Do You Have Pet Insurance For Your British Bulldog(s)?

[Bossy Boots]

As I do not.But I do know that the breed has a long list of health risks and problems and I wish to have some advice.Is it worth it? Thank You Guys and Girls!

 

[Lucy-licious]

Personaly i think YES! Its worth the piece of mind that if something does go wrong then I know that we are covered

Lucy is 3 and we have never claimed on hers...Billy is 1 and we have made 4 claims to date, none of the claims were for "typical Bully" related issues either.
2 eye ulcer ops due to scratches, Ultra Sound Scan and meds due to crystals in his urine caused by a nasty urine infection and neuter op that was necessary because of a retained testicle.

His insurance premium will go up this year, I am sure, but thats way better than the bills without insurance.

 

[Pati Robins]

Yes we insured Lily and 2 days later her cherry eye came out -sadly in my terms and conditions i cant claim on my insurance in the first 14 days of taking the policy -but it is worth the piece of mind if something happen in the future - rather than spending thousands of pounds\dollars i got a piece of mind that even if i be out of pocket Lily (and Shy) are safe if something bad happen
Some of my friends put money away each month and dont bother with the insurance, but i personally wont take that gamble
i forgot to add that in first year od Shy life -we where lucky to have insurance as my pup developed allergies- we had to run several tests to check what is she allergic to
Few months ago she came out in growths/spots that luckily went with antibiotics
my late (r.i.p.) dogs didn't have insurance and luckily for us dogs where never ill

 

[MeekosMummy]

To start off.. Boss is absolutely gorgeous!!

Have you had a look round for estimate prices on insurance?
In the UK things are different but when I had a look around boy there were some shocking monthly prices especially if i never need to use it (fingers crossed!). Meeko had a general health check FIRST and everything was looking fab so me and the Mr decided instead of insurance we put a sum of money aside in a bank account each month and if the time comes when something happens - he has his own little savings aside and ready. (Without bein morbid-) if at the end of the line we have not needed to use all of the money we have extra savings.

I know many EBN users will disagree with this way because even I know its a risky thing to do.. anything could happen and any health issues could arise but i have had previous pet insurance with my alsation and only had to use it at the end of her life .. i worked out how much money I spent monthly over her life and the amount of money was ridiculous and a LOT more than what I would of spent on just a vet bill

 

[gracoliv]

Most insurance companies will get your vet records and exclude any condition your dog has ever had as a 'pre-existing condition'. My Gracie had a yeast infection in her Rope fold when I got her, so the vet wrote that in her record, so when I got the insurance, they excluded ALL SKIN issues from being covered. So when she had allergies later which manifested as rashes it was not covered. Additionaly most policies (as someone said) do not cover the first 14 days or so of your policy, but if you do end up going to the vet during that time with an issue, whatever it was will also be added to your policy exclusions (again as a pre-existing condition).

 

[dalmatina38]

I have a savings account set up for my bullies just like my daughters college fund. I have a certain amount of money each pay period that goes into both. I have heard several different things about the pet insurance but don't have enough experience to comment either way. I figure if I don't use the money then the account can be rolled over into the college fund account. I did use it recently for Beast Dogs expenses when she went to Rainbow Bridge in April. I think it boils down to personal preference. The way I look at it (this might not be agreed apon by everyone and that is ok) I had done my research on the breed and knew it was a somewhat high maintenance breed. Early in my life my finances were not stable enough to afford me the opportunity to own a high maintenance pet, there was a point in my life where buying Wal-mart pet food was the best I could do but fortunately my circumstances changed through the years and I am now able to afford a few more finer things in life (my English Bully Dogs). So, with that I knew there could be a few "minor.....lol" costs associated with them and I am able to afford those costs. My grandmother use to tell me if I had to ask how much something cost I couldn't afford it anyway and I always used that to gadge my life time of expenses. I also think reality plays a big part of all of it; in 2010 when I came home and found my male Great Dane, Apollo, swollen (I knew it was bloat) I got him to the vet within 10 minutes. The vet told me they would try but he was almost 8 years old, had less than a 50% survival rate and the surgery started at $5,500 and could go as high as $10,000. He was already at 8 years old, had a good life, and I had to make a choice financially as well as look at the overall good of the situation. It broke my heart to put him down but the reality was at some point no matter with or without insurance the totality of the situation has to be considered. Its a hard choice either way and in my opinion a personal choice depending on you and your family situation. Good luck.

 

[Bruno and Gidget]

I have saved $15,000 by having insurance. Swear by it.

 

[Bossy Boots]

Thank You everybody for your advice and opinions.Ill look into getting pet insurance for Boss.But get some quotes first and find the best deal.As I do want the best for Boss

 

[christyjulene]

If you choose insurance, the sooner you get it the fewer pre-existing conditions you will have. I didn't do it soon enough, other every day things got in the way and my dog tore her knee apart. Now one leg isn't covered. My newest dog is covered head to toe I filled out her insurance paper work the day I got her. It has already saved us $1500.

 

[juz and krissy]

Yes we have insurance for George and it has saved us a few thousand so I would say yes get it and as others have said get it as soon as possible

 

[Maife]

I wanted to get insurance from the first day I got Ulysses on. Unfortunately he had a scratch in his eye, which till this day I'm not sure if it was our fault and happened during one of his first walks OR if he came from the breeder already with it... anyway, we got him on 24th of september and on 29th he was already in for surgery. The vet told us that without it he could loose vision in that eye, so I was like just do it... I felt so bad for him as I loved him already only after a couple of days with us. Well, long story short after about $1,500 he was fine and everything was ok. But then his testicles disappeared (for a while went up again?!) then his skin issues and so on and so on...
So the vet recommended me not to get any insurance for him, because as she said when you really need it is probably not gonna be covered and you'd have paid for nothing. I still wanted it but my husband looked around and the premiums were really high and most of his issues would not be covered anyway. So we decided that when something comes up we pay from our pocket and just try to minimize the risks as much as we can. So to say give him the best food we can, keep him lean and healthy , regular vet check-ups, and I check him everyday for any "weird stuff".

With Bullies it's really difficult and always something comes up but I do believe that with lots and lots of excellent care and love you can keep them in good shape.

 

[kazzy220]

We started off with insurance for our angel baby, Maggie. Over the few years she had there were many medical expenses and for the first couple I did not have insurance, but when she was approx 2 years old we took a policy out. Nothing that had happened previously was something that would be considered pre-existing apart from her breaking her leg within 2 weeks of living with us!!! So I accepted that if it was anything to do with the same leg that the insurance company may fight it. After the first year we'd used the insurance a few times and I was very happy with it.

THEN the premium went up, and it went up a LOT. It more than doubled .. and their excuse was that they had to increase it due to a rise in the cost of veterinary bills across the country. Bull !!!

So from a premium of approx $60-ish a month it went up to just over $120. I told them to stuff their premium where the sun doesn't shine and save the $60 each month instead!