Two years ago, Metro’s Deputy Editor Claie Wilson’s three-year-old cat Nelly got run over and the vets bill went into the thousands. Thankfully, she says, her pet insurance covered it, as the alternative wasn’t worth thinking about.
‘When Nelly had her accident it was just awful. She went missing for hours and when she finally showed up, she was in a real mess,’ remembers Claie. ‘She had to have her eye removed and her jaw was shattered, so had to be stapled back together. It meant Nelly had to stay at the vets for a few days and when she came home, she had to be fed by a feeding tube, with special cat food.’
As well as the initial operation, the vets fees for the black and grey tabby included scans, x-rays and medication, which meant that by the time the bill came in, it was just under the maximum of Claie’s policy of £5,000.
‘Our vets are fantastic and their first question was how much the policy was, so they could work within my financial limits as much as possible,’ she explains.
‘I didn’t want them to skimp on any treatment Nelly might need, but I also knew that it could end up being even more eye-wateringly expensive if I wasn’t careful.
‘I’ve had cats for years and shelled out a fortune on insurance I’ve never needed to use. But with Nelly I’d paid about the equivalent of about £250 when she had her accident, so it was definitely worth having,’ adds Claie.
‘Of course, it means the premiums have gone up – but it’s just bonkers not to have insurance if you can afford it and definitely not worth the financial risk. No one wants to be in a position where they can’t save their pet if they need to.’
