Feeling pretty low

ChrisMusic

I've just followed your emotional journey through this thread.  A very hopeful up-turn at the end though.

I really feel for you all, poor Ruby included.  You are getting some tough breaks lately.

Sounds like an easy fix with some antibiotics, thankfully.

Here's wishing Ruby some luck, and relief obviously.  At least she has you there for her, and your best is all you can do.

Good call on the insurances, they are legalised gambling and with the dice loaded in the companies favour.  Even worse with the very things you need it for excluded from cover.  Your solution seems very pragmatic and supportive of those on the front line helping you all.

Good luck to you all...

monquixote

So what's the deal with paying the money to the vets?

Do they just keep it in an account for you and then you spend it when you take your pets in?

If so would it just be better to put it in a savings account so you get a bit of interest on it as well?

I've heard a few other people extolling the pay into a bank account approach (including my sis) as the insurance is always going to be set up in their favour and they don't usually get sick when their young so you usually have a nice stash by the time they are a bit older.

I heard a really nasty story the other day about companies setting up very attractive pet insurance schemes and then dropping them a few years later when the pets they were insuring started to get a bit older which left the owners knackered because any new insurance they took out would have exceptions for any health conditions the animals had.

digitalscream

monquixote said:

So what's the deal with paying the money to the vets?

Do they just keep it in an account for you and then you spend it when you take your pets in?

If so would it just be better to put it in a savings account so you get a bit of interest on it as well?

I've heard a few other people extolling the pay into a bank account approach (including my sis) as the insurance is always going to be set up in their favour and they don't usually get sick when their young so you usually have a nice stash by the time they are a bit older.

I heard a really nasty story the other day about companies setting up very attractive pet insurance schemes and then dropping them a few years later when the pets they were insuring started to get a bit older which left the owners knackered because any new insurance they took out would have exceptions for any health conditions the animals had.

Basically, yes - we're guaranteed to spend it, given the fact that we have three dogs and a rabbit that's bigger than two of the dogs. We give them the money, and they just hold it on our account. The reason we're doing it that way rather than saving ourselves is that there's no temptation to spend it on anything else; besides, we'd barely earn any interest on it before it's spent, so we're unlikely to be any better off.

Quite frankly, we've only ever tried to claim on the insurance twice, and both times involved months of persuasion and pain trying to get them to pay out. Their business model is based on not paying, so it's pretty damn hard to justify continuing to give them money at this point.

hubobulous

Insurance companies, across the board, are generally ************ to deal with. And please note, ************ is not a nice word....!!

monquixote

digitalscream said:

Basically, yes - we're guaranteed to spend it, given the fact that we have three dogs and a rabbit that's bigger than two of the dogs. We give them the money, and they just hold it on our account. The reason we're doing it that way rather than saving ourselves is that there's no temptation to spend it on anything else; besides, we'd barely earn any interest on it before it's spent, so we're unlikely to be any better off.

Quite frankly, we've only ever tried to claim on the insurance twice, and both times involved months of persuasion and pain trying to get them to pay out. Their business model is based on not paying, so it's pretty damn hard to justify continuing to give them money at this point.

Ah fair enough. 

Yeah my sis was saying that when she buys a cat or dog she starts paying into an account for it £20 a month (or whatever) and then that usually builds up and by the time it's old and wonky there is plenty of money to pay for vet bills. Her experience was that insurance was expensive and no bloody use.

fatherjack

Hope everything goes well with Ruby.

We came to the same conclusion about pet insurance when we had dogs - it was easier to put the money aside somehow than shell out for insurance which probably wasn't going to be much cop when it was needed.

PolarityMan

Glad to hear it's looking like something not too serious, those symptoms sounded properly scary.

TTony

How's she doing @digitalscream??

ThePrettyDamned

This is sad our dog, Ellie, was limping the other day and looked really sad.  

Silly bitch, we got her to the vets and she didn't want to look sick - so the limp magically disappeared while the vet was around, then came back when he left.  He had to observe her through a window...

Anyway, I hope yours is alright mate, it's heartbreaking when they can't tell you what's wrong. 

Rocker

Fretwired said:

I'm sorry read about your poor dog ... I really hope everything works out for you.

My sentiments exactly.  Hope all works out well for all....

digitalscream

Still making slow improvements. It's probably going to take a day or two for the antibiotics to kick in. She's eating and drinking OK, and trotting around outside quite well instead of slowly mooching; she does keep losing her balance and sort of going sideways, but I think that's OK for the time being.

Thanks for all the well-wishes, guys...it really does make a difference. I'll keep you all updated

johnnyurq

That is excellent and may the recovery continue apace.

Tough wee leg humper!

digitalscream

She's a tiny bit more sprightly this morning - no massive gains, and she's still breathing quite heavily, but her tail's up and she just seems happier even though there's very definitely still something wrong.

johnnyurq said:

Tough wee leg humper!

She is that. It's as though nothing can keep this little dog down for long; even when she was at her worst (and it was really bad, back when the accident first happened), you could see her trying to be happy and wagging her tail and even fighting the diazepam they gave us which should've knocked her clean out. 

When we had to consider the worst option, that's the main thing that made us stay away from it - as long as she's still fighting and trying to be the dog she's always been, there's no way we can even think about going there.

holnrew

So glad it's not bad news.

hubobulous

digitalscream said:

When we had to consider the worst option, that's the main thing that made us stay away from it - as long as she's still fighting and trying to be the dog she's always been, there's no way we can even think about going there.

That's exactly our approach and I applaud you for following this route. Basically, their fate is in your hands, so its hugely important to be able to read the signs and see what they are aiming for. I think its normally easy to see when the fight has gone and then although the decision is heart wrenching, its the right one to take at that time. But to cut things short when there's still fight and lust for life is not an option, at least in my eyes.