More and more cat owners are deciding to take out insurance for their furball. And for good reason, it allows you to keep peace of mind about the health of your pet. Indeed, in the event of a glitch (accident, illness), the insurance can cover part or all of the veterinary visit costs, depending on the formula chosen.
But precisely, how to be sure to choose the perfect insurance for your cat? Here are the main criteria to take into account!
The criteria for choosing a good cat insurance:
1. The breed of the cat
First of all, it is important to find out if your cat has a pedigree, that is to say a document recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture which certifies that it is indeed a purebred cat. In this way, you will be able to trace the origins of your pet over at least four generations and thus know its health history. Indeed, since June 2014, it has been possible to integrate the results of genetic tests carried out in order to detect possible hereditary diseases into the pedigree.
This can be very practical for pedigree cats because they are more susceptible to diseases than so-called "gutter" or "European" cats. The reason is simple: European cats have a particularly varied genetic capital thanks to the many crosses from which they come. In fact, the cost of your health insurance will therefore partly depend on the breed of cat.
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Good to know: hereditary diseases are never covered by animal insurance.
2. The cat's lifestyle
If your cat is an indoor cat who never goes out, it is less likely to get injured or be in contact with diseases than a cat who has access to the outdoors. Indeed, an outdoor cat will be more likely to be hit by a car or to fight with a stray cat, which will therefore naturally have an influence on the type of formula offered by the insurer.
On the other hand, an indoor cat can run many other risks such as falling from a window, being overweight or even obese due to its sedentary lifestyle. Not to mention that it can also more easily develop respiratory problems such as asthma, due to the chemicals used in the house or the poor ventilation of the rooms.
Thus, as you can see, if you want to subscribe to cat insurance, it is essential to take into account all the parameters in order to ensure that the animal will be covered for the risks related to its lifestyle.
3. The age of the cat
As you can imagine, the insurance rate will not be the same if you insure your cat at 3 years old or at 12 years old. Indeed, the older your hairball gets, the more likely it is to see its health deteriorate.
From the age of 7, it is thus not uncommon to see diseases appear in cats so far in perfect health. These include kidney diseases, which are particularly common, diabetes, thyroid disorders or dental diseases. Insurance rates will therefore increase accordingly. Hence the interest of insuring your cat as soon as possible.
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But be careful, just because your cat is young doesn't mean he's not at risk of anything. On the contrary, kittens are particularly fragile and can be confronted with potentially fatal diseases for them (typhus, coryza, feline leukosis ...). In fact, it is essential, beyond opting for animal insurance, to have your cat vaccinated at an early age in order to best protect its health.