When I decided to get a rabbit, one of the things I budgeted for was pet insurance. However - my adopted bun had problems with both his incisors and his cheek teeth, the latter of which contributed towards a problem with his eye. He's since had his teeth trimmed and his poorly eye has cleared up, but it's very likely that even with a good diet his will need dental treatment again. Obviously, any insurance I take out now won't cover this treatment, since it relates to a pre-existing condition. In light of this, our rabbit savvy vet is of the opinion that it's probably not worth insuring Vincent as I'll only really be covering him for an accident or a condition not related to his teeth. I'm not convinced - my concern is that if Vincent were to develop another condition later in his life, it could get very expensive to get the treatment he needs and I won't have the insurance policy to help cover it.

So - do I go ahead and insure my bun, or take the risk that I won't need it? I've been umm'ing and ahh'ing over this for a few weeks now! :P Any advice or opinions would be very gratefully received! :)

Thanks in advance!

PS. Our vet thinks that Vincent is about 18mths to 2yrs old.

I'g go ahead and get him insured anyway. A bunny's vets bills can go through the roof. Most bunnies will experience a broken leg sometime during their life, and that can cost in excess of £500.. :(
I've yet to get Bobby insured, But I plan to. He's so inquisitive and nearly fell down the back of a set of drawers the other day. He'll jump on top of ANYTHING and will also chew almost anything. Lol

I had a rabbit years ago and it was ace, used to hassle me until I rubbed it's nose! I still think unless the insurance is much cheaper than it is for cats then it's not worth it.

i wouldnt bother getting him insured ive had several rabbits over the years and they seem to be pretty hardy lil animals that have very little health problems...and all mine lived to a good old age,so i would use the money and put it away for when he needs his teeth sortin again:thumbsup:

I wish I'd insured my guinea pigs when I got them. I thought their vet's bills wouldn't be very high, but in the three weeks I've had them they've had an upper respiratory tract infection (£20) and mites (course of three injections, £150). Actually I think I was just totally ripped off by the vet.

I had a rabbit years ago and it was ace, used to hassle me until I rubbed it's nose! I still think unless the insurance is much cheaper than it is for cats then it's not worth it.

If I sit with my laptop and looks as though I'm not paying enough attention to Vince, he'll come over and gently headbutt my hand. If I continue to ignore him, he climbs on top of my laptop and sticks his nose in my face until he gets his nose rub :P

Petplan quoted me about £8.50 a month to cover Vince, I can't remember the exact amount. It was definitely about 30p per month more than the policy we hold for our cat. Rabbits count as 'exotic pets' as far as veterinary treatment goes and that pushes the cost of their treatment (and therefore insurance) right up :( If I were to put that money aside each month I'd have about £100 a year, which would only just cover the cost of his dental treatment (the vet felt that Vince's teeth might need trimming every 12-18mths). Any additional treatment I'd have to use other funds for.

TBH, I think I'm still leaning towards the insurance route. I've seen Vince do some pretty spectacular mid flight binkys - it would only take him to land badly one day and, as BobbyBunny says, I could be looking at a bill for £500! :shocked:

Thanks to everyone for the replies and opinions - they've been very useful. I'll let you know what I decide to do :)

erm, I know we're all discussing costs here, but I 'd go back to your vet and have a more in depth chat about this Tracie ;)

With small furries such as bunnies, feasability is the first question to ask with complex medical problems, then cost. I'll explain.... if a bunny is unjured, they are less likely to survive an op for the same problem as a cat or dog, so the cost/insurance equation is slightly more complex, as the more expensive treatments are exactly the kind of thing they are less likely to survive :(

As with all insurance, not taking pet insurance is a gamble. Personally I've always taken the gamble. In terms of cost, I suppose I lost on my old dog, spending around £3k on vet's bills over his ten year life, but I'm winning big style on my current dog.

The worse thing about not having insurance is when the vet phones and tells you "we could try treatment X, it might extend his life for a few months, but it's rather expensive and not guaranteed to work" and you say "no, put him down" and rather than picking your dog up you walk out of the vet's with a lifeless body in a holdall. Guilt? God yes, I still feel it. Don't get me wrong, if there had been a cure, or at least a treatment that would have given him another year so, I'd have paid. I was just tired of paying £100's and living with a constantly poorly dog.

i dont have insurance for my rabbits as i have so many of them. This means it is cheaper for me to pay the vets costs for one if anything does happen, rather than pay out for all of them just incase. However when one of my rabbits broke her leg the initial consultation, anaesthetic and xray cost me £150, the operation to set the leg £150 and extra for painkillers and antibiotics. There for i would strongly suggest insuring your rabbit if you only have the one bacause this is alot of money to have to find in one go.

Some years ago wqe decided to buy our two sons a rabbit each. The young fellow that sold them to us said they were of the same sex (male) which obviously we wanted. My wife then went home to Ireland for six weeks with the boys, leaving the rabbits in the care of a cousin.
I then got a call from the cousin to tell me we were now the proud owners of 8 rabbits. I then went to Ireland to pick up my wife, and not long after we picked up the hutch with 14 rabbits, most of which finally escaped.

One question I asked myself and you could ask yourself to is whether to take the amount you'd spend on insurance per month and open Vincent his own little bunny bank account!

That way - if Vincent doesn't need any treatment that would be covered by an insurance policy, you haven't lost all that money in a policy but if he does, you have his savings that you've been putting away.

Of course, if he needs it sooner rather than later you'll not have enough in the bank account...

I know quite a few people who do this instead of insuring their dogs, I chose to insure Takara but I don't really know much about bunnies!

Wow - thanks to everyone who posted. That's a lot of very constructive, thoughtful advice - thank you :)

After considering everything very carefully, I have decided to go ahead and get Vincent insured with PetPlan - they won't cover him for his teeth, but then from reading the policy trimming rabbits teeth isn't covered anyway, so I would always have had to find the money for that, even if Vince had been in full health when he came to live with us.

I thought about putting the money I'd pay for a policy to one side instead, but I think that in the event of an emergency £100 (the cost of insuring a rabbit for a year) won't go very far towards covering the cost of seeing a vet out of hours, treatment etc. The feasibility point is a very good one - I think its true that a small animal is probably less likely to survive the trauma of major surgery and I'm still going to talk to my vet about this when I take Vince in for his jabs at the end of the month (I can't get insurance for him until these are done anyway). However, from researching those conditions that common affect rabbits, I've come to the conclusion that there are a number that could end up requiring very expensive (and sometimes long term) treatment, even if Vince never had to have an op. So - all in all, I think an insurance policy for Vincent would be a good thing for me to have in place :thumbsup:

Thanks again for the replies and advice :clap:

I just found this thread in google and am trying to make a decision on a similar type

of thing.

Its tricky as I read a post that seems to be pretty much scaremongering as to why you

should have rabbit insurance on another blog:



http://dogcatinsurance.co.uk/pet-insurance-for-rabbits/ (http://dogcatinsurance.co.uk/pet-insurance-for-rabbits/)

but when I apply logic to it I do wonder how likely these things are to happen in the

real world. There is obviously a chance but from what I have read going without

insurance can be pretty horrific in terms of the animals health and the money involved

if something goes wrong.

My biggest worry is with pre-existing conditions (which dont pre exist yet in my

rabbit!). What I am really struggling with is this.

I understand that if max has something go wrong with him that requires lifelong

treatment then I will never be able to get insurance on him that will also cover

anything related to this illness, however, I will still be able to get insurance for

all other elements of his health but what if I take out a policy and then one of the

"pre existing conditions" that requires life long treatment is discovered and I want

to move my policy, will the old policy keep paying out on this condition or will I

lose all cover on it?

It seems like a really complex minefield to me!

Any help is greatly received?

Thanks for reading.

I just found this thread in google and am trying to make a decision on a similar type

of thing.

Its tricky as I read a post that seems to be pretty much scaremongering as to why you

should have rabbit insurance on another blog:



http://dogcatinsurance.co.uk/pet-insurance-for-rabbits/ (http://dogcatinsurance.co.uk/pet-insurance-for-rabbits/)

but when I apply logic to it I do wonder how likely these things are to happen in the

real world. There is obviously a chance but from what I have read going without

insurance can be pretty horrific in terms of the animals health and the money involved

if something goes wrong.

My biggest worry is with pre-existing conditions (which dont pre exist yet in my

rabbit!). What I am really struggling with is this.

I understand that if max has something go wrong with him that requires lifelong

treatment then I will never be able to get insurance on him that will also cover

anything related to this illness, however, I will still be able to get insurance for

all other elements of his health but what if I take out a policy and then one of the

"pre existing conditions" that requires life long treatment is discovered and I want

to move my policy, will the old policy keep paying out on this condition or will I

lose all cover on it?

It seems like a really complex minefield to me!

Any help is greatly received?

Thanks for reading.
I have always paid pet insurance , it gives me peace of mind that no matter what a pet can get treatment but this is a very old thread , insurances have changed somewhat over the past 6 years.

It cost my brother literally over £1000 when they rescued a rabbit from a neighbour. In the end it ended up with no teeth at all .

It cost my brother literally over £1000 when they rescued a rabbit from a neighbour. In the end it ended up with no teeth at all .

That's exactly why I have insurance, I take that the insurance out when I get a new rabbit everytime or even a kitten

Pet insurance is necessary to prevent huge bills, i went to http://www.noclaimsdiscount.co.uk and they used to offer a no claims discount or bonus if you prefer, for all their pet insurance. It made a lot of sense because if you look after your pet the chances of it getting ill are lower. Not sure if they still offer that policy.