American insurance company Nationwide stops insuring 100,000 cats and dogs

AMERICA: I'm told by news media that Nationwide is America's largest pet insurer. And they've decided to stop insuring 100,000 pets. But read on. 

Image: The Canine Review.

It seems very bizarre because normally it is people who decide to stop insuring their pet's health because the insurance premiums are too high. This is the other side of the coin as this insurance company blamed inflation and the cost of veterinary care as two reasons why they have decided they can no longer insure pets. 

It would seem that some pets are uninsurable as far as Nationwide is concerned. It is pretty cynical because the policy concerns pets that need insurance. Nationwide want to insure health pets!

It has 100,000 pets on its books whose insurance policies are being terminated. There will be many customers who will no longer be receiving pet health insurance when their policies terminate unless they can find an alternative. Some pet owners are concerned that they won't be able to find an alternative at a suitable price.

Another problem which may be the central problem and which is not been fully clarified to me is that there have been recent underwriting changes in the insurance industry concerning Nationwide. The company feels that these changes have made it unviable to continue.

The announcement was quite sudden and made in a statement on June 14. All 100,000 policies will not be renewed at the date of their renewal. The non-renewal is not connected with the companion animal's prior claims history - they say. True or false?

'Inflation in the cost of veterinary care and other factors have led to recent underwriting changes and the withdrawal of some products in some states - difficult actions that are necessary to ensure a financially sustainable future for our pet insurance line of business.'

Overall the company says that it it insures more than a million pets - the largest in the country.

Profitability

The reporting is a little confusing and I'll tell you why. Nationwide insure 1 million pets but they are dropping insurance policies on 100,000 pets which indicates that they are being selective and that the termination of these insurance policies is connected with the high level of claims made by some customers because their pets are inherently unhealthy. That's my opinion until I receive better reporting.

And this thought of mine appears to be supported by the fact that many of the affected premiums are for older pets with pre-existing conditions.

My gut feeling is this: this insurance company has decided to take strong action to improve profitability and they are achieving that by stripping out of their customer database those pets that require consistent and routine treatment because of inherited and long-term or chronic illnesses. On the face of it is a cynical move to increase profitability by being more selective in the animals that they insure.

In response, a Facebook page has been set up by disgruntled customers entitled "Dropped by Nationwide Pet Insurance Whole Wellness? Join Us!

I've applied to join the group as it is private. I've not received an acceptance as at the time of publishing this article.

As I said, I think this is a reflection on the fact that some dog breeds are inherently unhealthy such as the French Bulldog. I have boldly claimed that that dog breed is the most unhealthy of all the dog breeds with 21 different inherited illnesses. Extraordinary; right? Other bulldogs have more than the usual inherited health issues. 

Avoid extreme breeding e.g. flat-faced dogs and unnatural looking animals. Mess with anatomy and there is a price to pay - literally.

It would seem that some animals are becoming uninsurable as is the case by the way with some vehicles. Interesting correlation here because in the UK some Range Rover models are uninsurable because they're being stolen all the time forcing the manufacturer to start up their own insurance company!

Self-insurance

Pet owners really should remind themselves that pet insurance companies are moneymaking machines. If they can't make a good profit from ensuring pets they either drop the animal from their books as is the case in the story or they put up the premiums. Either way they make more money.

It's another reminder that the best form of pet health insurance is to start your own savings account which is ring fenced. This is called self-insurance. Save $50 a month ideally before you adopt a companion animal and then when you have adopted the animal you have some savings in the bank allocated solely to treating your companion animal.

In addition, I would do your research on inherited diseases afflicting purebred dogs and cats. It's important you know about them so you can decide whether pet health insurance is necessary or a wise choice in respect of your to be adopted paired or adopted pet.

RELATED: Genetic diseases in cats.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

I love my cats but I won't waste my money insuring them

The words in the title are from Katie Morley, consumer champion at The Telegraph newspaper. She comments on the money section. Her title is one that I sympathise with. I have written about this before (see link below) and I will briefly touch on it again here.

What she is saying is that rather than take out a pet insurance policy, she would rather pay out of her savings. It requires self-discipline but if you can open a savings account labelled "pet health insurance" and routinely put say £200 into the account once a month you can build up enough money to pay your veterinary fees without the need to pay an insurance company an administration fee which pushes up the insurance premiums.

Don't take out an insurance policy. Run your own savings account instead and be disciplined about it.

The best form of pet health insurance is self-insurance. Your own system. It just requires self-discipline.

Within your own home insurance system you avoid all the weasel words so common in insurance policies. I've written about that too but got to be very careful with insurance policies of any type.

CLICK THIS LINK TO READ ARTICLES ABOUT PET HEALTH  INSURANCE.

Insurance is a way to 'print money' in effect. The big insurance companies are leaning heavily on people's anxieties. Having an insurance policy for your pet or your home makes you feel better. It is reassuring. But it is expensive.

Insurance companies can guarantee to make money unlike almost all other businesses because all they have to do is put up the insurance premiums if they start seeing that their profit margins are falling. And their customers sign up to that. They can't complain.

All you can do is change the insurance provider at the end of the year which I do all the time for my car. Every year I change the insurer because they entice new customers with lower insurance premiums and after the first year they put them up dramatically because they feed on loyalty. The same kind of thing happens with any insurance company in any field of insurance.

So the best thing is to work out your own insurance policy and start as soon as possible so that by the time your cat requires a veterinarian you have got perhaps a couple of thousand pounds in the savings account to cover the cost.

There are a link above on this page which leads to many articles containing a lot more detail on this topic than I have covered here. Please use them as I think you will find them useful.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Cat and dog health costs are rising steeply in the UK and it undermines the human-pet relationship

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) tells us that in 2022 insurers paid out over £1 billion. It is the highest on record reported by members of the ABI. It's a substantial increase and they say that it reflects the high cost of veterinary treatment, which results in more expensive claims on pet health insurance policies.

Cat and dog health costs are rising steeply in the UK and it undermines the human-pet relationship. Image: MikeB.

Pet owners are taking out more at health insurance policies in the UK in order to cover these increased investment costs. And, arguably, the increased veterinary costs are driven by the fact that people are taking out more health insurance policies. 

Inflationary upward spiral

It is a self-serving upward spiral. It is inflationary. And it is not good for the human-to-pet relationship as it simply means that it becomes more expensive to look after a cat or dog.

This is because if insurers are paying out more money to clients to cover inflated veterinary bills, they're going to put up the insurance premiums. Pet owners will be paying out more on a monthly basis year-on-year than they were in the past. 

The whole process is inflationary. Underpinning this is pet health insurance plus the fact that independent veterinary clinics are being brought up rapidly by big business to be run as commercial enterprises primarily rather than the focus being on providing excellent veterinary care which is what happens when veterinarians form a partnership which owns the business.

In terms of veterinary treatment, in the UK, the country is moving in the wrong direction. Once big business gets hold of the veterinary marketplace it damages it. That's my personal opinion.

In fact, big business tends to damage everything decent ultimately because their priority is making a profit and they often go too far. The ABI tells us that for 2022, there was a 28% increase in pet health insurance claims from 2021.

Three quarters of the claims concerned dogs while 20% concerned cats with the remainder concerning other companion animals.

For dogs, the number of claims jumped by 35% compared to 2021, to 1 million claims. Payouts increased by 23% to £800 million. Claims concerning cats rose by 20% with payouts up 22% to £184 million.

The average pet insurance claim was for £327 which was marginally up by 1% from the year before. The ABI states that for spinal surgery the cost will be in the order of £8000-£10,000. 

Modern dachshund is too low to the ground

My mind turns to the dachshund which is known to have spinal problems because, through selective breeding, the dog is unnaturally elongated with short legs due to the presence of dwarfism. 

The ABI don't provide me with a breakdown of claims concerning spinal problems but I suspect a number of them concern the dachshund. In which case, we can point to extreme selective breeding as the cause.

Do cats need health insurance?

Image: MikeB

It's a big question. Apparently, in the UK, 39% of cats and 61% of dogs are insured according to the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, a charity. So, most people don't think that they should insure their cat. I don't. I don't believe in it as the insurance companies are greedy and their business model is tantamount to printing money. They just put-up premiums if they want to make more money. And almost invariably the monthly payments increase every year. 

And if a customer is taking more out of their policy than they are putting in the monthly payments will go up. Definitely. They want to make a profit from each customer.

However, there are givers and takers...

Givers and takers. Swings and roundabouts. Snakes and ladders

I'm going to go back to basics and say the following. Pet health insurance is a gamble. There are swings and roundabouts. The major point is this: at the end of the day the pet health insurance companies make a profit.

If every cat owner made a "profit" out of cat health insurance by which I mean they took more out of it then they put into it, every pet health insurance company would go out of business. They wouldn't exist.

So overall, taking all the pet owners together, pet health insurance isn't worth it for customers as there will be more losers than winners. But there are, as mentioned, swings and roundabouts. There are healthy cats and there are unhealthy cats. There are random bred cats and there are purebred cat with inherited diseases.

If you adopt a healthy random bred cat and they are almost never ill but you pay your monthly pet health insurance premiums diligently for 10 years, you are giving all that money to the pet health insurance company. It's one way traffic. You are the kind of customer they want. You support in your payments those cat owners who have an unhealthy cat.

The unhealthy cat owners pay their premiums but they get more back from the insurance company. They are in 'net profit' to put it another way. They are takers. They are leaning on the money provided by the healthy cat owners.

Healthy versus unhealthy cats

So, the answer to the question really is this: you should adopt a healthy cat. You can't be sure that your cat is going to be health but you can make a wise decision in not adopting a purebred cat because nearly all purebred cats are relatively speaking unhealthy compared to non-purebred cats.

This is because moggies are created through natural selection (think: genetic diversity) rather than artificial selection (lack of healthy genetic diversity) which automatically means inbreeding which in turn means not only fixing the appearance of the cat but also fixing into the breeding lines genetic mutations which cause genetic inherited health problems such as, for the Maine Coon, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and so on.

These diseases are going to be expensive. Another expensive disease would be hip dysplasia, also commonly suffered by the Maine Coon kept which is been well discussed on the Internet including on my website. Many cat breeds have many inherited health issues of various kinds and of varying severity.

It will cost thousands of pounds to operate on a defective hip. It might cost £20,000 in the UK. The Maine Coon owner should take out pet health insurance. You see, it depends upon the cat you adopt as to whether you are a giver or a taker. The former receives no real benefit from pet health insurance but the latter almost always does.

Types

What kind of health insurance is available? It goes up in stages. There is 'accident only' pet insurance which gives you a fixed sum to cover a new accidental injury that happened during a single event. There may be a time limit on treatment. And there is 'time-limited cover' which gives you a fixed sum to cover each illness or injury over a set period of time normally 12 months from the start of the illness. Then there is 'maximum-benefit', which ensures your cat or dog for a set amount for each illness or injury. Treatment will be available for as long as the money lasts with no time limit. Once the veterinary fee limit is reached the condition cannot be covered again.

Then there is 'lifetime insurance' cover which is the premium form of pet health insurance. It covers your companion dog or cat for new illnesses and injuries to a set amount annually which renews annually also as long as you keep your monthly payments. You can claim for the same condition every year if your cat or dog has a chronic condition. There will be a monetary limit and you will not be covered for any further treatment that year.

No benefit here

You might be paying £40-£100 monthly. Veterinarians appear to be charging more than ever for major operations. For example, one dog owner was hit with a £12,000 veterinary bill because her dog had a twisted stomach requiring an emergency operation. That person had paid more than £10,000 into health cover over many years but she had to pay the cost of a £12,000 veterinary bill except for £2000 which was paid by the insurance company. She saw no real benefit from pet health insurance.

Peace of mind? Self-insurance

It is said that pet health insurance brings peace of mind. It doesn't really. That's a false sentiment. The best course of action is this: adopt a healthy random bred cat or dog. Make sure that they are as healthy as possible and keep them that way through excellent caregiving and then you save hundred pounds a month for three years which should accrue enough money in a savings account if it is ring fenced and never spent on other things to pay for any medical emergencies that your cat or dog requires.

If the emergency occurs while you are saving you will have to dig into earlier savings but the basic M.O. is to create your own health insurance policy in my view. This avoids paying for the profits made by the health insurance company and paying administrative charges. It is a far more efficient health insurance policy which you manage and control yourself.

Anxious cats are pushing up the price of pet insurance in the UK

The Times newspaper has a headline which interests me: "Why anxious cats and dogs are pushing up the price of pet insurance". They refer to a guy, Sean Feast, who had to work from home during the pandemic lockdown. Until then he was unsure why he is cat, Marble, a four-year-old tabby, was difficult. She was hard to control and "bitey". 

Marble and Sean Feast. Photo: The Times. Great newspaper. Highly recommended!

In other words, Marble tended to bite people even though they were kind to her. She was always aggressive towards people. He discovered why while he was at home durning the extensive lockdown. A neighbouring Bengal cat frequently came through the cat flap for a visit. This dramatically disturbed Marble's life. It was a massive intrusion onto her territory which made her anxious. It would seem that the Bengal cat was quite dominant and that Marble is quite timid by comparison. She had no outlet for her anxiety. It would come out in aggressivity towards people who wanted to be kind to her.

This is called redirected aggression in the cat world. Sometimes people think that their cat is simply aggressive and nasty. There is always a good reason why a cat demonstrates apparent unprovoked aggression. And redirected aggression is not uncommon.

RELATED: Domestic cat attacks their own tail because of redirected aggression.

But the purpose of this short article is in the title. I'm concerned that there are more anxious cats than people are aware of. I believe that cat caregivers should be alert to anxiety in their cat. I believe that it is not that far from the surface. Domestic cats are inherently very alert to what is going on around them and it does not take a lot to energise them. I believe that this predisposes them to anxiety. It is inherent as part of their survival strategy. And as they live in the human world, a land of giants, a slightly timid cat may suffer an almost continual level of slight anxiety.

Certainly, Covid, and the long lockdowns followed by the caregiver going back to the office has disturbed the routines and rhythms upon which the domestic cat relies so heavily. This, too, is likely to heighten anxiety levels. There is, if we are honest, a great problem with cat owners who have to be away from home all day, sometimes for long hours. 

RELATED: Picture of a young cat with a large elderly dog whose separation anxiety was cured by this confident cat.

Under these circumstances cats will often become anxious. It'll be a form of separation anxiety. This can be manifest in health issues such as cystitis and behavioural issues brought about by isolation and boredom if they are confined to the home. And of course cat owners who are away all the time are not able to observe their cat to notice the kind of pressures that they might be under from neighbouring cats if they are allowed outside.

I believe that it is beholden upon cat owners to prioritise the confidence levels in their cat. They should do all they can to boost their domestic cat companion's confidence to make them feel as calm and relaxed as possible. This means plenty of routines in their life which makes them feel more secure. It also means being around as much as possible and creating a calm environment in which they are allowed to express natural behaviour which at heart is wild cat behaviour. 

RELATED: Study says that cats are prone to separation anxiety in homes with two female residents.

This is the raw cat as Jackson Galaxy calls it. The raw cat within - the wildcat within. If you meet the demands of the wildcat they feel whole. If you add to that a friendly and predictable environment they feel whole and content.

I wasn't able to read The Times article but I suspect that the increased insurance premiums arise out of the fact that with feline anxiety you get health problems. The classic one is cystitis commonly called idiopathic cystitis. This causes inappropriate elimination. But there will be other perhaps more insidious health issues.

Exotic pet insurance - UK - discussion

UNITED KINGDOM: ExoticDirect is BOUGHTBYMANY's sister insurer and they are said to be specialists in exotic pet insurance. They been going for 20 years or more and they get a decent 4.1 out of 5 stars on their Facebook page. BOUGHTBYMANY bought the parent company of ExoticDirect in 2015 which is why they are in this stable of insurance companies.

F1 Savannah cats except for the cat on the right! These are exotic pets as far as I am concerned. Photo: PoC.

Exotic Pet?

There is a discussion about what is an exotic pet and I can understand that. Technically it seems to mean in non-native species to the UK. In which case it would include rabbits because they've been wild in the UK since the 12th century but are non-native as I understand it. The issue with this definition is that I wonder how far back you have to go before you describe an animal as non-native. The other side of the coin to non-native is 'invasive species'.

I'm not sure that this is a good definition. I think we should take an ordinary dictionary definition of the word 'exotic' and decide that exotic pets are companion animals which are outside of the mainstream and which are not normally considered to be pets. In the world of cats, for example you might include the wild cat hybrids such as the F1 Savannah cat (see above) or the F1 Bengal cat. You might even include, in that vein, the wild cat component of these animals such as the serval and the Asiatic leopard cat. These are all exotic as would be a big cat or any other medium-sized wild cat species if they are kept as pets.

As for dogs, I would include hybrid wolves and wolves themselves as exotic. And of course you have to include birds and reptiles such as dragons et cetera. And it appears that snakes are quite popular amongst a segment of society in the UK and elsewhere. There is certainly a fascination with reptiles. Even large spiders I guess are in this bracket of animal. These are my personal views and I would think that the description of exotic pet is quite elastic. In short they will be non-typical animals.

You will have to make sure that you are allowed to own exotic animals as pets. You'll almost certainly need a license to do so and have facilities. Check with the local authority.

Insurance companies and what they cover

Another recommended company is E&L pet insurance. They appear to cover bird insurance and they get a good rating online in reviews. A third recommended company would be Cliverton Exotic Pet Insurance. This is a specialist company which is been around for more than 40 years. They insure dog walkers, wildlife rescues, falconry centres and farms. They appear to be more into businesses than individuals who want exotic pet insurance.

Exotic pet insurance by ExoticDirect covers veterinary bills, and for tortoises, parrots, birds of prey and large mammals they cover death as a result of an accident or illness, death by fire and extreme weather conditions. ExoticDirect does not cover the death of small birds and small mammals under these circumstances.

Cliverton offers public liability insurance but not insurance for veterinary costs. E&L's Bird Insurance covers veterinary bills as well as death by accident or illness. They also cover aviaries. It would be important that exotic pet insurance covers theft since they are exotic animals and therefore I would have thought liable to theft. ExoticDirect covers birds of prey, parrots, tortoises, reptiles and large mammals against theft but not small mammals or small birds.

Public liability insurance is important

Public liability is important because some of these exotic animals are dangerous. For example, there have been many servals escaping their homes. This is quite typical because this animal needs a large range in which to live and they are confined when they are regarded as pets. When they escape the home they present a danger or a perceived danger to the public. ExoticDirect provided policy for public liability for animals kept on private land and in case they escape. They also cover animal shows and displays and events, animal clubs and centres and animals included in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act. For example, if you have an exotic bird and they fly away and become lost and don't return then ExoticDirect pay out "some money" for replacement. You can arrange this insurance over the phone but it cannot be bought online.

Costs?

Of course the cost varies depending upon all the factors including the animal insured. You can take out a vet fees only policy with ExoticDirect. As an example, for small mammals under this sort of policy you would pay 10 monthly instalments of £15.10 p for £2000 of veterinary fees. Please visit their website or phone for details. Providing a list here is unwise.

Worth it?

As to whether it is worth it to take out exotic pet insurance, this is obviously a personal choice. Insurance brings peace of mind. My personal choice would be to run your own self-insurance program by saving money for a rainy day. It's about risk and reward and whether you are risk-averse or prepared to take some risks in life. Perhaps a big factor would be public liability insurance. If an animal has a potential to cause serious injury to a person if it escapes then it would seem very sensible to take out exotic pet insurance because the cost of compensating somebody under these circumstances would or might be exorbitant and beyond the normal budget of an average person.

Most common domestic cat diseases treated under pet insurance policies in America

The most common domestic cat diseases treated under pet insurance policies in America in 2018 were reported as: undiagnosed diarrhoea and vomiting, urinary tract diseases, kidney diseases, gastrointestinal conditions, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, periodontitis and general oral health problems. This information comes from five different pet insurance companies: Trupanion, ASPCA, Pets Best, Nationwide and Embrace. 

You can see a trend there or at least I can. Urinary tract problems including kidney disease are a major issue in domestic cats and also it seems are diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. These would appear to be related to diet because what goes in has to be digested and waste is expelled. Both ends of the food processing channel are affected.

Photo: Pixabay.

I have this feeling that there is something hidden is going on in homes in the West which is affecting the health of domestic cats. The high incidents of kidney disease is unacceptable. And I don't think anything is being done about it. I'm referring to food and the chemicals in the home such as fire retardants and carpet chemicals. These are volatile chemicals which give off fumes and these fumes linger in the atmosphere inside the home. I wonder whether the air quality inside homes is sufficiently good for domestic gas. If it isn't it can't be good for people either but cats are nearer the surfaces.

Cats lie on sofas. If that sofa has a fire retardant inside it then the cat is more likely to absorb these chemicals. The same goes for carpet chemicals. These are examples. And as for cat food, I think we know now that the cheap dry cat food is simply not good enough. A lot of people rely on it because it is cheap and convenient. They allow their cat to graze at any time day or night. Arguably this is overly convenient.

You add to poor quality dry cat food the extended daytime absence of solme human caregivers and you create a slightly toxic world for the domestic cat which can result in urinary tract health problems such as cystitis, a bacterial infection of the bladder, exacerbated by stress.

If there is a high predominance of gastrointestinal diseases causing vomiting and diarrhoea then surely this points to food. Doesn't it? Shouldn't veterinarians be looking at the quality of food provided to domestic cats? Perhaps they don't want to look at it because they want a huge number of cats coming through their doors vomiting and shitting diarrhoea. I am too cynical. One pet insurance company said that they paid out US$9,650 to treat a cat with a gastrointestinal condition.

They also said that they paid out US$40,000 to treat a cat with kidney disease. Do the insurance companies investigate the cause of these diseases? Do they dig around and try and prevent the diseases happening? Do they have a vested interest in doing nothing about these diseases? Do they work together with veterinarians and pet food manufacturers to try and eliminate them? I know there are lots of questions but can you find the answers? I don't think you can. I know that the pet food manufacturers work with veterinarians and this to my mind creates a conflict of interest.

Two pet insurance companies rated diabetes as their third most common cat illness claim. Arguably, feline diabetes, which I presume refers to type II diabetes or sugar diabetes, might be caused by the high carbohydrate content in dry cat food. Dry cat food has to have a high carbohydrate content in order to make it. It is there simply as a manufacturing necessity. Domestic cats don't need this sort of carbohydrate level in their food. It is unnatural to them and it is causing, it is argued, hypoglycaemic cats and overburdening the pancreas which produces insulin. This upsets the insulin/sugar balance in domestic cats which can lead to type II diabetes. This is the argument of a well-known veterinarian in America called Elizabeth M Hodgkins DVM.

I am harping on about cat food. And I do give my cat dry cat food although it is the highest quality I can find. And I also feed him lots of high quality wet cat food. But I am dissatisfied in general with the quality of cat food. It does not reflect accurately enough the perfect domestic cat diet which is the mouse which is 40% protein, 50% fat and only 3% carbohydrates. The average dry cat food for cats contains 35-50% carbohydrate calories according to the catinfo.org website. Do you see the massive difference and how that could impact a cat's metabolism and ability to cope with it?

Pet insurance improves companion animal welfare

I have decided that pet insurance is a socialist concept. Sweden is a very socialist country. They pay high taxes and they are willing to do so because it improves society. It is a fairer society. And in Sweden pet insurance for dogs, I am told, is at 90% of the dog population. I am sure that it is not dissimilar for domestic cats. A 90% pet insurance rate is far above that of the UK which I believe is somewhere around 25%. In general, pet insurance uptake is quite low in part because it is uncompetitive compared to self-insurance which is a savings scheme run by the companion animal guardian.

However, I have decided that an important aspect of pet insurance is animal welfare. Pet insurance does two things. First it spreads the risk. If you are unfortunate cat owner and your cat is chronically ill out of pure bad luck for a long time but you have insurance then those heavy costs are paid for out of your insurance policy. Part of that policy is paid for by the lucky person who has a healthy cat or dog all their lives and never has to use the policy. Some of the money from the lucky person goes into helping the unlucky person. Pet insurance spreads the risk and therefore it has a socialist flavour. I don't think that this is something which has been raised very often.

But it certainly sounds more fair to me if an unlucky person and an unlucky cat or dog gets their vet bill paid for high quality treatment thanks to an insurance policy. If that person did not have insurance their cat or dog might suffer because they would not be treated adequately as the owner might not have sufficient funds.

Yes, of course, the person who has a policy and never uses it is out-of-pocket but they get what they want which is peace of mind. They do obtain some benefit, although not as much as they might have. But their luck means that their cat and dog is healthier and that they don't have to go to the veterinarian all the time.

Obviously, whether a companion animal is healthy or unhealthy is not always down to pure luck but a lot of the time it is. You can't be sure how things will pan out. You can take precautions and for example select a random bred cat over a purebred cat because random bred cats are more healthy in general than purebred cats but you can never be completely sure that your cat will be healthy for all or most of their lives. 

Luck plays a role and pet insurance provides a counterbalance against bad luck and it improves the health of companion animals through superior veterinary care provided more often and more promptly because there is no brake on paying the bill. Pet insurance also means that veterinarians get paid better which means they can afford better equipment which in turn means you end up with a virtuous circle of improvements. This is all paid for by cat and dog owners but the beneficiary is the patient: improved welfare for cats and dogs and other companion animals.

P.S. The picture is in the public domain in my view.

Pet insurance for cats in apartments with dangerous cladding

I'm just thinking about the difficulties that cat owners might have in obtaining insurance for their cat if they live in apartment blocks with dangerous cladding. This is a UK specific problem but you may have heard about the Grenfell fire which was devastating (see photo below). It was caused by highly inflammable cladding which wrapped around the block turning the tower into an inferno and killing 72 people who were told to stay inside by the fire service. But that's another point.

Photo on Wikipedia and by Natalie Oxford - https://twitter.com/Natalie_Oxford/status/874835244989513729/photo/1

Thousands of people have now been condemned to lives of fear after the government missed its target of replacing flammable cladding on high-rise buildings.

Replacements of cladding has only taken place in 155 tower blocks out of 455 high-rises. Residents of these blocks are facing buildings insurance premium hikes of almost 400%.

They can't sell their properties because buyers can't get a mortgage on them. The banks have simply washed their hands of them in terms of lending money against the buildings. In some of these blocks there will be people living with domestic cats. How does this chaos affect them if they want to take out pet health insurance?

I don't know the answer and I can't find the answer but I suspect that they will not be able to obtain insurance for their pet. Think about it: a fire takes place and they rush to abandon their apartment, leaving their cat behind. The cat is injured or killed. That is the potential scenario and I'd be very surprised if companies providing pet insurance would cover that scenario knowing that the cladding surrounding the building is flammable.

Top five pet health insurance claims for the Bengal cat

Tesco Bank Pet Insurance can help us understand the kind of health problems that Bengal cats suffer from by providing us with the top five conditions claimed for by their customers in 2018 together with the average cost of the treatment.

Average Treatment Costs Table

Condition	Average treatment cost
Cat bite abscess	£223.66
Wound	£354.35
Lameness	£251.75
Road traffic accident	£846.97
Injury	£523.29

Average annual cost of premiums for top five (most expensive) cat breeds in the UK

I've just written a page on the same subject but in respect of Maine Coon Cats. The difference between these two breeds in respect of insurance claims is quite stark. Whereas the Maine Coon related to internal organ diseases, as I read the information, the Bengal's claims are much more to do with injuries. This points to UK cat owners letting their Bengal cat go outside to roam freely when they become injured. Or they occur inside the home. Perhaps they fight in multicat households. It doesn't surprise me because the Bengal cat is very active. Arguably they need to be outside but I think this is a very difficult decision because they are a very glamorous looking cat and confident.

Beautiful Bengal cat. Photo copyright Helmi Flick. Published here with her express permission

They are liable to get into difficulties and to be involved in road traffic accidents and become injured. You can also see that cat bite abscesses are on the list. This implies (no more than an implication) that they are involved in fights with other cats. Neither does this surprise me because the Bengal cat can be quite aggressive. They are, we must remind ourselves, wild cat hybrids. They have while blood in them in layman's terms. They carry the DNA of a wild cat, which predisposes them to be more aggressive than your standard moggy or the more placid purebred cats such as the Ragdoll and American Shorthair.

When cats fight they bite each other which can lead to an abscess on the head. Bacteria is deposited under the skin where it grows and becomes a major infection. It needs to be flushed out and disinfected.

Years ago, I wrote about the major health issues which can affect this highly popular cat breed. You can read about them by clicking on this link. All purebred cats have a tendency to have inherited health diseases due to selective breeding. Breeders do their best to keep these diseases down to a minimum. There is a difference in the theoretical inherited disease and the claims made per Tesco's data. It is quite marked. For instance HCM affects Bengal cats but the Tesco pet insurance claims make no mention of claims for this disease.

Whether you choose pet insurance through a company like Tesco Bank Pet Insurance or go the self-insurance route is a personal choice. I believe that the companies need to be more competitive in order to grow the business. Percentage-wise very few people take out pet insurance.

Maine Coon cat: top 5 health conditions claimed for under pet insurance

Tesco Bank Pet Insurance usefully provide the public with the top five health conditions claimed for by owners of the Maine Coon cat in the UK. It is interesting and perhaps revealing. The information may not be generally indicative of Maine Coon health issues. It tells us that the Maine Coon in the UK typically might suffer from these health issues. They appear to point to diseases of internal organs. 

Average Treatment Costs Table

Condition	Average treatment cost
Lump	£439.47
Diabetes	£221.93
Pancreatitis	£425.21
Hyperthyroidism	£229.70
Organ tumour	£949.61

Average annual pet insurance premiums by cat breed - top five

The information in the table relates to the period 01/01/18 to 31/12/18 and refers to paid treatments including excesses. They say that Maine Coons can suffer from specific ailments although they describe the breed as relatively healthy. 

They can suffer from the common heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which affects middle-aged cats. The heart grows bigger and the symptoms are shortness of breath, reduced appetite and a reduction in activity levels.

They mention tumours. To the best of my knowledge, Maine Coons are not predisposed to developing cancer tumours. But Tesco argues that common feline growths include lipomas (benign fatty tumours), mast cell tumours (a cancer of the immune system) and lymphomas (a cancer of the lymph nodes).

Tesco Pet Insurance do say that this breed may be predisposed to developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The small or large intestines becomes inflamed. My research indicates that it can be quite difficult to cure this disease in felines. I have a page on home remedies for this disease which you can read by clicking on this link.

I have a page on Maine Coon cat health problems - click here to read it. In a post I wrote in 2018 I said that Maine Coons are more expensive to insure than Bengal cats in the UK.

Tesco Bank Pet Insurance helpfully provide us with some suggestions for Maine coon cat names: Max, Luna, Bella, Milly, Lola.

Maine Coon cat. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick and published here with her express permission.

Average annual UK pet insurance by cat breed

 

Collage: Michael. Photos: Helmi Flick with her express permission.

It is complicated picking the right pet insurance policy for your cat. It is also complicated deciding whether to take out pet insurance in the first place. There are a plethora of different types of insurance policies and you have to work out whether the cost is worth it. It's about risk and peace of mind. It's a personal choice at the end of the day. Do you want to take the risk or buy some peace of mind. Just remember that the insurance companies are in it to make money and they will do so whatever it takes. I prefer self-insurance: save and put money aside for vet bills. This cuts out the insurance admin fees and broker fees if applicable. But this a very personal choice. It depends on you and your character - how risk-averse you are. Insurance companies provide a good service to the right person and their cat.

Without fail, the pedigree, purebred cats are more expensive to insure than random bred cats commonly called moggies in the UK. The montage above illustrates the cost of annual insurance for five major cat breeds in the UK. These are very well known breeds, particularly in America. I don't know whether these sorts of prices are payable in America (in US dollars). I suspect they might be. The snow Bengal cat has the highest premium payments because they are rare and expensive. Rarity and cost dictate the price of the premiums. All five of the cat breeds in the illustration are highly prized domestic cat companions. The four others are not particularly rare but they are desirable.

I suspect, actually, that you will pay premiums that vary from those stated in the illustration because the cost of purebred cats depends upon the quality of the cat and this is an individual-by-individual cat pricing in my opinion. Perhaps the insurance company doesn't know the difference in which case you might get a very good deal.

For example, the Moneysupermarket website (from which I got these details) have mis-described the Snow Bengal and called the breed the "Snow Leopard Bengal".

The price of the premiums will also vary across the country because the cost of veterinary care varies from region to region in the UK. I would expect the same variation in the USA. The big metropolises such as London are going to be more expensive and Scotland will be the least expensive or thereabouts. Pretty much everything is more expensive in London and cheaper in Scotland.

You have to pick your insurance policy carefully. For example you have to decide between a lifetime or annual policy. An annual policy lasts for 12 months. Your cat is protected for those 12 months and you will be reimbursed for veterinary costs incurred during that period. You might not be able to renew your policy if your cat develops a condition which goes into the next year. Lifetime policies are more expensive but of course there is no limit to the duration of the claim but there may be an upper limit to the cost you can claim, perhaps £5000.