Over the years, Ken and I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on health care costs for our cats and have never begrudged even one dime of it.  However there have been occasions when the procedures were unnecessary or did more harm then good or just didn’t make any difference at all.  I’m not talking about routine care but emergency services where major surgeries or treatments, overnight stays and xrays are required.  Unfortunately, we have never had health insurance for cats either.

Our Cornish Rex whose name coincidentally enough was Rex, had respiratory problems from the day he was born in a cattery in 1980.  At that time, there was no health insurance for cats.  When he was about 11 years old, we grew concerned that he just seemed to be struggling more then usual to get his breath and so we took him to the vet.  It came as a complete shock to us when the vet told us Rex’s vocal cords had collapsed and that was why he was struggling so hard to breathe.  His vocal cords were blocking his windpipe.  It suddenly made sense to us then why for a long time when Rex would talk to us, his mouth moved but no sound would come out. 

The vet told us he could do surgery but that the surgery wasn’t guaranteed to fix the problem, the surgery was rarely done and there were few vets who had experience doing them. This vet had none and of course the surgery was going to be extremely expensive. 

Desperate to do anything to save our Rex, we agreed to let them do the surgery.  BIG MISTAKE!! Rex was worse than ever and never really recovered from that surgery. We moved into an apartment with electric heat but it was too late by then to help in any way.  His coughing and sneezing would spread mucus everywhere he sat and our home became one big “cleaning up after Rex” job.  Bless his heart, Rex managed to live several more years after that but I think it was sheer determination on his part. I used to sit with him on my lap and under a blanket and plead with him not to go as I couldn’t bear to lose him. I was so selfish then and didn’t even realize it. Sometimes, he would have small strokes but after a minute or two, get right on up and carry  on.  He finally had the last stroke when neither Ken or I were home. I think he waited until we weren’t there to talk him out of it.  He died at the age of 15.  Still makes me cry.  

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That surgery put us in debt for thousands of dollars we could not afford at the time.  At the same time as we were going through this with Rex, our cat Stella fell off the balcony onto a row of upturned bricks and bruised her stomach.  So her vet bills to treat this were also over $1000! 

Although we tried to make payments eventually we defaulted on the debt.  The vet never bothered to chase us down for it.   Whether it was because he felt he’d botched the surgery or because he knew we just couldn’t afford the fees, we never knew or asked.  In our minds, the surgery was ill advised and our guilt over what Rex went through has never really been alleviated. If we had been able to have health insurance for cats in place at the time, the cost of the surgery would have been covered at least so that if anybody was going to take a hit for unnecessary vet costs, it would be the insurance company.  

Since then we have incurred thousands more in costs for Stella, who developed kidney disease when she was about 10, Sam who succumbed finally to liver cancer when he was 13 and Chico who had a cancerous lump on his tail at the age of 9.   Now for Chico, the vet offered lots of surgeries, tests, subsequent chemotherapy treatments and on it goes but made sure I understood this was aggressive type cancer and it would come back.  This time we opted for quality of life over quantity.  Chico is still with us 2 years later and as fat and happy as any cat could be.  I pray that continues.  I also pray that Jasmine, who has never been sick a day in her life, also continues to stay healthy.

Through all of these crises, we never had health insurance for cats.  Not only was it not commonly available with Rex and Stella, I thought Sam, Jazz and Chico were too old to qualify. NOT SO! 

So if you take my advice and adopt an older cat (or even if your new feline is a kitten), if you keep them safe indoors and treat them like they are a member of your family, which they are, they are going to live a really good long time.  During their lifetime, you may be required to spend a lot of money on health care for them because as they get older, like you or me, more health issues can arise. 

Do you buy health care insurance for yourself and your family?  Your cats (and your dogs) are your family too and it is to the benefit of them AND you that you have health care insurance in place for when services are needed.  It will be a major relief for you that you don’t have to consider your financial situation when faced with decisions about your pets’ health.

So ask for your quote today.  The cost is less then what you would spend monthly on lunches with coffee and when the day comes that you need to make a critical decision about your pet’s health but thankfully don’t have to consider how much money you have in the bank, you can thank me for the advice I’ve offered you here today.

Note that when requesting a quote, you should leave out Routine Care as part of the insured coverage.  Your premium will be significantly less in doing so.