UK pet owners doggedly devoted
February 22nd, 2008 Posted in Pets Guide Forget worming pills and a flea collar - a trip to the vet in
Britain these days could be about heart surgery, joint replacement,
chemotherapy or a host of other cutting-edge procedures.
Britain is one of the few countries in Europe to offer many of
these complex treatments: devoted British pet-owners have fuelled a
fast-growing insurance market that helps fund care which would
otherwise take a big bite out of a bank account.
Research firm Datamonitor has forecast the country’s pet
insurance market will grow to almost STG600 million ($A1.28
billion) in 2011 from nearly STG380 million ($A812.14 million) in
2006.
“It wasn’t that big a market a few years ago but now it is
growing,” said Kelly Ostler-Coyle, a spokeswoman for the
Association of British Insurers. “It is a combination of how much
people value their pets and (the fact) that there are more
providers in the market.”
At Davies Veterinary Specialists, the largest private clinic of
its kind in Europe, a lobby full of barking dogs is evidence of the
lengths pet-owners are prepared to go for treatments for their
pets, which can easily cost thousands of dollars.
The sprawling complex not far from London boasts five operating
theatres and nearly 30 veterinarians - with specialties ranging
from orthopaedics to oncology. Its facilities include a gleaming
new MRI machine and CT scanners.
“People are very dedicated to their pets here and willing to
spend time, effort and money to get them well,” said Lea Liehmann,
a soft-tissue surgeon at the clinic.
The veterinarians have performed skin grafts for dogs hit by
cars, joint replacements for crippled animals and chemotherapy for
pets with cancer, Jerry Davies, the clinic’s founder, said.
While Americans like Paris Hilton may lead the field in
pet-pampering, when it comes to insuring their animals Britons are
among the top dogs.
About a quarter of Britain’s 16 million or so dogs and cats are
insured, compared with less than 2 per cent in the United States,
said Chris Price, a spokesman for Directline, a Royal Bank of
Scotland subsidiary which offers pet insurance.
Insurers in many European countries do not even offer plans but
in England a number of providers cater to pet owners in a market
led by Allianz subsidiary Petplan. AXA SA also offers pet
insurance.
“The sort of scope of veterinary treatment available these days
is partly driven by insurance,” Directline’s Price said by
telephone.
The only country that insures a greater proportion of its pets
is Sweden, where the first policy was written and almost half of
all pets are insured. One provider, Agria Djurforsakring, last year
bought PetPartners PLC in a bid to penetrate the growing British
market.
Rising costs have also persuaded more owners to insure their
animals, which in turn has funded medical advances and helped
create a market for the more complex procedures, veterinarians and
insurers say.
“We have a very emotional product,” Davies said in an interview
at his clinic.
Lorraine Sheppard’s decision to buy insurance for her 7-year-old
bull terrier Dylan has paid off. So far it has covered ultrasounds,
electrocardiograms, chest X-rays and three types of medication for
her dog’s heart condition.
When the insurance money dries up she said she will keep paying
herself for treatment.
“As long as the quality of life is retained I don’t have a
problem with going so far,” she said. “Even if he wasn’t insured I
would still be doing this. I’ll do as much as it takes.”
Other British pet owners are increasingly willing to pay
themselves for an array of medical treatments, and Davies predicted
even more complex procedures for animals will be available in the
future.
This sometimes poses a dilemma for veterinarians when it comes
to choosing between an animal’s health and what a client can
reasonably afford.
“I can remember one client selling a car to fund an operation,”
Davies said. “But there is no point in trying to drive an old lady
bankrupt for a procedure that may be achievable but not realistic
for her purposes. You don’t want to diagnose through the
wallet.”
At the Royal Veterinary College in London about a third of the
clients pay out of their own pocket for procedures that can run up
to nearly STG10,000 ($A21,372), said Dan Brockman, a surgeon at the
school.
He has seen owners skip holidays and take out extra mortgages,
but unlike Davies, said that decision is one owners need to
consider when buying a pet.
“I can’t tell people what value to place on their pet,” he said.
“What people choose to do with their disposable income is up to
them.”
For Shirley Trenholme, this meant paying for open-heart surgery
to fix her 10-month-old flatcoat retriever Arnie’s poorly
functioning heart valve.
Brockman performs about eight similar open-heart operations each
year at the college, which is the only place in Europe to offer
this kind of treatment.
“You have to do what you can afford but in my case I would have
been prepared to raise the money somehow,” Trenholme said by
telephone. “As it was a puppy I bred I couldn’t not let him have
it.”
The nearly STG10,000 ($A21,372) operation was only available due
to the largesse of a previous pet-owner who didn’t want to fly her
animal to the United States for surgery.
Instead she donated STG40,000 ($A85,488) worth of equipment so
Brockman and his team could set up a surgery - a gift that has
saved the lives of dozens of other animals, Brockman said.
“The United Kingdom is a country of real pet lovers,” he said.
“There is no doubt about it.”
Reuters
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