a year ago now .. thought my guy had tonsil cancer (thankfully not) but the waiting and googling nearly was the death of me ..,

Best of luck keep us posted x

Just to keep ye all up to date, he was at the veternairy hospital in Cork yesterday where he had an ultrasound. Unfortunately, even though his kidneys right now are not classified as 'in failure' they have been very badly damaged and he was diagnosed with Kidney dysplasia, which is basically abnormal kidneys since birth. The vet said there's very little more that can be done for him only to keep and eye out to make sure he doesn't get sick again, as a stomach bug, etc could unfortunately take him... She said in terms of prognosis, it's really on a dog by dog basis. She said some only last a few weeks to a few months but if you're lucky and he doesn't get any further illnesses, etc and keeps eating we could get a year or even a few.

Devastated obviously but still so glad that we brought him to the very best place we could and all we can do now is make sure the remainder of time we have with him is a happy time for him. She said he's not in pain right now, so luckily no decision needs to made from our side and to just keep an eye on him to see if he goes downhill.

She took a sample of urine from his bladder while sedated and is testing it to check his protein levels. If they're overly high, she will prescribe a diet that's low in meat content, etc for him. I really hope that comes back normal as he's picky enough with eating and it's great the last few days to see him get so so excited when I've cooked him some really lean meat. (It was all he'd eat when he was sick and he wasn't used to it)

So for now, we try stay as positive as possible and give him the absolute best care we can and hopefully he'll be one of the guys that sticks in there for the few years. I don't know what I'd do without my best friend

Mince Pie

Any update on the little fella OP?

Edmundomee

Mince Pie wrote: »

Any update on the little fella OP?

He's still eating but apart from that the poor guy seems to be going downhill a bit. It's tough when you don't know how much time you have left with the little lad. All we can do is give him all the love we have... Such a pity

Edmundomee

Mince Pie wrote: »

Any update on the little fella OP?

Just to let ye all know, last night we had to make the most difficult decision and put the poor guy down. He still tried to greet me when I came in from work but his legs weren't strong enough to stay standing as he came over to me. The poor guy seemed embarrassed by it all and I couldn't bear the thought of seeing him getting even worse. Today has been tough at work and all I can think about is my best friend but I know now it was the right decision and simply had to be done...

em_cat

Edmundomee wrote: »

Just to let ye all know, last night we had to make the most difficult decision and put the poor guy down. He still tried to greet me when I came in from work but his legs weren't strong enough to stay standing as he came over to me. The poor guy seemed embarrassed by it all and I couldn't bear the thought of seeing him getting even worse. Today has been tough at work and all I can think about is my best friend but I know now it was the right decision and simply had to be done...

So very sorry for your loss OP.

jomalone14

So sorry to hear this. RIP little guy. They become such a big part of our lives for such a short time. Hope you're ok OP.

cocker5

So sorry OP look after yourself .. these times are horrible but know you did the right thing by your dog