Veterinary Health Plans?

[midnightcatprowl]

My vet surgery now offers a 'Health Plan' this is not insurance but a monthly payment giving you certain benefits. As I'm a cat owner I've taken out of the information below anything relating to dogs, rabbits, etc.

Annual booster vaccinations
Cats: Flu, Enteritis, Leukaemia
Cats Flea control - one prescription combination flea & wormer (spot on) per month or separate monthly flea & worm tablet treatments
Pet Health Check Record Book
6 monthly 10 Point Health Checks including a nail clip & dental check
Additional health & weight checks with a nurse
Dental checks with a nurse
£25 off out of hours consultation fee. (unlimited consultations)
20% discount for First vaccine when joining Health Club
10% discount off dental procedures
10% discount off neutering
10% discount of all pet accessories bought at the practice
5% discount of pet food bought in practice

The cost per cat is £12.99 a month - unlike with dogs there is no variation in fee according to size. I'm in Bedford where vet care isn't cheap! I think my vet is not the most expensive in the area but not the cheapest either but I won't be changing partly because I think highly of the care they provide, partly because they are very near to me which is a benefit in itself and partly because they are particularly good with cats and as I rather specialise in homing difficult rescues I need vets who are very 'into' cats.

I'm uncomfortably aware that I spend a small fortune at the vets (but have never kept a record of it) and that much of it is on the routine stuff like flea treatment and no chance of economising on that sort of thing as my cats have a flap and come and go as they wish and I live in a densely populated area which inevitably means a dense potential population of cat fleas too.

I'm trying to work out if this plan would be a good idea. I already get £25 off out of hours consultation fees as a 'loyal returning customer' (!) so presumably I wouldn't get another £25 off - I don't know haven't asked yet. I don't buy pet food at the practice and I'm unlikely to start doing so but the other items listed are services I use or purchases I make or am likely to.

Does anyone else use this type of plan? If so what do you think about it? Obviously it is an attempt to tie you in to that particular surgery but as I wouldn't go anywhere else anyway that doesn't matter.

[baldchap]

That is about £156 a year, and as a comparison last year I spent about £140 for two dogs per year for check ups, boosters and kennel cough.

If it gives you peace of mind, it is definitely worth it.
It would not appeal to me personally. I suspect that if you put the same amount into a jar marked 'VET' to cover all bills you would have enough left over at the end for a treat, for yourself or the cat.

Mind you, I am a cynic with the same attitude to pet insurance. I have noticed in the past that having no insurance I am given tablets and sent on my way.
Those with insurance are offered x-rays, blood tests, and an overnight stay.....just to be sure.
Still, as long as they are happy to pay an ever rising premium for a much loved family member, who am I to judge. I have even tried to steer my daughter to becoming a Vet

[baldchap]

Forgot to add, I buy all worming/flea products online at a fraction of the price.

[bungeejumper]

Forgot to add, I buy all worming/flea products online at a fraction of the price.

Aaah, but are they the really good wormers? I'm fairly sure that the best ones are prescription-only. (Yes, I expect you can get those off the web if you don't mind a brown envelope arriving from Bulgaria. )

One advantage of signing up to these plans can be that you may avoid the common cut-off on grounds of age. My neighbour was able to get a great deal of expensive work done on his 12 year old dog which would have been rejected as an unacceptable risk in some policies, but which he'd had the foresight to belong to since it was three or four years old.

The devil's in the small print, I expect. But it's surprising how costs can mount up. Just putting a cat onto thyroid pills can cost a pound a day. Don't ask me how I know. (For the avoidance of doubt, she was worth every penny, bless her.)

BJ

[swill453]

One advantage of signing up to these plans can be that you may avoid the common cut-off on grounds of age. My neighbour was able to get a great deal of expensive work done on his 12 year old dog which would have been rejected as an unacceptable risk in some policies, but which he'd had the foresight to belong to since it was three or four years old.

I know we're not necessarily talking about insurance, but FTR my dog's insurance paid out over £1300 in her 14th year. Mind you it was costing £72 per month by then...

Over 2 dogs' lifetimes the insurance paid back nearly 3 times the premiums I paid. Whether all the treatment would have been offered if I hadn't had insurance is another story of course.

Scott.

[baldchap]

Over 2 dogs' lifetimes the insurance paid back nearly 3 times the premiums I paid. Whether all the treatment would have been offered if I hadn't had insurance is another story of course.

Scott.

That it is the interesting question. Maybe one of these hidden camera type documentaries could do a story on it.

Apologies for wandering off thread.

P.S. It is Frontline Bungeejumper.

[Rhyd6]

My daughter was in school with our vet and his father had the practice before him which was started by his grandfather, you get the picture. The first question he asks new people is "do you have insurance" and prices his treatment accordingly. The money he makes on insurance goes towards helping Mr/Mrs Pensioner who don't have the money for expensive treatments for what might be their only companion. I put £40 per month into a savings account for vet fees for 3 cats and 1 dog, so far I'm well in the black. Our vet isn't expensive by some standards as a woman I know brought her daughter's dog up from Staines to be spayed. Her daughter had been quoted £700 but 2 years ago our vet was charging £120. What I have noticed in N Wales is that a large number of small practices have been bought up by what appears to be a large national veterinary service. I believe their fees are quite high especially if you need callout for sheep/cattle or other large animals.

R6

[swill453]

My daughter was in school with our vet and his father had the practice before him which was started by his grandfather, you get the picture. The first question he asks new people is "do you have insurance" and prices his treatment accordingly. The money he makes on insurance goes towards helping Mr/Mrs Pensioner who don't have the money for expensive treatments for what might be their only companion.

Hmm. It would have been nice if I could have made my own choice as to which charity my ever increasing insurance premiums were being donated to...

Scott.