Bluey’s story
Pet insurance: a moggy lifesaver
Gerry Ryder made his decision to arrange pet insurance for his family cats through a logical, research-based approach. He made the right choice, because Southern Cross AcciPet has saved not only money but also considerable decision-making anguish.
Name: Bluey
Breed: Domestic shorthaired cat
Tricks & Loves: Loves to go walkabout
Bluey's story: Bluey went off on his own and came back home with some terrible injuries, consistent with being shot.
Having adopted two stray kittens for his two boys, a kitten each just prior to Christmas, Gerry followed a friend’s advice and checked out the pros, cons and costs of pet insurance. He was soon convinced that insuring them against accidents was a very good idea.
“I weighed the premiums against the likelihood and costs of at least one cat fight a year, and figured the insurance would soon pay for itself,” he says. “The best choice was Southern Cross AcciPet, and we selected the co-payment option*, which meant we’d pay 20% of the qualifying costs of vet care relating to an accident.”
It turned out that one of the cats – a moggy called Bluey – liked to go walkabout. He’d disappear for sometimes days at a time, causing considerable distress for all the family.
“Fortunately he’d always come back, and in good condition too, so we concluded that he’d found a second home,” says Gerry. “But the kids couldn’t stop worrying anyway, and if he disappeared for more than three nights we’d be out putting up ‘lost’ notices around the neighbourhood.”
“I weighed the premiums against the likelihood and costs of at least one cat fight a year, and figured the insurance would soon pay for itself.”
A turn for the worse
One night Bluey came home looking very much the worse for wear, with cuts and scratches indicating he’d been in a serious fight. But a visit to the vet revealed the shocking truth – Bluey had been shot. All four of his legs had breaks and he had 17 shotgun pellets buried in his body.
“Poor Bluey required two rounds of surgery,” says Gerry. “The first was to fit plaster casts around three of his legs – luckily the fourth leg didn’t need one – and the second was a three-hour operation in which they managed to remove 12 of the pellets. The rest just had to stay where they were.”
Gerry says that without AcciPet the family would have faced a very hard decision. “Bluey’s treatment cost more than $5,000 – we’d have had to ask ourselves some serious questions about spending that kind of money on a cat.”
Today Bluey is his old self and still wandering off on a regular basis, although the person who shot him has never been identified. Gerry’s two boys are very grateful to have him back – and Gerry’s very grateful to Southern Cross.
“Once we’d lodged our claim they made the payment really quickly,” he says. “The insurance was well worth it;
I’d definitely recommend that other cat owners get it!”
Interested in protecting your pet with Southern Cross Pet Insurance? Get a quick and easy online quote now.
We’d like to thank Bluey, Gerry and family for welcoming us into their home and allowing us to share their story. Our customers really are the best.
Bluey is on a Southern Cross AcciPet plan, see what our different policies cover here.
