Before welcoming a pet into your family, it’s a good idea to understand just what this extra family member may cost in terms of medical expenses and what you can do to make sure you are financially prepared for that ‘rainy day’.
Medical costs, even for the most common veterinary procedures, can add up but with the right pet insurance, you will be in a good position to ensure you can give your beloved pet the care he or she so deserves.
We decided to chat to a few experts (including our Absolute Pets Vet, Dr Cooper) and pull together some information about medical costs and insurance for pets, that will hopefully help you make the best decision for you and your pet
Firstly, what medical costs can you expect?
Medical expenses can vary from vet to vet, town to town but here is a general guide.
| Item |
Estimated cost |
How often is this likely to occur in one year? |
| Annual check up |
R330 |
Once a year for healthy pets. |
| Vaccinations (injection fee, materials and drugs) |
R520 |
Once a year on average - depends on pet and situation. |
| Deworming medication |
R25 (depends on weight and product) |
4 times a year (on average, depends on pet and situation). |
| Tick and flea control |
R130 (depends on weight and product) |
12 times a year (on average, depends on pet and situation). |
| Dentistry |
R2 200 (depends on weight and level of disease) |
Once a year (on average, depends on pet and situation). |
| Myelogram / MRI / CT Scan |
R7 000 (approximately) |
Rarely ever, usually once off diagnostic. |
| Procedures |
|
|
| -Cruciate surgery |
R3 500 |
If patient has cruciate rupture (usually only requires one surgery per cruciate). |
| -Surgical or endoscopic removal as a result of swallowing a foreign object |
R5 000 |
If patient has FB obstruction (usually only requires one surgery). |
Common veterinary procedures and associated costs
We spoke to our vet Dr Cooper to find out about some of the most common reasons for a visit to the vet (and racking up a few bills along the way):
- Vaccinations (download our Routine Care Guide for a comprehensive list of what vaccinations your pet needs and when).
- A vast array of skin conditions
- Gastrointestinal upsets
- Sterilizations
- Wounds as a result of accidents (common for young cats and dogs)
- Biopsies (common for older dogs).
To understand the financial impact of one of these common procedures /treatments, consider the example below:
Example: Treating an accident wound could entail the consultation fee (approx. R330), cruciate surgery (approx. R3 500), injection (approx. R80), medicines /antibiotics etc (approx. R500) which comes to around R4 410 (depending on the nature of the wound)
How does this compare to the cost of pet insurance?
- For a year of Premium Cover (R290 a month) for one pet*, with Absolute Pets Pet Insurance = R3 480 for the year.
- For a year of Classic Cover (R190 a month) for one pet*, with Absolute Pets Pet Insurance = R2 280 for the year.
- For a year of Accident cover, provided as a benefit on the Absolute Pets Loyalty Care programme (R30 a month) = R360 for the year.
(*multi-pet discounts do apply)
We also spoke to our insurance experts for their most commonly claimed expenses within the last year to understand where the biggest need lies when it comes to assistance with pet medical bills. This is what they shared with us:
- Common illnesses include dermatitis (allergic skin infections), gastroenteritis, otitis externa (ear infection) and lameness.
- Common accidents include bite wounds (cat/dog fight), lacerations and cruciate ligament ruptures.
Some of the more recent, bigger claims that have occurred were a thyroid carcinoma which cost over R23 000 and a foreign body accident which can cost over R11 000 of which both were successfully claimed back from insurance. In these cases, having pet insurance helped with these unexpected medical costs.
Choosing the right pet insurance for you and your pet
We don’t believe that there is one insurance offering that is better than all the rest or that comes out perfectly on top as the best option for everyone. Every insurance offering has its pros and cons with different benefits and levels of cover; and more importantly every pet is different. It really is a case of deciding which one is best suited to you and your pet’s circumstances and needs.
Important factors to consider:
- Avoid the risks of signing up too late:
- Getting pet insurance at a later stage because your pet is currently young and healthy is not a good idea. The risk you take is that by the time you take out insurance for your pet they could have pre-existing conditions which means exclusions are placed on your policy.
- Some pet insurance offerings don’t cover hereditary conditions, but those that do consider them for payment will only do so 18 months after your pet has signed up for insurance; and provided there have been no clinical symptoms in those first 18 months of cover.
- Make sure you check the age limits that apply – if you leave it too late you may not be able to get any cover for your pet at all.
- It’s better to get pet insurance while your pet is young to avoid these scenarios.
- Accidents are unexpected and can be very costly and is something you cannot plan for – other than the shock of the actual accident you also have to deal with the shock of the potential vet bill. In this case even just having pet accident cover will help a great deal and at least give you peace of mind that you are able to go ahead with whatever procedure your pet might need. Plan for the unexpected.
- Each plan has exclusions (e.g. pre-existing conditions) so make sure you read ALL the T&Cs and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
From a Vet’s point of view, “I also know that I can do my very best for my patients without having to settle for second best to save costs” – according to Dr Cooper.
Here’s a quick low-down of the options we offer here at Absolute Pets for cats and dogs.
Loyalty Care
For just R1 a day you can join our Rewards Programme and get up to R5 000 pet accident cover per year, per pet (for cats and dogs). You will also get triple cash back points on products that promote healthy living (tick and flea; spa treatments, selected toys).
This programme focuses on accident cover and therefore does not include sickness, illness or medical conditions that are not a result of an accident.
See the full details of our Loyalty Care plan here.
Classic Cover
From R190 per month, the Classic Cover plan can cover a wide range of medical expenses (up to R35 000 cover per pet’s policy year) including consultations, dentistry, treatments and medicines, skin conditions, injection fees, surgical procedures and more.
This programme does not include ‘Routine Care’: vaccinations, tick and flea, teeth scaling or sterilization.
See the full details of our Classic Cover here.
Premium Cover
From R290 per month, the Premium Cover plan will cover the same as the Classic Cover (but up to R45 000 cover per pet’s policy year) with the addition of R1 200 towards Routine Care (vaccinations, tick and flea treatments, deworming, sterilisation, teeth scaling and polishing) and a whole lot more.
See the full details of our Premium Cover here.
We thank Dr Cooper and the team at Petsure for assisting with the information needed to put this article together.
We hope this has helped with how you think about pet insurance and the benefit for you and your pet.
Happy and Healthy
The Absolute Pets team