Is £5000 colic cover enough?

grandmaweloveyou

grandmaweloveyou

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NFU cover for £5000 same as their vet fee cover

KBIS cover colic surgery for £7500 but obviously is a more expensive policy....which will be a struggle to stretch to but for the extra cover...

What are your experiences?

Thanks
 
I think you need to review whether you would opt for colic surgery should the need arise. I personally would not, so the cost is irrelevant to me, but if you would then I have heard of costs mounting to £8k.
 
to me no....as i am at the point now i wouldnt put mine through surgery.

i did say i would as she was a youngster but a total change of heart -


broken legs and colic = paddock in the sky im afraid!
 
I paid more than that but some of the bill was for his livery while in hospital which wasn't covered. At this minute I'm watching him grazing through the kitchen Window one year later and thinking how lucky I am. I agree that the question is whether you would go for surgery or not.
 
Agree with noodle.....would not put mine through it.


But £5000 from friends who have had it done us def not enough.£7500 is a bit closer to the real price.
 
Agree with those who wouldn't pursue surgery. I don't think it's fair to put them through that. I always said the day my old girl needed surgery would be the day I said goodbye, and it was.
 
I am with NFU and my mare has had colic surgery,the costs was £3,500 At the vets who did the surgery and £500 at my own vets,plus the fuel costs to get her 2 hours to the vets,it was a nightmare, would i do it again ? YES i would, six weeks down the line my mare is well and happy and hoping to be turned out in a small paddock in a few weeks, it all depends on each horse and what type of colic,my mare had a twished and misplaced colon,but she was well and was seen very quickly, All this with a 8 week foal at foot.;-)
 
It varies quite a bit depending exactly what they have done, how long they are on a drip etc etc. My HoL had his first surgery 6 yrs ago, aged 19. He had pendunculated lipoma, 3m small intestine removed, resection etc and was in horspital for 10 days. Cost £5,000 including early payment discount. He had his second surgery last October, aged 25, at different vets as I'd moved. Quoted £5k. Same pendunculated lipoma, but didn't need any intestine removal this time. Ready to come home after just 4 days having only accrued £2.5k bill for the colic surgery. (However then got mahussive life threatening hock joint infection, so 2 further general anaesthetics within a few days, arthroscopy, umpteen hock flushes, scans, xrays, etc etc and 3 week stay - final bill £10k)
Because of his age he wasn't insured for either op.
Would prob be worth checking what the cover includes - e.g.hospitalisation fees and working out whether the extra cover is worth the higher premiums. Because we have 7 horses we don't insure ours and even with the 2 surgeries I'd still have spent more in premiums over the years than I have in vet bills. But this doesn't necessarily work for one horse.
P.S - here is mine a few months after latest op. I think he looks pretty good for rising 26 and shows some older horses do cope well with the surgery.
551537_10151533004647521_503344539_n.jpg
 
I don't think insurance limits are nearly enough - and very few have raised them in the last 10 years despite everything else getting more expensive. If you want insurance for complete peace of mind then £5k just doesn't cover it - that'll pay for a simple colic surgery easily, but a very sick colic/ complications and the extra drugs/ fluids add up so much. You'll go well over that, and there are plenty of the horses that become very sick that then there's no money left to give them the ideal treatment and corners have to be cut
 
YasandCrystal said:
I think you need to review whether you would opt for colic surgery should the need arise.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is you won't know the circumstances until it happens, and that tends to influence whether surgery is an option or not. I always thought that surgery was unfair on them, too expensive, too much of risk, yada yada... when it actually came to needing emergency surgery on my otherwise fit and healthy 5yo, or losing him there and then, I found myself sending him straight into hospital.

For reference, I was quoted £3.5-5k for the surgery alone, depending on complexity (severe colic). I'm still waiting on the final amount to come through.
 
Difficult question.... 5K no it is def not enough for colic surgery mine had it 3 years ago and total was 8K and I still lost my horse. Would i do it again, i dont think so but would never say never different horse.
 
I had colic surgery on an uninsured horse four years ago. It was just under £3k. I lost him in recovery unfortunately. They knew I was uninsured so do wonder if the price reflected this. Also, the reason I lost him was that he was paralysed in the back legs due to being a heavy horse on his back so long. I don't think I would have the surgery done again. But if faced with it for my beloved mare, who knows? I may send her for surgery because I just can't bear to lose her, but really, would it be for selfish reasons? Sounds awful, but if I wasn't so attached to her, I would say PTS if she needed colic surgery as she is 19 and has been through so much with her broken shoulder and with her cushings and laminitis. Would I be doing the surgery for me or for her? If only they could talk...
 
ShadowFlame said:
The problem with that is you won't know the circumstances until it happens, and that tends to influence whether surgery is an option or not. I always thought that surgery was unfair on them, too expensive, too much of risk, yada yada... when it actually came to needing emergency surgery on my otherwise fit and healthy 5yo, or losing him there and then, I found myself sending him straight into hospital.

For reference, I was quoted £3.5-5k for the surgery alone, depending on complexity (severe colic). I'm still waiting on the final amount to come through.
Click to expand...

Very true ShadowFlame - never say never is a good motto. Until one walks in those shoes who knows.
 
Interesting that you should wonder too about the price if you're uninsured v insured, as in my experience you seem to pay less if uninsured. We were as happy as you can be with the price for both my horse's surgeries, especially when compared to what other insured people have paid.
Shortly after mine had his hock joint infection following his second colic surgery in October, a friends horse also had a hock infection (treated at a different vets) and she was up to her insurance limit after just one arthroscopy and hock flush. The hock element of my horses £10k bill was £7.5k - and that was for 2 general anaesthetics, arthroscopies, hock flush under general, about 6-8 standing hock flushes under sedation, scans, xrays, hock taps, lab fees, painkillers, anti inflammatories, sterile dressings etc and 17 of his 21 days in hospital, so by comparison mine was a bargain.
It also goes to show that the insurance limits really haven't moved with the times whether for colic or something else. £5k doesn't get you a whole lot nowadays!
 
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