Your pet means the world to you. As a vet, I see this strong bond between families and animals every day. I also see the stress they go through when they are worrying about their sick pet. Money is the last thing they want to think about in a veterinary surgery. But all treatment comes at a cost, and I’ve also had the experience of being with those families as they realise that their pet insurance won’t cover all the things they thought it would.

This is why people who want the best care for their pets need to look beyond the headlines of any pet insurance and really study the detail. Are there any additional limits to what’s covered under vet bills? Are dental conditions or injuries covered for example?

Diagnostic tools allow me to help patients faster. Does the policy limit what it will pay towards individual diagnostic procedures like MRI or CAT scans? An MRI scan can be expensive - would that be completely covered? How about any restrictions on what they’ll pay for certain conditions, like cruciate ligament injuries? Are chronic conditions like diabetes covered? Or hereditary conditions?

And if you do make a claim, is the insurer likely to charge you more? Because if they do, you may well find that the “cheaper” insurance ends up costing you more.

You want to make sure your vet will be able to give your friend the best care. The amount of care you can afford might depend on how much care you’ve taken in choosing your pet insurance.