To benefit from the reassurance of MORE TH>N pet insurance, get a quote and receive 15% off when you buy online. Cover includes alternative therapies. Get more info online.

MORE TH>N Pet Insurance offers:

• 15% Discount when you buy online

• 15% Discount off each additional pet insured

• Up to £7,000 vets fees cover for each and every new injury and illness

• 24-hour access to our free phone service, Vetfone - unlimited expert advice day or night from a qualified veterinary nurse about the health and welfare of your pet

• No maximum age limit

• Up to £2 million liability insurance if your dog causes an accident or damages someone’s property

• Up to £600 towards advertising and a reward should your pet go missing

• Up to £600 in kennel or cattery fees if you are ill or injured and you spend over 4 days in hospital.

Get a free online pet insurance quote

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

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).

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.

Sainsbury?s whose pet insurance provides up to £1,000 towards the advertising costs for a lost dog or cat(1) reveals that 8% of UK residents, equating to 3.93 million people, have had a pet cat or dog go missing over the past five years. Alarmingly, 26% of these owners believe their pets were stolen.

The Bank?s research indicates that many lost pets are never reunited with their owners. Some 61% of people who have suffered from a pet cat or dog going missing since November 2002, never saw them again.

Despite these distressing findings, many victims may find that their pet insurance policy will offer little or no support towards the recovery of their pets. Around 24% of all pet insurance policies offer no reward for the return of lost or stolen dogs and will not provide financial assistance to owners who want to try and find their missing dog by placing advertisements. The corresponding figure for pet insurance policies covering cats is 21%(2).

Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance provides up to £1,000 towards the advertising costs for a lost dog or cat and up to £750 compensation if the pet is lost or stolen and not returned. Through a partnership with Missing Pets Bureau the bank also offers pet owners FREE pet ID tags that link to microchips and DNA identification.

The Bank?s research indicates that for every one person who has had a dog go missing over the past five years, seven people have had cats go astray.

In an attempt to secure the safe return of their pet, 71% of people who had their cat or dog go missing over the past five years, turned to their neighbours for help, 44% put up posters in their neighbourhood and 13% placed an advertisement in the local paper(1). Two in five (40%) informed the RSPCA or equivalent local dog or cat home of their lost pet, whilst only 12% contacted the police.

Claire Moyles, Pet Insurance Manager, Sainsbury’s Finance said: ?Missing pets is a big problem, the scale of which is often underestimated. It is a very distressing time for owners, compounded of course if they are never reunited with their cat or dog. Should your animal go missing our advice is to act as quickly as possible and notify the police, rescue centres and your vet immediately”.

Sainsbury?s Bank offers the following tips on how to reduce the chances of your pet going missing or worse, being stolen:

• Ensure that your pet wears a collar and pet identification tag
• Have your pet micro-chipped. This takes seconds and is virtually painless. Consult your local vet for details
• Keep garden boundaries as secure as possible to prevent your dog from escaping and also to deter thieves from entering
• Always supervise your dog, whether it is in your own garden or in a public area
• Try to avoid tying your dog up outside a shop or leaving it unattended
• If you use a dog walker, make sure that they are reputable
• Vary your routes when walking your dog

Pet ID tags provided by Missing Pets Bureau and Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance link to microchips and DNA identification(3). They give 24-hour ‘Petback Protect’ support, 365-days-a-year, to get lost and stolen pets back to their owners fast. The tags are secure because they display a freephone number for people to call if they find a pet missing, and a serial number that links to the owner’s personal details on Missing Pets Bureau?s database. This is important as without the owner’s personal details, their identity is protected and a criminal cannot hold their pet to ransom.

Good quality pet insurance does not need to be expensive, good cover at a competitive price can be found by shopping around. Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance is designed to offer some of the widest range of benefits available at a competitive price. For further information  log on to www.sainsburys.co.uk or pick up a leaflet in a Sainsbury?s supermarket.

(1) Based on an independent online survey conducted by Canvasse Opinion on behalf Sainsbury?s Bank. A total of 1557 interviews were conducted across the UK amongst adults aged 18 and over. Interviews were carried out between 1st ? 6th November 2007. The consumer omnibus research uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of the UK. Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.
(2) Defaqto’s Aequos Database, November 2007
(3) 12 months? free membership of “Petback Protect”, fee required thereafter.

Get 15% off when you apply for MORE TH>N pet insurance online. Up to £7,000 cover for every new accident or illness your pet may have. No time limit to spending the vet fees benefit- providing protection against long term ailments such as Arthritis or Eczema (not just the first 12 months like some other competitors.

MORE TH>N also covers your pet for the full length of its treatment and also protects cats and dogs regardless of age from 8 weeks old.

Get a Free Quote Online  and see how much you could save

Anyone tempted to buy a pet or who received one for Christmas should not forget that a key part of having a cat or dog is making sure it can be properly looked after when it is ill, says Defaqto in its most recent report, Pet Insurance in the UK 2007.

New owners need to look beyond the immediate pleasure of having a pet to what can happen to it over its life. Not only are the costs of treating pets rising, but just as with humans, new treatments are being introduced all the time to improve a pet’s quality of life when it is unwell.

Although there are over 120 policies examined in the report, they fall into two main types: those paying claims only for the first twelve months of an illness only and those that will pay for the whole time the pet needs treatment for that condition, but with a limit on the expenditure each year.

Brian Brown, Head of Insight at Defaqto and author of the report, said, “Pet insurance should be a priority for pet owners but it is vital to shop around and check that you know which policy type you are buying before committing to a purchase. As many conditions can run for longer than twelve months the policies paying out for twelve months only are aimed at customers who only want cover for emergency treatments, while those paying ‘per year’ are aimed at those who want full treatment for their pets. Naturally customers should expect twelve month policies to be cheaper than the ‘per year’ type policies.”

An article earlier this year on the Moneyextra website highlighted the importance of having your pet adequately protected with insurance, especially now in with vets bills creeping up.

In London, average prices for veterinary fees have gone up by about 15% over the past year. In the rest of the South-East, they have risen by 10%. And the remainder of Britain has seen typical increases of around 6-8%.

However, according to research organisation Defaqto, less than a third of Britain’s seven million dogs and only 17% of cats have adequate financial protection in the form of pet insurance.

Halifax Pet Insurance recently revealed that during the last five years, us Britons have spent £2.6 billion purchasing cats and dogs. It also showed that owners underestimated the cost of vet bills by a shocking 103%.

Your dog could be heading for a pet insurance claim if he eats too much chocolate this Christmas. Tesco Pet Insurance is warning dog owners to make sure that their dog does not eat large quantities of chocolate as it can cause many nasty side effects and can even be fatal.

Chocolate baubles on your Christmas Tree and selection boxes wrapped underneath are an easy target for a wily dog. Sadly, large amounts of chocolate can be toxic to your four legged friend causing agitation, breathlessness, diarrhoea, hyperactivity, vomiting, increased urination, epileptic fits and even death.

The company are warning dog lovers to be on the alert particularly over Christmas time, and keep chocolate well out of the way of their pets.