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Insurance? Saving money

Julia25

Alpha Buck
So theres this veterinary service nearby which do a scheme where you pay 8.35 monthly and receive 15% discount of their vaccinations and..

  • repeat presciptions
  • neutering
  • mircochips
  • dental de-scale and polish
  • additional vaccinations, wormer and flea treatments
  • blood pressure & glaucoma monitoring
  • pre-anasthetic blood test
  • lifestyle diets
  • puppy parties (obviously not for rabbits)
  • glucose checks
  • anal gland express

Then for FREE
  • nurse health ssesment clinic
  • regular weight assesments
  • general behaviour advice
  • health programme planning
  • nutritional advice
  • nail clipping

DO you think this is a good deal? It's not rabbit insurance as you still have to pay but get big discounts off things.
 
That's just over £100 a year plus the cost of any treatments/medications (minus the 15% discount). No, for what you'd get as a bunny owner, I don't think it's good value for money.
 
I think it depends on a few things... I've put a few notes about what I think below, hopefully they'll help you make a decision! For me it would not be worth it as I weigh at home, don't need my bunnies nails clipping, and they are neutered already.

  • repeat presciptions - is this off the cost of the medicine, or the cost of the charge to write a prescription?
  • neutering - depends obviously whether your rabbit is already neutered as to whether this will be useful!
  • mircochips - only about £10-20 maximum and only one per lifetime
  • dental de-scale and polish - almost never necessary in rabbits
  • additional vaccinations, wormer and flea treatments - vaccinations are once a year, preventative worming is not recommended, and neither is preventative flea treatment. Does flea treatment include mite etc? Mites are more common than fleas in rabbits
  • blood pressure & glaucoma monitoring - not really as useful in rabbits as it is in dogs/cats
  • pre-anasthetic blood test - is always good to have if rabbits are going under anaesthetic and it's particularly recommended in elderly or compromised rabbits... but how often will your rabbit be going under anaesthetic to warrant it?
  • lifestyle diets - check the small print... does this include rabbits? most dietary changes in rabbits are down to the hay and just cutting down on pellets/veg etc so changing diets to accommodate certain illnesses is not as expensive as in other animals where all their food needs to be changed. The most expensive thing I could think of would be pro fibre pellets but it's not common that a rabbit would need to be on them.
  • puppy parties (obviously not for rabbits)
  • glucose checks - again, not as useful for rabbits as cats/dogs
  • anal gland express - rabbit anal glands typically produce solid mess, so while it's a fairly gross job they don't need expressing like a dogs do.

  • nurse health assessment clinic - how often is this limited to?
  • regular weight assessments - this can easily (and less stressfully) be done at home
  • general behaviour advice - I think, for rabbits, this kind of thing is easy to research (on here for instance!)
  • health programme planning - I would expect a vet to go over everything I would need
  • nutritional advice - again, fairly easy to research on here
  • nail clipping - could be good... will your rabbit be indoor or outdoor? Outdoor bunnies tend to wear their nails down naturally depending on the flooring, whereas indoor bunnies need it done more frequently so this could potentially save you a decent amount
 
I personally don't think that is worth the money as it doesn't include the cost of vaccinations, only money off vaccinations. I pay £9 a month with my vet and get all my vaccinations included, 2 health checks, rearguard and I think nail clippings at the health checks. I also get 10% off all other treatments. I still have insurance!

I don't think what your vet provides is good value for money for rabbits, and even if you do go for it I would still recommend getting insurance!
 
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