Guinea Pig insurance

[sammy06forever]

can anyone help with Guinea pig insurance please

 

[Belinda Shute]

Hi.

Yes I have my 2 younger girls insured with Exotics Direct. I have paid a lot of vets bills with my older 2 girls and have found this company to be one of the only ones around. My vet, John Chitty, asked us which one we were using and when we told him he said that would have been the one that he would have recommended as he has found them to be very good too.

I have put the link below for you:

https://www.exoticdirect.co.uk/small-mammal-insurance

 

[Gems]

Personally I don't think it's worth getting insurance. There has only been 2 occassions when my vet bills have been more than £50, and the excess on the insurance policy is £50 so unless your vet bills comes to more than that you'd still end up paying for the treatment yourself. The cheapest option I had was £35.39 for our 5 guinea pigs, I rarely have to spend that a month so yes it would come in useful if you have to have an operation, but you might be better off saving money each month so you have a fund available incase you need anything. I currently have 5 permanant piggies and 2 foster piggies so save £10 per pig per month incase of veterinary bills as I know the likliness of all of them becoming ill in 1 month is extremely unlikely so I feel thats an ok amount to spend. If I only had 2 I'd personally be saving a minimum of £30 a month though. I think I spent around £1000 in one bad year on vet trips but some people never have to go to the vets at all

 

[TAN]

Amanda has had to spend out over £1200 on Cameo in just over 2 weeks - Bumble cost me £27 at the vets on Monday as he had a badly sprained foot - however if it had been broken it would have been upwards of £600 plus - I insure my car but hope I never have to claim on it - so I look at my piggies the same way - I use exotic direct and its £20 for 3 of them a month - well worth the piece of mind - but that is my personal opinion

 

[woo]

Tan..What are you covered for when paying the £20 per month for 3?

I got an online quote from this company and it said nearly £40 for 2 piggies:{ I have not followed it up as it seemed way to high compared to others.

 

[flintstones]

Amanda has had to spend out over £1200 on Cameo in just over 2 weeks - Bumble cost me £27 at the vets on Monday as he had a badly sprained foot - however if it had been broken it would have been upwards of £600 plus - I insure my car but hope I never have to claim on it - so I look at my piggies the same way - I use exotic direct and its £20 for 3 of them a month - well worth the piece of mind - but that is my personal opinion

I would be interested to know if it would cover spaying a Guinea Pig to prevent future health problems and if it would actually pay out when things went wrong.

I looked at Exoctic's policy and it doesn't cover teeth, My pigs are soon to be on there 4th dental each averaging £80.

 

[Amanda1801]

I would be interested to know if it would cover spaying a Guinea Pig to prevent future health problems and if it would actually pay out when things went wrong.

I looked at Exoctic's policy and it doesn't cover teeth, My pigs are soon to be on there 4th dental each averaging £80.

Cameo and Jeff are insured with exotics direct.

I questioned them a lot before I took out the policy and basically, they won't cover the spay, but they will cover "preventable" diseases.

For example, if I suspected Cameo had cystic ovaries, and she had consultations, blood tests, and ultrasound scans, if they then found cysts and decided to spay, they would pay for all the diagnostics, but not the cost of the spay. I found this interesting, as a lot of cat/dog insurance policies, won't cover say pyometra, as it's preventable by spaying.

My policy will also cover 50% of dental fees after the excess has been paid, and will also cover 70% of any referral fees - so if Cameo had to be referred to the exotics specialist, I'd only have to pay 30% of their bills.

 

[flintstones]

Cameo and Jeff are insured with exotics direct.

I questioned them a lot before I took out the policy and basically, they won't cover the spay, but they will cover "preventable" diseases.

For example, if I suspected Cameo had cystic ovaries, and she had consultations, blood tests, and ultrasound scans, if they then found cysts and decided to spay, they would pay for all the diagnostics, but not the cost of the spay. I found this interesting, as a lot of cat/dog insurance policies, won't cover say pyometra, as it's preventable by spaying.

My policy will also cover 50% of dental fees after the excess has been paid, and will also cover 70% of any referral fees - so if Cameo had to be referred to the exotics specialist, I'd only have to pay 30% of their bills.

In theory - What about the after effects of Cameo's spay would they cover that?

I don't know if it's worth it I do spend a fortune on medical bills and I am yet to have a Guinea Pig successfully diagnosed and treated (very sad but true). If it's just investigating for example Milo had a fungal culture's. Antibiotics, Bloods, Xray's, numerous diabetes tests costing in excess of £400 but we still don't have a disease and treatment in fact him and his symmetrical hair loss has another vet appointment. Will they cover exploratory test's?

 

[Amanda1801]

In theory - What about the after effects of Cameo's spay would they cover that?

I don't know if it's worth it I do spend a fortune on medical bills and I am yet to have a Guinea Pig successfully diagnosed and treated (very sad but true). If it's just investigating for example Milo had a fungal culture's. Antibiotics, Bloods, Xray's, numerous diabetes tests costing in excess of £400 but we still don't have a disease and treatment in fact him and his symmetrical hair loss has another vet appointment. Will they cover exploratory test's?

They do cover the investigations. They won't cover Cameo's post-spay problems as it was within the 2 weeks after I took out the policy, where they won't pay out mallethead I need to look at it actually as the cystitis may be claimable.

They wouldn't cover for Milo as it's a pre-existing condition, but if it was a new pig that you insured, that had Milo's problems, they'd pay out.

As for his hairloss - is it over his rump? like a strip on each side?

 

[flintstones]

No Amanda it's patches identical on his rump each side and his sides it's symmetrical which indicates hormonal issues, he's also lost 83 grams in a fortnight, and is very bony on top there's no muscle fat. He's at the vets tomorrow, but I am planning to visit a friend in England and will be taking him for a 2nd opinion.

At the moment I have 3 ill pig's and I very much doubt any of my pig's can be insured now!

 

[Amanda1801]

No Amanda it's patches identical on his rump each side and his sides it's symmetrical which indicates hormonal issues, he's also lost 83 grams in a fortnight, and is very bony on top there's no muscle fat. He's at the vets tomorrow, but I am planning to visit a friend in England and will be taking him for a 2nd opinion.

At the moment I have 3 ill pig's and I very much doubt any of my pig's can be insured now!

A characteristic sign of Cushings is bilateral hairloss over the kidneys. Also fat and muscle wastage.

Has he got a saggy belly at all? Another typical sign is weakening of the abdominal muscles, which allows gravity to have more of an effect!

Hope it goes well for the little furball!

 

[flintstones]

A characteristic sign of Cushings is bilateral hairloss over the kidneys. Also fat and muscle wastage.

Has he got a saggy belly at all? Another typical sign is weakening of the abdominal muscles, which allows gravity to have more of an effect!

Hope it goes well for the little furball!

I know all about Cushings (all the test's we got done was to diagnose Cushings) you've probably seen his earlier threads.

I however cannot give him a medication that can be life threatening based on the information available. There isn't enough information to diagnose him successfully.

Thank you for the well wishes.