Pet Insurance

We are lucky to live in a world where our ability to treat our animals is improving at an amazingly rapid rate. Even since I graduated, many conditions that where owners were told “there’s nothing we can do” are now very treatable. The unfortunate side-effect of this is vet bills are getting bigger. A broken leg can cost around $2000 to repair, cancer treatments can cost $4500, and cases referred to specialists in Perth can cost over $10000. This is why pet insurance is now so important. Pet insurance gives you the ability to obtain the best treatment for your pet without having to worry about the cost.

Like any product, pet insurance varies depending on the policy type and company providing the policy. These are the things we recommend you look for when considering a pet insurance policy:

·         Cover for the duration of each condition: this means that if your pet develops a chronic condition such as arthritis, skin problems or any other ongoing condition, the insurance policy will keep covering the bills. Some policies only cover for 12 months from when a condition is diagnosed, which are ok if the pet breaks a leg or has an acute illness, but are not much good for chronic diseases.

·         Cover bilateral conditions: We recommend policies that will cover illnesses if they occur on both sides of the animal. For example, a dog that ruptures a cruciate ligament has around a 70% chance of rupturing the cruciate ligament in the other leg. Ensure your policy will cover both legs

·         Cover for life: We also recommend policies that will keep covering your pet even when they get old, as many policies only cover the animal until around 10 years of age. Like people, when pets get old they tend to need more treatments an medications, so it is important to have a policy that will keep covering your pet as they age

At the Bunbury Vet Clinic, we can offer 4 weeks FREE pet insurance for healthy dogs and cats between 8 weeks and 12 months of age. Please feel free to ask us about this offer when you’re next in, or phone or talk to one of our qualified nurses.