Plenty to wag your tail about…

We all love our pets. Muddy paws. Hair all over the sofa. They’re part of the family. Wouldn’t be without them. But what happens if they get ill, get lost, have an accident or cause one? Who’ll take care of them then? Who’ll foot the bill?

The answer should be a well-trained and obedient owner with good pet insurance. And if you insure with Marks & Spencer, you’ll be wagging your tail when you discover that it can cost you a lot less than you’d think.

• Save 5% if you apply online
• Available for dogs and cats aged 8 weeks and over with no upper age limit
• Vet’s bills covered up to £7000 a year, with treatment as long as it’s needed provided you keep your policy renewed
• Save 10% for each additional pet you insure
• Lifetime cover for cats and dogs
• Up to £7,000 veterinary fees each year (An excess of £40 to £80 and 15% of claim may apply depending on pet and location.)
• Pay a small additional premium to remove your policy excess for pets aged 8 and under
• Up to £750 for complementary treatments
• Up to £2m third party liability
• Up to £1,500 for accidental death
• Up to £1,000 for death by illness
• Up to £1,500 theft or straying
• Up to £1,000 for advertising costs
• Up to £500 reward costs
• Up to £750 for emergency kennels or cattery fees
• Up to £2,500 holiday cancellation
• Free pet travel cover
• Free Helplines
• Reduce your premiums with these extra discounts
• 5% off if you apply online (not available with the multi-pet discount, or on that part of the premium you pay to remove the policy excess)
• Save 7.5% when you agree an additional £10 excess
• Save 15% when you agree an additional £20 excess
• Save 10% on the policy of your second and subsequent pets

Get a Free Marks and Spencer Pet Insurance Quote

LV= today announced today that it is launching a new pet insurance product.

The company is introducing two new policies, Essential and Premier, both available for cats and dogs from aged eight weeks, with no upper age limit.  Prices start from around £5 per month for cats and £7 per month for dogs.

Both policies include a number of extra benefits on top of covering the cost of any vets fees.  These include contribution to advertising and a reward should a pet go missing, accidental damage to third party property and boarding fees for the pet in the event of the owner having to go to hospital.

The policies also provide free access to a number of helplines including one providing bereavement counselling for owners, a legal advice line manned by qualified solicitors and a service providing details of registered pet minders in the local area.

Essential has been developed with the budget-conscious pet owner in mind and each condition is covered for up to 12 months from the onset of the problem.

The Premier product offers £5,000 cover per condition, with no time limit on the claims period and is suitable for pet owners wanting a higher level of cover for their pet.

The policies have been designed to make the purchase decision as simple as possible for pet owners.

Pet insurance is one of the most complex products on the market, meaning consumers often find it hard to differentiate between cover levels, excesses and exclusions.

This means it is difficult for consumers to understand the benefits and implications of a claim with many other providers.

For example, unlike many other policies on the market, both LV= polices benefit from a standard excess of £60 per condition, regardless of the cost of the claim.   Many other insurers charge variable excesses, depending on age or breed of the animal and even by condition or percentage of the cost of a claim.

Andrew Beard, Head of Business Development at LV=, commented:

“When developing these products we really wanted to provide pet owners with value for money cover that offer peace of mind with no hidden clauses or nasty surprises.

“Pet insurance has never been more important for pet owners. As the types of treatment available increase, thanks to developments in medical technology, so do vet fees.    Whereas five years ago many pet owners could have afforded the majority of treatments, now some claims run into thousands of pounds, meaning it is beyond many peoples financial ability.”

With the average trip to the vets costing a pet owner £300, and with one in three cats and dogs getting ill or injured every year, insurance is more important than ever, and the LV= prices are very competitive.*

For a one year old moggie living in Dorchester the premium would be just £52.40 per year and for a Yorkshire terrier of a similar age living in the same area the premium would be £73.90.

Pet owners taking out multiple policies will benefit from a 5% discount on the standard price.

Research from Tesco Pet Insurance has revealed how cats and dogs can suffer from health conditions normally associated with humans.

Not only can dogs suffer from depression in the Winter, but insurance claim figures from the company show that anorexia was prevalent in 737 cats and 428 dogs; 11 cats and 56 dogs had behavioural problems; while 18 dogs had treatment for OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

Other conditions you’d be more used to seeing in a Doctor’s surgery as opposed to a Veterinary surgery include heart murmurs (1118 dogs); ear infections (3661 dogs); allergies (267 cats; 954 dogs) and cystitis (1363 feline cases).

A combination of growing financial difficulties, the rising cost of owning a pet and the ‘Christmas present’ factor could make 2008 one of the worst years for pets being abandoned

Petmeds.co.uk, the UK pet health store, believes that 2008 could be one of the worst years ever for people abandoning pet cats and dogs, and it is concerned that many rescue centres will not be able to cope with the influx of animals.

To help animal rescue centres cope with the influx of abandoned animals, the company is offering them below cost-price medication as well as giving free flea and worming treatments to the new owners.

The company says that there are three key factors behind the possibility of 2008 being one of the worst years ever for pets being abandoned:

1. Financial difficulties: A growing number of people are struggling financially due to rising bills and an increase in their cost of living. Therefore, pet owners in this category may see their animals as an unnecessary cost or an expense they cannot afford, even with pet insurance available to help towards any medical costs

2. The rising cost in owning pets: Veterinary fees and the rising cost of medication for pets have meant that owning an animal is now more expensive than ever before. Indeed, Petmeds.co.uk, which offers attractive discounts on animal medication, has seen average costs rise by around 7% over the past 12 months(2).

3. The Christmas pet rush: Research(1) from Petmeds.co.uk reveals that 1.3 million people planned to buy a dog for Christmas, and 875,000 intended to purchase a cat. Sadly, once the excitement of having a pet fades and people become aware of the full responsibility and cost involved in owning a pet, some decide to get rid of their animals.

Ricky Thomas, managing director of Petmeds.co.uk said: “People often get excited about buying a pet, without really taking into account what pet ownership entails. With dogs for example, you should always consider the characteristics of the different breeds, the time needed to look after the animal properly, and the costs of food, vaccinations, vet bills and insurance. A dog can cost well over £10,000 during the course of its lifespan, and this can often be a major contributory factor to pets being abandoned. And in the current difficult financial environment, people become more aware of the costs involved in owning a pet.

“Animal rescue centres have a difficult enough time trying to look after and find new homes for unwanted pets, so the least we can do is help them out with the costs of the essential treatments needed to look after neglected animals. In a nation of animal lovers, we urge any companies or individuals who care about the welfare of our animals to get behind the incredible work performed by these organisations, and donate what they can.”

(1) PetMeds commissioned the consumer omnibus research conducted by GfK NOP to interview 1,000 people between 30th November and 2nd December 2007. GfK NOP uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of GB. Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals
(2) Based on the prices of the 100 best-selling pet health products available through PetMeds between May and December 2006, and May and December 2007.

Vets Now, which provides an Out of Hours emergency veterinary service, was recently called upon to perform emergency treatment on one very tough and extremely lucky dog who survived a nasty encounter with a fallen tree branch.

Casca, a 4 year old Bearded Collie arrived at Vets Now Farnham on a cold Friday night in December after impaling himself through the chest area on a fallen tree branch whilst walking in the woods with his owners at night. Realising that the log could not easily be removed, Casca’s owners, Mr and Mrs Holden of Borden in Hampshire, were quick to react and took the dog home where they immediately sawed off the branch before rushing Casca to the nearby Vets Now clinic.

The Vet and Nurse on duty at the clinic were shocked by the injury Casca had received but quickly got to work to help him. He received pain relief and oxygen to help stabilise him before receiving an anaesthetic to allow the team to begin to explore the chest area and work out how best to save his life and remove the offending log.

Luckily for Casca, the log had missed any major organs, skimming along the rib cage, entering the chest muscles and exiting behind his shoulder. This allowed the Vets Now team to gently ease the log out before flushing the wound to treat the internal contamination the log had caused.

Astonishingly, radiographs taken after the freak accident showed no nerve or internal damage in the chest area and the emergency vets were able to close the wound. Perhaps even more surprising, given the condition of Casca when he arrived in the clinic was that within three hours of the surgery, he was up and walking and bounded out of the clinic just two days later with his owner!

Commenting on the freak accident, Vets Now Farnham’s Senior Veterinary Surgeon, Rene Mostert said; “At Vets Now Farnham, we’re used to seeing a wide range of emergency cases every night. We’re never quite sure what is going to arrive through the clinic doors but when we received the emergency call from Casca’s Owner, we knew this was going to have to be one very tough dog to survive such a horrific accident. It’s a miracle that there was no serious internal damage and Casca is without a doubt, the luckiest dog I have ever seen, given the depth of the wound and the risk there was of infection through contamination. We’re absolutely delighted that he made such a speedy and full recovery. He really is truly remarkable.”

Casca’s owners were delighted to bring him home on the Monday morning and paid tribute to the Vets Now Farnham team for their care and treatment of their dog. Speaking about the accident, Mrs Holden said “We were taking Casca for his nightly walk and had let him off the lead for a run when he disappeared into the darkness and then gave out an agonising yelp. We rushed to find him and couldn’t believe what we saw. We didn’t think he would have a chance of survival but fortunately the team at Vets Now were on hand so we were able to phone them and rush Casca there immediately. I can’t thank the Vets Now team enough for their calm and professional approach in what was a really shocking and upsetting situation. Casca was clearly in great distress, and the treatment and care he received at the Vets Now clinic was
truly exceptional.”

We’re pleased to say that Casca is now happily bounding everywhere again with his usual reckless abandon, none the worse for his brief encounter with the stray log! A very lucky dog, minus a very sharp log!

Pet insurance can help with the distress of a missing pet, says Sainsbury’s Bank. Shocking figures from the company reveal that over the last five years, 3.93 million people have had the upset and stress of a pet dog or cat go missing. Just over a quarter of these believe that their four legged friend was stolen.

The positive news is that some pet insurance policies do offer financial assistance in the event of your pet dog or cat going missing. With Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance you get up to £1,000 towards the advertising costs for a lost dog or cat.

A spokesperson from Sainsbury’s said that should your pet go missing, you should act as quickly as possible. Notify your vet, the police, and rescue centres.