KEY POINTS:
If your pooch breaks a paw or swallows a tennis ball, the vet bill could leave you choking - and what if your cat gets cancer?
Big advances in medical science mean owners can go the extra mile for their beloved pets, but treatment carries a high price.
Try swallowing $2500 for a doggie MRI scan, $4000 for reconstructive knee surgery or up to $6000 for a course of chemotherapy.
They're some of the treatments available at Auckland's Veterinary Specialist Group where a small but growing number of clients are taking out pet insurance to cover their bills.
Treatment prices are comparable overseas, so it's not surprising pet insurance is one of the fastest growing sectors worldwide.
In Britain it's sold in supermarkets and more than a quarter of cats and dogs have their own policies.
The estimated number is much lower in New Zealand - about 1 per cent - where a handful of companies offer pet cover.
But that could change with a new player promising to "revolutionise" the market. Medipet is set to launch within a month and claims to be New Zealand's first fully-fledged, pet-only registered insurance company.
Group marketing director Matt Young and managing director Peter Restall were last week tight-lipped on the exact costs and the contents of their policies.
But they confirmed annual premiums would be in line with plans offered by existing insurers, which cost between $78 and $429 for cats and $156 to $513 for dogs according to a survey by Consumer Magazine last year. Despite being advised by others in the insurance industry that Kiwis had a "farming mentality" to animals, Young believed the New Zealand public was ready for pet insurance.
"People now give a damn about their pets," Young said. "They have become members of the family."
He said many owners didn't realise the cost of animal medicine. "Blood tests are free for us, but for pets they are $300." While not covering the full cost of every eventuality, Medipet would help cover everything from acupuncture to MRIs.
"If kitty gets run over, it could cost you $2000," said Young. "If your dog swallows something, it's going to be at least $1000, maybe more.
"With cancer, you can spend $5000 in the blink of an eye."
Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge said the organisation not only endorsed the idea of pet insurance, but offered its own policy.
For $324 a year for dogs, or $251 for cats, the SPCA Pet Protection Plan offers $4000 of cover, including help with the cost of microchipping, desexing, vaccinations, registration, vets bills and emergency housing. There was also a programme which ensured an animal would be taken care of if its owner died.
Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive, Chris Ryan, said the sector was "quietly growing" due to rising vet bills and the increased value people put on their pets.
He said the council recommended owners or breeders of pedigree animals got them insured against theft as well as illness.
"Overseas there are two types of people insuring their pets - those who own pedigree animals and people who have enough money and really love their animal."
FOR LOVE OF DAISY
Sharon Mischefski was supposed to live it up in Las Vegas at Christmas. But she stayed home so she could pay for a knee operation for her "darling little girl".
Daisy, Princess Daisy at Auckland cat and dog hospital VSG, is a friendly bull mastiff, though she's anything but little.
On Friday, she was hobbling around, with a thick neon-green bandage on her leg. Correcting the pup's torn cruciate ligament cost Mischefski about $4000.
The legal PA had the 2-year-old insured after her leg became a problem. She considers it great value even though Daisy's operation wasn't covered because it was for a pre-existing condition.
"Then I found out even if it was covered I'd only get $500 off anyway. But it's been great for vet's bills. I don't leave the vet's without paying $140-150 and they pay 80 per cent of those."
