Pleasing 4 Pets

A recent survey has revealed that the majority of women - almost two thirds in fact would opt to take out an insurance policy for their beloved cats and dogs before taking out insurance for their partners.

Lots of women are more concerned about the health and well-being of their domestic pets than that of their spouse. It also revealed the drastic measures that pet owners in the UK would be prepared to take in order to keep their much loved pets in perfect health.

I go against this statistic because I am not that much of an animal lover, I am allergic to animals so if I come close to one my chest gets tight, my asthma gets bad and my eyes puff up and become bloodshot. I would most definitely not risk my life to save a pet - they are just animals and a human life is much more important.

Like their human owners, pets often suffer from a wide range of ailments and as has been mentioned before, it’s a fact of life that on occasion, your cat can become as sick as a dog!

Health insurance is available for pets and can often be purchase with built in liability cover which offers you protection should your pet attack someone or cause an accident on the road.

The National Pet Health Council revealed recently that 50% of domestic pets required veterinary attention every year and research from Sainsbury’s Finance confirmed that over the past five years, 1.6million pet owners have been forced to have their pet put down after being unable to meet the expense of veterinary bills.

Almost all pets can be covered by pet insurance policies from cats and dogs to rabbits or parrots, the pet insurance market can offer cover of some kind to most pets.

Most policies are reasonably priced and generally a policy to cover a domestic cat begins from around £60 per year, although the cost of the policy can be determined by a variety of aspects, inclusive of your post code and the age and breed of your pet.

There are cheaper policies available but it is worth bearing in mind that reduced rate policies often provide less protection that standard polices.

Many comparison websites, such as www.moneysupermarket.com and www.comparethemarket.com permit pet owners to compare prices of pet insurance policies, although these often do not include the entire market.

As loving pet owners most of us recognise that the care and maintenance of our adored animals costs money.

And as articles revealing a growing number of pets being abandoned by their cash-strapped owners seem to be on the increase in the media, the news that a global leader in pet insurance has confirmed a significant increase in the numbers of responsible pet owners taking out insurance policies on their domestic animals has been met by animal lovers across the world with much relief.

Allianz UK confirmed that its Petplan venture had taken £200million in the last year alone in pet insurance premiums, whilst awarding claims of more than £1million per week. Petplan is a specialist in insurance for domestic pets, and was one of the earliest pet insurers to enter the UK market more than 30 years ago.

The company revealed that their move to make pet insurance available online has encouraged major growth in the pet insurance industry overall.

So it s seems that in increasingly a difficult economic situation, we are still prepared to spend our hard earned cash on our pets.

A leading retailer of pet products and accessories, Pets At Home also confirmed that its revenue has risen twofold over the last 12 months, with much of its income gained from the growing success of its organic pet food produce.

Their commercial director commented recently:-

“People spend more money than ever on their pets, whether that is on better quality food, healthcare, insurance, accessories and even fashion.”

A recent survey by the Post Office has revealed that the majority of women - almost two thirds in fact would opt to take out an insurance policy for their beloved cats and dogs ahead of their partners.

The study confirmed that most women are more concerned about the health and wellbeing of their domestic pets than that of their spouse. It also revealed the drastic measures that pet owners in the UK would be prepared to take in order to keep their much loved pets in perfect health.

32% admitted that they would be prepared to put costly personal belongings up for sale to cover the cost of pricey charges from their veterinary surgery.

In addition to this 11% of 1,994 pet owners surveyed claimed that they would consider re-mortgaging their homes even in the face of increasing economic decline, whilst 33% said that they declared that they would take out a bank loan to cover their pets medical expenses more willingly than they would to fund their children’s leisure activities.

The gravest fears that pet owners stated that they had for their pets were that they would be involved in a road traffic accident or that they would be stolen.

Surprisingly only 2% admitted to having concerns over their pets’ weight, in spite of the latest figures released by the RSPCA estimating that almost 50% of UK domestic pets were obese.

A recent report has revealed that there are almost twice as many domestic pet insurance policies held in the UK as there are private health insurance policies, with 23% of our pet population insured in comparison to only 12% of us being covered by private medical policies.

The report confirms UK pet owners as being amongst the most considerate and caring across the globe, surpassed only by Swedish pet owners, who lay claim to the largest populace of insured pets in the entire world.

Ewan McNeil, a former leader of the British Society of Practicing Veterinary Surgeons, went on record as saying:-

“We are a nation of animal lovers, and many of us regard our pet as part of the family; I’m not surprised that pet insurance is becoming so popular - people will do everything they can to ensure the best for their pets. Veterinary healthcare has made great strides in the last few years offering highly sophisticated treatment for a huge range of animal ailments. Pet insurance helps owners choose the best treatment for their pets without worrying about costs.”

In addition to this the report revealed a 41% increase in the demand for the insurance of smaller pedigree dogs – or ‘handbag’ dogs which are often more costly to insure than other types of dogs