Why insure your cat?

Discover how your cat can cost you thousands of pounds, and why one third of cat owners will need to take out pet insurance. This guide to cat insurance explains the benefits of insurance and why it is a financial win win situation.

Calamitous cats are not that uncommon. As with all animals, cats do not have the same concept of danger as humans and therefore are more at risk from injury. Added to this, there is always a risk of illness to your cat, and with the recent advances in veterinary medicine, there are a lot more treatments available to your cat should she become ill.

On the surface this seems to be good news, but how would you, a responsible and caring cat owner, feel if there was a treatment available today for something which would have killed your cat ten years ago, but you couldn’t afford to pay for it. Logic dictates that the more advanced the treatments and procedures on pet animals on the vets operating table become, the more damage your cat can do to your wallet.

Over the past twenty years more and more people have taken to insuring their beloved moggies. This is a sensible precaution to take, as domesticated animals today are more popular as companions rather than practical additions to a home. The point being, if a cat was bought for no other reason than to catch mice, it would not make financial sense to spend a lot of money an a sick cat, when she could be replaced by a healthy cat for less. However, nowadays cats are more often than not irreplaceable family members rather than pest control delegates. This is why pet insurance has increased, and with cats overtaking their canine counterparts as the world’s most popular pets it is no wonder insurance companies are offering more and more attractive policies to today’s cat owner.

Statistics gathered from the leading insurance companies suggest that 33% of cat owners with insurance will make a claim against veterinary bills procured by a sick or injured cat. This tells us that at least one third of cats will visit the vet for something other than a vaccination booster. The trend for pet insurance began in Europe and gradually spread to the USA where it is now less common not to insure your cat.

Cat owners can expect to shell out anything between £1 thousand and for £4 thousand to treat a cat with cancer or heart problems. The simple fact is, not everybody can afford this and sometimes cats will have to be euthanised for financial reasons rather than ethical ones. For a modest premium, this type of heart-breaking scenario can be avoided.

What if you pay a monthly premium to cover your cat against illness and injury and nothing ever happens to her, have you wasted your money? The simple answer is no. What you will have gained from taking out insurance is peace of mind, you will simply not have to worry about losing your cat should anything happen to her which could be rectified by a trip to the vet. Many insurance companies will give a lump sum to cat owners who have never claimed upon death of the cat.

Insurance is a concept based on risk. Gambling is based on calculated risk. You would not gamble on your cat becoming injured or ill so why not insure against it and enjoy peace of mind each time you let her out at night.