The reason people do take out dog insurance is prevent excessive veterinary fees and other expenses that can be incurred if your dog becomes ill or has a life threatening disease.

The advantage of having dog insurance is that the cost of treatment for your sick dog is covered. If your dog requires surgical treatment, the costs can spiral into the thousands. Sometimes, tests such as MRI and CT scans may need to be performed, and these alone are extremely costly.

It is a traumatic time when your dog is sick, so the added pressure of finding the funds to help your pet can add extra pressure and upset to the situation.

Dog insurance can be purchased from many reputable companies and the cost can be spread over 10 to 12 months or paid in a lump sum. You can choose different levels of insurance and what you require it to cover.

Dog insurance can cover liability if your dog was to hurt another dog or person. It can also cover bereavement counselling if your beloved pet dies. There is also the option of choosing reward fees and advertisements if your pet was to go missing.

Most of all, dog insurance is peace of mind.

However, your health and that of your family will be of the utmost importance to you and one thing that you consider important to have insurance to cover. Given that you are likely to feel that your dog is very much part of your family, it is important that when you buy your pet that you take out the appropriate insurance.

Dogs have a habit of getting themselves into all sorts of scrapes and you may often find that they have swallowed something they should not or injured themselves when exploring and in the long run, pet insurance can save you a lot of money in vet’s bills and of course, the worry that comes with that.

Veterinary care can be very expensive and if your dog becomes ill or requires a vet’s attention, it can be a worry not only for your beloved pet but when trying to meet the bills. Advancements in veterinary medicine and the wonderful surgical work that vets can do nowadays means that many ailments and diseases in pets are now treatable very effectively. This is of course wonderful news for pet owners but with this, comes a cost and you will be protected from high costs if you take out suitable pet insurance.

Balancing the household budget can be tough at any time but the current economic climate has forced more and more people to scrutinise their outgoings with a magnifying glass in an attempt to find reductions.

For some people, dog insurance could be viewed as a luxury item that can no longer be afforded. This point may be arrived at through desperation, a considered gamble or simply an uninformed decision. Whichever it is, there are potential consequences with such action.

With vet fees rising in the region of 12% per year, this is a problem that has every possibility to escalate. Unfortunately, the problem is not simply limited to the black and white scenario of either being insured or not being insured. Many owners may have selected a policy that simply does not cover their actual requirements. Some policies will place limitations on a maximum claim for one condition or place a time limit. Where ongoing treatment is required, after one year the insurance may cease to pay and seeking alternative insurance to cover a pre-existing condition will most likely be a fruitless search.

Comparison websites make it far easier to compare details of several different types of policies and it is important to make an informed decision. The cheapest dog insurance solution will have an obvious allure but it may well prove to be a false economy.

Seven Year old Dalmatian, Oscar, suffered a fractured leg whilst he was playing at rock pools. His owner, Mandy Miller, was struggling to come up with any ideas of how she was able to get the six stone dog back to her car, up the steep cliff.

Mrs Miller, 38, said:

“I was on my own and in a panic. I couldn’t have got Oscar up the path myself and would have had to call the coastguard.”

“I heard a piercing scream and when I looked round he was on his back.”

“A guy who was also walking his dog came running over and tried to calm Oscar down.”

“He offered to carry him up the cliff and I said ‘You can’t, he weighs 40 kilos’, but he insisted and carried him all the way to the cafe at the top.”

Mrs Miller then rushed the troubled Dalmatian Oscar to the vets, where it was revealed that he had suffered a fractured leg. The poor dog now has to wear a splint all the way up to his shoulder, which should seriously restrict his ‘walkies’.

Mrs Miller added

“I was in such a flap I can’t remember if I thanked the man who helped me. I couldn’t have managed with Oscar on my own and if he’d had to walk his leg could have been a lot worse. I’ve never encountered kindness like it. I would just like to say a big thank you – I’m so grateful.”

Incidents such as this underline the importance of having adequate dog insurance for your pets, as a fractured leg can run into hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds in vets bills.

Dog insurance can be as confusing as any other type of insurance, and there are many things that can increase your payments or mean you are not covered – and it is essential you know what these are to avoid heartbreak in the future.

Dog insurance is very much like health insurance for humans. Sometimes certain problems are not covered, and sometimes insurers may be less willing to insure a dog if he/she has pre-existing health problems. If your dog is older than 9, you may struggle to get an insurance policy, and if you do it will cost you a lot more.

Where you live can also have an effect on the cost of dog insurance. If you live near a busy road, you will pay more than if you live in the middle of the country. In fact, even the breed of your dog can affect your payments, because certain breeds are more prone to health complications than others.

Insuring your dog as a puppy is recommended (so long as he/she is over 8 weeks old), although it is important to note that very often the dog insurance here will not cover the vet bills associated with inoculations or other procedures deemed “unessential”.

Ms Peggie found Rover clinging precariously to a ledge but, before she could rescue him, the unfortunate pooch plunged 400ft. She said:

“We thought that the dog was a goner. I will never forget the sight of him falling. I would never have thought he would have survived such a fall.”

The couple spotted that Rover was still moving, and went to his aid. She stated:

“When we looked down, we saw him moving really slowly. I was absolutely amazed that he was alive. He was dragging his legs behind him.”

Rover was taken to a veterinarian near Limavady, who assessed that, although his internal organs and bones were intact, the dog had injured two vertebrae which could only be treated by specialists in Glasgow.

The couple are now attempting to raise the £8,000 needed to save Rover’s legs with a procedure that will include an MRI scan.

Mr Blyther commented:

“I’m so ashamed that we’re in a position where our dog’s life depends on us being able to come up with a large sum of money.”

“Even if we sold our car, we would only raise about half what we need.”

Had the couple taken out comprehensive dog insurance, Rover’s injuries may well have been covered.

Fortunately the animal was presumably less talented at biting than McKeith, and McPartlin needed no treatment, but the same cannot be said for many other people in the UK who are bitten by a dog.

Website Patient UK reports 200,000 bites per year, with approximately 28,000 suffering bites to the face and 19,000 of those requiring plastic surgery. In fact, according to the site 100 dog bite victims are admitted to hospital weekly in the UK.

This is a 66 per cent rise from a mere decade ago and, in 2009, savage dog attacks on small children escalated an alarming 14% over the previous year. Overall 1,942 children were bitten badly enough to seek treatment at hospital.

54 year-old Stephen McQuiggin knows the trauma of a biting dog all too well. The Daily Mirror reported that, in September, the courier was viciously attacked by a Great Dane while making a routine delivery. His face was so badly injured that it has taken three operations at the University of Durham hospital to rebuild his nose, and his surgeon declared that it was the worst injury of its type he had seen in years.

Dog bites happen suddenly, and often for no apparent reason. If you or someone close to you should become a victim, take these steps immediately:

If the wound is minor, clean it with ordinary tap water, and cover it with a sterile dressing.

If the wound is large, get medical help immediately – and remember that physical injury is only one of the possible injuries from a dog bite. There may be psychological complications following the trauma.

Document the attack as closely as possible, ask witnesses to do the same, and file the reports with appropriate authorities.

Because a traumatic incident often results in personal tumult, often including loss of work and finances, you might consider promptly filing a personal injury compensation claim. One caution here, though. The lawyers’ websites we visited note that, as with all personal injury claims, making your claim promptly means it has a greater chance of success.

If you own a dog that you fear may bite another person, it’s best to seek advice about dog training. It is also possible to take out dog insurance to protect you from liability should your dog set about someone, but prevention is much better than a cure.

Now over to Dec in the studio!

Your dog’s food bill and routine health care can easily be incorporated into your household budget, but it’s more difficult to account for emergencies, so getting dog insurance is an important decision. You may wonder if you really need it, but like any other form of insurance, it depends purely on fate. Your pet may have a happy and healthy life, but you may feel somewhat more secure knowing that you have a safety net in case of emergency, and such occurrences usually prove to be the most expensive.

There are several questions to ask before deciding whether dog insurance is right for you:

What kind of activities will you undertake with your pet? If he is likely to be exposed to unusual dangers, or if he is accident prone or liable to wander off, it may give you much peace of mind to insure him.

How old is your dog? A younger pet is less likely to need as much attention from your vet, but an older dog with a heath condition will no doubt need more.

Is your dog neutered or spayed? If so, your dog’s health is likely to be better; this will have the effect of lowering any insurance premiums.

The type of policy available to you can also influence your decision. The more expensive plans may offer some cover for all veterinarian care, such as routine medication. Less expensive options will mostly only cover accidents, broken bones and poisoning.

Ultimately, your decision on whether dog insurance is for you depends on how much value you place on your dog’s life, and what his companionship is worth to you. Lots of dog insurance policies will be much cheaper than you imagine, and could be a wise investment in the long term.

The one worry that arises from the loss of a dog in a child’s mind is what happens to a dog, will they be in heaven and will they see them again some day.

Taking time to communicate with a child verbally and keeping them busy will help them to come to terms with their loss much quicker. Have a family discussion together to discus the fact their dog was ill, or getting old, and how they are not in pain anymore. Speak about good times and funny memories, laughter will help them release some of the sadness, not all of it, but it is a start.

Young children could draw a picture of their dog and stick it to the fridge door. You can even have them write a letter to a pet and then place it in a hole in the garden, before planting a tree or a bush in memory of their dog.

A good idea is to give your child one of your dog’s favourite toys; placing it amongst a collection of soft toys in their bedroom.

A family can spend an evening or an afternoon gathering their favourite pictures and proceed to put them in a ‘doggie’ album, any such activity is a good positive way for a family to deal with the loss of their pet.

Pet insurance for a dog is an essential tool to have on hand if a dog suffers from a serious or debilitating illness and, in the worse case scenario, the passing of a much loved pet.

That’s just what happened recently to a dog in America, obviously. Ellie, a Labrador, recently ate an entire beehive full of dead bees, and the pesticides that killed them. Naturally, after eating this strange lunch she became very ill and required veterinary care, but thankfully was fine after a few weeks. In true American style, Ellie has been awarded the official prize of the most unusual pet insurance claim in America, given out by the Veterinary Pet Insurance Co (VPI).

Ellie’s beehive eating antics won her first place amid stiff competition from other danger seeking dogs such as the border collie who, attempting to get at the postman, ran straight through a window and the terrier who decided to bite into a chainsaw.

Despite her winning the prize, her award is perhaps a little ruff on her as she was presented with a bronze trophy that looked like a ham. Presumably if she tries to bite into it she’ll need further veterinary care and can be entered into next year’s contest as well.

Dog eats a beehive

She did also get some dog toys and treats though, so they should keep her away from the beehives for a few days at least.

A spokesperson for the VPI commented:

“Ellie may be a young dog, but she’s already managed to eat everything from wooden toy train tracks to laptop computer keys. So the beehive in the backyard was just another culinary adventure for this insatiable pooch.”

Despite the entrants eating beehives, smashing through windows and chowing down on chainsaws, they are all, incredibly, fine after their exploits.