thefluffyhammies
Young Bun
Do any of you recommend taking out insurance for your rabbits?
Thanks!
Thanks!
-
Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
-
Please Note - Medical Advice
Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.
You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.
We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.
Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.
Insurance?
- Thread starter thefluffyhammies
- Start date
It's essential, unless you have thousands in the bank to spare. I couldn't afford my rabbits without my Petplan insurance. I pay £12 a month for each of my three, but have claimed thousands. An out of hours vet trip will cost £100 before they've even done anything, and before you know it, it's £500 or more... Your rabbits may never get ill, but if you have insurance, you need never worry about whether you can afford to get them treated.
thefluffyhammies
Young Bun
Ok! Thanks for your advice!
Ruthyjones89
Mama Doe
Again also agree with petplan, I am also going through a claim for gut stasis, my bunny was in for just over 24 hours, but it's cost me £400 in total.. So I am hoping they pay out! It's absolutely crazy how quickly vet bills can mount up!! X
Hele
Warren Veteran
Yes, I have petplan as they work with the vets and sort out the claims between them and it is soooo easy and nothing to pay out upfront other than the excess of course.
I think that it is essential to be insured unless you have a savings account with a few thousand in that you can access quickly.
I had a bun cost me £700 in 2 days :shock: and that was a short illness with hardly any expensive diagnostics and no operations! If a rabbit needs an out of hours appointment at the vets that can cost over £100 just to walk through the door!
I think that it is essential to be insured unless you have a savings account with a few thousand in that you can access quickly.
I had a bun cost me £700 in 2 days :shock: and that was a short illness with hardly any expensive diagnostics and no operations! If a rabbit needs an out of hours appointment at the vets that can cost over £100 just to walk through the door!
Casco
Mama Doe
I'm trying to decide this too, I took the 4 weeks free petplan insurance via the leaflet I got when I adopted the rabbits so I've only got a few days left of this now. I do have savings that would cover any vets bills so I have to weigh up possibly using savings against paying for insurance that I may not need to claim on. I'm very careful with my money and it almost goes against my nature to pay for something I might not need
When I had a rabbit previously the only time he was at the vet was for vacs and neutering so that's probably clouding my judgement!
When I had a rabbit previously the only time he was at the vet was for vacs and neutering so that's probably clouding my judgement!
I'm trying to decide this too, I took the 4 weeks free petplan insurance via the leaflet I got when I adopted the rabbits so I've only got a few days left of this now. I do have savings that would cover any vets bills so I have to weigh up possibly using savings against paying for insurance that I may not need to claim on. I'm very careful with my money and it almost goes against my nature to pay for something I might not need
When I had a rabbit previously the only time he was at the vet was for vacs and neutering so that's probably clouding my judgement!
The problem with that though, is if your rabbit has a serious illness or needs an operation/aftercare etc, and the bill is massive, you use up your savings paying for it. Then what happens if the rabbit is sick again the following month? You just never know when something is going to happen. Unless you're loaded of course, then it wouldn't matter
biscandmatt1
Wise Old Thumper
i didn't and it was a massive mistake! thankfully our vets were very flexible with payment plans and allowing us to pay when we could. i've since insured all my piggies and will always insure any future pets aswell
Casco
Mama Doe
The problem with that though, is if your rabbit has a serious illness or needs an operation/aftercare etc, and the bill is massive, you use up your savings paying for it. Then what happens if the rabbit is sick again the following month? You just never know when something is going to happen. Unless you're loaded of course, then it wouldn't matter
Absolutely, this is why I've been spending a bit of time looking into it. I was actually surprised just how expensive vets are, when they were in for neutering I noticed their price list showed vacs for rabbits cost £47.50 - the guide on the rescues website estimated £20-40 as the cost for this. What I have to remember is when I had my last rabbit I was married with no kids, now I'm a single mum of 3 so a massive vets bill will have more effect on my finances now than it did back then!
Bunny Buddy
Wise Old Thumper
Pets at Home are worth a look too. My earlier rabbits are insured with Petplan but the premiums and excess have shot up in recent years. For Esme who is 7 years the premium is £210 with £100 + 20% excess. Dinky who is now 8 is also insured but with Pets at Home and her premium is £93 with £75 + 10% excess. The only real difference in the two policies is PP has £2000 worth of cover, P@H have £1500. I've found P@H service just as good if not better.
ImoT
Mama Doe
I would recommend Pets at Home too! Their premiums are half the price Petplan quoted me and there is barely any difference. I have enough savings to pay for vet bills but the luxury of insurance means you don't have too. I honestly think it is cheaper in the long run to have insurance. One of my rabbits Winston went into gut stasis really suddenly with no apparent cause, and spent the weekend at the animal hospital costing £200. Pets at Home paid out straight away!
Insurance is definitely a must!
Working in a vet hospital I have seen the amount rabbits can rack up! Can quite easily go over £1000 if they have a long bout of stasis, need surgery/xrays/intensive care etc. Touch wood I have never claimed for Flo, on petplan I think I pay £9.50/month with a £50 excess fee. If something happened to her I would want to as much as possible for her - and insurance would allow me to do that. As a (poor) student I don't think I could afford vet bills otherwise!
Working in a vet hospital I have seen the amount rabbits can rack up! Can quite easily go over £1000 if they have a long bout of stasis, need surgery/xrays/intensive care etc. Touch wood I have never claimed for Flo, on petplan I think I pay £9.50/month with a £50 excess fee. If something happened to her I would want to as much as possible for her - and insurance would allow me to do that. As a (poor) student I don't think I could afford vet bills otherwise!
catherine09
Mama Doe
I'm trying to decide this too, I took the 4 weeks free petplan insurance via the leaflet I got when I adopted the rabbits so I've only got a few days left of this now. I do have savings that would cover any vets bills so I have to weigh up possibly using savings against paying for insurance that I may not need to claim on. I'm very careful with my money and it almost goes against my nature to pay for something I might not need
When I had a rabbit previously the only time he was at the vet was for vacs and neutering so that's probably clouding my judgement!
I am almost certain that, unless extremely (and I mean extremely!) lucky - you will have to claim at some point. I read something recently that said you are more likely to claim on your pet insurance than your home and car insurance, and I believe them!!!
Out of the 6 policies that I have had, I have claimed on 4 of them. I'm expecting to claim on the other two at some point, it's just a case of when really.....
One of my bunnies cost me £3,500 in the space of 14 months (from when I adopted her to when she sadly passed). Another one has just cost £600 at the vets for a diarrhoea episode. I now have 3 bunnies and pay around £7 per month for each, so £21. Worth every penny in my opinion - when my bunny is ill the last thing I want to be stressing about is money, when you already have the stress of having an ill pet.
joey&boo
Wise Old Thumper
Oh no - that is unlucky!! Your stasis + dental cost over 3 x mine :? They didn't xray joe though & other than a tooth burr & GA I don't think there was much done with him
mariposa
Mama Doe
We've gone with Petplan too. The thing that put me off Pets at Home was the excess being higher - Petplan's 55 pounds, whereas Pets at Home was 75 plus 10% of treatment costs. However, as someone said above, the monthly premium would've been cheaper with them.
I hope we don't have to use it, but it definitely gives peace of mind knowing we have it xx
I hope we don't have to use it, but it definitely gives peace of mind knowing we have it xx
esupi
Warren Veteran
Well £113 of that was the initial out of hours consult.
The dental and associated costs came to about £100, and the x-ray was £63.. The rest was made up of a couple of examinations, 2 nights overnight stay, and lots of <£10 for various drugs - vetergesic, Zantac, Metacam, Ranitidine, Emeprid. Only just looked at my itemised receipt just now - no wonder he was out of it when he came home!
I must have had Tully for 3-4 years though, so if his insurance was £11/month, that's £462 I've saved on that, so currently I'm about £100 down, £50 if you consider the excess. Obviously though, this could be something which recurs, or it could have been a broken leg which cost £1000s.
I think it comes down to whether you can afford to take the risk or not. My other three (two nethies and a lionhead) are insured because I would expect more problems with them (and have indeed had more problems with them). Tully is a big robust cross-breed. I'm actually in the middle of working out all my outgoings for the last 8 years, so it will be interesting to see how much the others have cost me, vs how much they would have cost me had they not been insured.
Bunny Buddy
Wise Old Thumper
I had quite a shock when I worked out how much I'd spent on vet fees for just the claimable stuff recently. There's been a lot of itty bitty things that were below the threshold as well as the vaccinations etc. But the insurance claims came to over £3,000 (maybe £3500?). The insurance premiums in the same timescale were £1800. Gracie alone cost somewhere about £900 for her blockage surgery that occurred after midnight.
esupi
Warren Veteran
That's interesting. I will report back once I've finished my spreadsheets. It might be a while!
