The Pet Insurance Stitched Us Up

Just after Christmas, my 4 year old Miniature Schnauzer, Wilbur was taken ill. When I took him to the vets, they did a thorough examination of him and concluded that he was sore on his right side and suggested he might have slipped a disc. Rest and painkillers were ordered.

This ordeal went on for weeks with no improvement being made. I was in tears seeing the pain that my poor boy was in and not being able to help him.

At about the same time I found out that I had a second breast cancer so you can imagine the turmoil my life was in at that point.

Xrays were taken of Wilburs spine and to the specialists and my own vets mind, we were looking at one possibly two slipped discs.

So Wilbur went in for the operation only to find that he had a massive infection around his spine. The specialist was amazed because he hadn't seen anything like it before. Drains were fitted and he was put on a 2 month course of strong antibiotics.

The bill so far was £2500 but we have insurance for the dogs so I honestly didn't think that this was a problem.

Well, I put my claim in only to have it returned to me saying that my claim had been declined. This was because in September 2011 Wilbur had the achey shakes which was treated with antibiotics. Even though my vet and the specialist thinks that because of the time frame its highly unlikely that the two illnesses are connected. So they are saying that this was a pre-existing condition before I took out the insurance with them.

I have owned dogs for years and the amount I have paid into insurance policies runs into thousands, but I didnt mind because for me its a safety net when the unexpected happens as it did to Wilbur.

I am now wondering would I have been wiser to have opened a savings account and put the money away each month.

I won't name and shame the insurance company just yet but believe me, I will do if they still refuse my claim, after all, I don't want anyone else ending up in this situation. This is a worry I could do without post operative and facing radiotherapy plus a series of other tests.

Shame on the pet insurance industry!