Southern Cross Pet Insurance release top claims
Any pet owner will attest to the fact that dogs will eat almost anything and cats make full use of their nine lives.
Southern Cross Pet Insurance’s claims history is full of Labradors eating everything (including cockroach poison,
electric hedge cutters, the entire contents of a chilly bin, a plastic bolt, seal carcass and more), and cats getting
caught (and injured) in compromising positions (such as hot water cupboards, ranch sliders and garage doors).
While this won’t surprise any pet owner, the cost of looking after a furry friend often does.
Research from Southern Cross Pet Insurance (SCPI) shows that a third of pet owners struggle to pay for vet bills, and
over 50 percent of owners said they could only afford to spend up to $1000 for a sick or injured pet.
“While often you’ll hear about the strange and bizarre ways pets can get injured, the reality is that a lot of people
are shocked at veterinary bills for relatively common treatments,” says SCPI head Anthony McPhail.
“Things like skin conditions, which can be congenital, as well as bites, wounds and tendon problems can often cost much
more than most pet owners would expect – and require more than one trip to the vet.”
For these reasons, and the fact that you never know what strife your furry companion may get themselves into, Southern
Cross is releasing the ten highest and ten most common claims for 2016.
Southern Cross Pet Insurance look after the lives of over 16,000 pets. In the 2016 financial year SCPI paid over 13,500
claims worth $4.57m.
During this period the ten highest paid claims were:
Dogs Cats Tumour$9,975.00Fracture$6,345.50Abscess$9,543.61Traumatic injury$5,648.64Pancreatitis$9,358.35Renal (kidney) disorder$5,000.00Spinal column disorder$8,886.60Urethral obstruction$4,921.98Cancer$8,000.23Lymphoma$4,624.60Traumatic injury$7,265.23Mycobacterial infection$3,734.36Intervertebral disc disease$7,008.91Patellar luxation$3,702.93Joint luxation$6,938.41Tendon injury$3,483.26Spinal degeneration$6,309.56Polyradiculoneuropathy (immune and nervous system disorder)$3,349.25Mass lesion$6,263.14Cardiomyopathy$3,193.86
The ten most common claims were:DogsCatsOtitis (ear infection)Cat bite abscessHypersensitivity (allergic) skin disorderWoundLamenessBite injuryMass lesionConjunctivitisConjunctivitisTraumatic injuryArthritisVomitingAnal Gland disorderLamenessWoundDiarrhoeaVomitingArthritisDiarrhoeaFlea/tick/worm control
“As an owner, you owe it to your pet to provide them with medical care when they need it,” says McPhail.
“Our research in previous years showed that a lot of pet owners would do almost anything to keep their pets healthy, but
often the financial reality when your pet is injured or unwell is quite different. This is why we encourage all owners
to either set aside money for your pet’s health, or look into pet insurance.”
Ends.
The Southern Cross Pet Insurance survey was conducted by TNS online amongst 2007 randomly selected New Zealanders and
was released in November 2016.