Mystery - pts + insurance

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zoon

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My horse is currently at the animal health trust being assessed for a mystery condition - they cannot for the life of them work out what is up. Soon my money will run out (he is insured but not for hospitalisation costs and this is costing just under £60 per night and he's been there quite a while now)

If they cannot work out what is wrong (have previously posted about this and don't want to go into it on here) and I have him pts can I claim on the insurance for death/euthanasia? The condition is not life threatening but is making him very unpredictable and dangerous to handle at times. Therefore it is threatening my life! He could be kept as a companion but will always have to come in at night during winter as drops weight very quickly and has to be rugged up, which is a mission in itself and can cause him to kick out and rear if he's having a bad day. So again this is not a real option as it'd still pose a risk to whoever is handling him.

Also since he has been at the AHT he's not actually had a really bad day so the vet there has not seen how awful he can be. My vet at home has - the horse reared up at him and chased him kicking out at him.

I don't want to have him pts, but if he comes back with no treatment options I can't continue to look after him knowing that he may turn on me at any moment
 
Generally insurance companies will only pay out for euthanasia on humane grounds. The best you may be able to get is loss of use assuming the horse is insured for a purpose but this is then a percentage of the insured value. You then need to decide whether to keep the horse or PTS. Which insurance company are you with? Some are more reasonable than others!
 
If your vet would write to the insurance company saying that in his opinion the horse was dangerous and liable to injure himself or you through his extreme behaviour, then the insurance would possibly view it differently. I hope you get sorted, not an easy position to be in.
 
Just bear with me whilst I explain - I've just put a reply to a post about a horse just been diagnosed with having wobblers. My horse had wobblers and the consultant at Liverpool said he was too dangerous to ride and was apparently too dangerous to keep as a field ornament as when he had an episode of ataxia he could have fallen on someone - at times he was very unsteady on his feet. When they put him down at Liverpool it was due to wobblers, but I presume that as Wobblers does not kill it was due to the fact that he was too 'dangerous' for want of a better word to keep alive.

When you mentioned that your horse can be very unpredictable and dangerous at times, if the vets could prove that this could be attributed to whats wrong with him (although they don't know at the moment), or if it could be proven that this dangerous attitude would be too much of a risk to keep him alive as he could kill or maim someone maybe you would get loss of use. I must admit awful how this sounds, I was a little relieved when the consultant at Liverpool said my horse would be covered for humane destruction with my insurance company. I may well have been tempted to have kept him if I felt I would not have been able to have afforded another horse, but this would not necessary have been the best option for him. If he had fallen down in the rain in the middle of the day and not been able to get up I and not found for hours I would have been heartbroken and it would have been cruel for him so we made the right decision. I think you have already made up your mind to have your horse put down, and by the sound of it this would be a sensible decision as it would sound the best thing for your horse and for you. But I suggest you speak to your vet/consultant and try and find out for definite if you will get paid out for him. He will not think you any less of you for thinking along these lines, my consultant at Liverpool was very kind and he brought the subject up for me. I wish you luck and if you need more help/support please feel free to PM me if you wish xx
 
Your insurance company are only likely to pay out if the vets support your decision to have the horse pts. If the vets feel the horse does not need to be pts it is unlikely the insurance company will pay, especially without a diagnosis.
 
I'm with scottish equestrian and don't have loss of use as he isn't worth huge amounts.

He'll be coming home next week with some new meds to try (just a stab in the dark), but vet has said they couldn't get near him yesterday night til late this afternoon and that was jsut to remove some markers they has put on for an xray!

It's a nightmare looking after him and really depressing as he was seriously the most lovely gentleman of a horse before he became ill. The vet at the AHT who is looking at him is really not a nice woman and makes me feel awful for askign any questions or even ringing her up to see how he is. I really don't want to bring this up with her. Migth have to wait until he comes home and bring it up with my normal vet.
 
If vet is who I think it is, bark is worse than bite. Ignore the awful feeling bit and just ask your questions, or call your your vet and get him/her to interperate for you. You could ask the office at the AHT the PTS question - they'll go off and ask the vet. Hugs. It's a horrible situation to be in for all concerned. C.x
 
ZOON how did you get on asking the AHT consultant
about humane destruction payout for your gelding on your insurance policy? How is he at the moment?
 
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