Cats, like all living beings, are exposed to different risks and diseases in the course of their lives. Even if you take all the measures to assure perfect health for your cat, you can still get an unpleasant surprise in time. There are many things that your cat can run into when you are not watching every move, like chocolate poisoning, plant poisoning and accidents.

With a feline health insurance plan, you’ll be feeling confident that even if your cat has a health problem, you won’t be short on money at that time to help your animal friend. You’ll see that there is no right or wrong when it comes to insurance; you’ll have to think about all the pros and cons you see from your unique perspective, and act upon them. Many people just opt for insurance just to “feel safe” and that’s perfectly normal.

If you opt to acquire cat health insurance, take your time to review the different plans and insurance companies. There are different types of info you should look for such as the prices, coverage in the policies, deductible and co-insurance prices, etc.

Take your time, don’t rush and focus on what is important with feline health insurance plans: the health of your cat.

Cat health insurance in the UK has become quickly popular.  The reason for this is that veterinary costs and medical costs are quickly rising. The application of new technology and treatments in the cat health field has improved the veterinary services, but at the same time this same improvement has elevated the costs.  If your cat has been healthy all the time you have had it, then you don’t know that the costs of treatment are almost equal to the costs of treating a human being!  In the UK nowadays if you want to ensure your cat is safe and healthy despite any emergency, you need cat health insurance.

Let’s take a look at average prices for cat treatments in the UK: If your cat gets a bone broken, the total costs for treatment can sum up to £1,000, bladder problems up to £600, kidney disease £400 and Chronic arthritis £500 per year just to name a few.  Of course, if you give your cat proper nutrition, exercise and care, it is very probable you won’t have to face any of these problems, but, just like with humans, you never know.  In this sense cat insurance also works to bring owners a sense of security, and it has two sides: on one side you want to pay for coverage f any disease or accident, on the other side you don’t want anything happening to your cat.  Sounds like a bet? It is a bet in a strange kind of way, and it is a personal decision that you’ll have to make.

The competition of cat insurance on the UK has prompted companies to offer more than just basic health cover. Insurance companies are always aware of the current need of customers, and the new developments in alternative medicine.  So, as part of their plans, some companies include these alternative treatments fully covered, or at a fraction of the price.  They also offer some other interesting features inside the UK cat insurance plans such as:

• Coverage of the advertisement in a newspaper in the case your cat goes missing.
• Telephone information services and a dedicated line for customers for support all the year, the 24 hours of the day.
• Coverage of cat’s health service outside the UK.
• Quarantine costs in case you lose the travel papers.

These extra benefits may vary according to each company.  Given the wide array of options of cat insurance in the UK, it would be a good idea to ask all the necessary questions to the insurance companies you find interesting.  A little research can save you headaches in the future! It is important to know what is included and what is not included in the plan of your choice.  Most companies give you two basic option of cat health insurance plans: a full plan that covers the health care costs of your pet throughout their entire lives, and a time-limited plan that offers the same coverage but only for a small period of time, being 12 months the most common.

Keep in mind that full plans offer a limit per year; this limit can be regarding the money spent on treatments, or “covered”, or a limit regarding that times a certain treatment is given.  So let me say to you: there is no perfect “cat health insurance plan”, every one of them will have its flaws, and you’ll have to make your choice based on what you think is better to dispose.

If you are worried about the prices of cat health insurance in UK, you should also know that there are cheap cat insurance options.  Many cat owners stay away from cat insurance thinking that it will cost too much money.  As a matter of fact, these days you can find basic health insurance plans for as little as £4 – £5 a month!  To get these low fees, your cat will have to follow some requisites, and they will depend on factors such as the age of your cat, your area of residence, the breed of your cat and the type of coverage you want to choose.  Since you are on the Internet right now, you can find many sites online that will give you quotes according to your requirements.

With so many offers and the cheapest cat insurance companies, it is practically impossible not to find a plan that best suits our needs. This type of pet insurance has become widely offered in USA, Canada and even the UK; I’m sure many people around the World are coming to realize about its importance. Before deciding on a company you should know that having insurance for cats comes with some pros and some cons, worth evaluating.

What are the main advantages of the best insurance for cats?

• Financial protection. The costs of cat health care can be quite high if we don’t have an insurance plan. Like all health insurance plans, they offer discounts and coverage on many types of conditions or accidents.
• We are covered in the case of an emergency or sudden injury. One of the biggest fears cat owners have, is having to face a cat health issue and not being able to pay for unexpected costs, including doctors, treatment and medicine.
• Benefits in the case of death. This is handled differently according to each cat insurance company. In some cases they help you with all the main things involved once your cat is dead, others even often burial services and even special coffins for cats.
• Support for certain chronic conditions your cat may suffer. Cats like us can be victims of a series of conditions that will require support throughout all their lives, some examples are diabetes or arthritis.

These are the greatest advantages that you have to take into account when deciding whether is good or not to acquire a cheap cat insurance plan.  Of course, you can pay for a plan, and never have to use it. Which is the ideal thing! But then again you’ll be paying for something you don’t use… This is a personal decision and there is no wrong or right.

Well, besides these advantages of cat health insurance, there are some extra benefits that you may get on the insurance plan you choose (if you are interested in one of these, be sure to ask about them with the cat insurance company of your choice).

• Coverage of additional therapeutic treatment, such as massage therapy, chiropractic and physiotherapy, essentials in the recovery of our cat’s health after an accident.
• Coverage of ads placed on a newspaper in case of a missing cat.
• 24 hour support in case you have questions about the coverage of oyur affordable cat insurance.
• Reimbursement in the case your cat needs emergency intervention on holidays. Typically, doctors and animal hospitals charge you an extra fee on these days.
• Coverage of cat health insurance outside your country of residence. This is specially useful if you are constantly traveling with your cat.

Main Cat Insurance Plans

Let’s take a look at the main plans offered by cheap cat insurance companies:

• Full-life Insurance. This is the most expensive option, and something you perhaps don’t want to choose if you want a non-expensive option. With a full life insurance, your cat health problems will be covered for the entire life of your cat or kitten. You should know though, that there is a an annual limit of money to spend on this plan. Other option for a full life plan offers a limit of occurrences for certain treatments and interventions.
• Time-limited insurance. This is the best option if you want to save money on cat insurance- It covers illnesses and accident for a limited period, usually a year. This may prove very useful in the case of some treatments that are only limited to a period of tim, until your cat’s recovery.

If you are interested in an affordable cat insurance plan, it is important that you select it as soon as possible.  Many owners wait until it is too late and the insurance won’t cover the illness your cat is currently having. This could end up seriously hurting your wallet, because vet expenses -like all medical expenses- tend to be really high.

Be sure however to read all you need to before selecting a plan.  Insurance tends to be tricky sometimes and we could end up regretting not reading the agreement before signing it. If you want to find a cheap cat insurance plan, I would recommend you to opt for the time-limited plan, choose an affordable excess, and take advantage of any discounts you may find with certain credit cards or even by signing up online.

Before deciding to opt for a pet insurance company, you should take into account factors such as the past and current state of your cat’s health, the age of your cat, the amount of money you spend on your cat’s health per year, the cost of packages and the amount of money you currently have in case of an emergency without insurance.

When deciding on a cat health insurance company, experience is also very important. So if you can have other’s people opinions, they would be useful.

Does Pet Insurance Cover All Bills?

No. We still haven’t fund an insurance company covering all the bill of the veterinarian, but what they do is reduce it.  In cases of big sums of money the reduction can be pretty significant. But in other health cases, the insurance policies will not cover anything.

This is a service that you need to pay regularly – even if your cat stays healthy for a full year. So, if everything goes like you want (with a healthy cat) you would be paying for nothing, and that’s the business of these pet insurance companies.

An Alternative to Cat Health Insurance

If you think about it, a cat insurance company acts similar to a savings account, but if you don’t use the money, well… they keep it. Sure they offer some advantages that you might use and you need to evaluate it on you specific case, but for most people a savings account made for your cat’s health could be a great alternative.

For this, you just open a special savings account that you have in the case of an emergency and put the money you’d rather spend on the veterinary coverage policy.  This way, you’re sure to keep the money you invest.  Of course, this is something that not all people can do, and some in fact end up spending this account for other purposes, so be honest about how you are.

Advantages of Pet Insurance

Pet insurance becomes truly a gift for people who have to deal with expensive treatments for the cat, especially over a period of time.  And this is one major concern that draws people to pet insurance solutions. It provides emotional security so you won’t have to worry if in the future your cat needs medical attention and you don’t have enough money.

As you can see getting pet insurance is a personal matter.  There are good things and bad things.  Maybe you spend money on a service that you never use, but it gives you emotional security that helps you live with less stress in your life. Or maybe you prefer to use the money on an investment or a savings account.  The choice is up to you and there is no right or wrong.

A Word of Warning

If you decide to sign a contract for pet insurance, first be sure to ask all the necessary questions (even if they are thousands) and read the contract as many times as you wish. You should know what is covered, what is not and what is half-covered, your extras and have it all clear.  This will avoid any surprise further down the road.