Rabbit Insurance

[Milly&Theo]

Hi Everyone,

My bunny Theo unfortunately got GI stasis for the second time last night and he’s only 13 months old. The vet has said that if he gets it a third time then he’ll need X-rays and bloods to check for an underlying cause. Last night she just checked his glucose levels, tummy and gave him pain / gut motility meds etc. She said that some bunnies are just prone to it and I suspect he’s one of them 

Thankfully he’s recovered today but at £200 ish a time (he always seems to have it out of hours or on a bank holiday ) I think I need to get him some pet insurance. The one’s i’ve read so far state they won’t treat pre-existing conditions or re-occuring illness though, so do any of you have experience claiming for gi stasis costs on your bunnies insurance plan? Does it count as pre-existing if they’ve had it before? Does it count as reoccurring if I needed to claim costs for it more than once in a year? If anyone has the name of a really good insurance provider then can you let me know, though from what i’ve read so far there seems to be very few bunny insurance providers in the UK. 

As a side note, assuming there’s no underlying medical cause, does anyone know of any preventative measures I can take to make him less at risk of it? It really is horrible seeing him in that much pain and I want to do anything I can to stop it happening but i’m at a bit of a loss with it. 

Thanks in advance for anyones help.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I have no experience with rabbit insurance, because, unfortunately, there is none available in Canada. But I do have insurance for my cat. A few months before I was accepted for the insurance, I brought him to be checked out at the vet for weight gain and a slightly bloated belly. When I did get approved, the insurance stated he will not be covered for his pre-existing condition which is listed as “bloat/bloating”.

Find a company that offers rabbit insurance and go to their website. All the info regarding what the plan does and does not cover should be clearly stated. Before I signed up for Kyle’s insurance, I did a lot of small print reading. The company offered 3 different plans so I needed to see which one would be the best option.

You might want to e-mail and ask any direct questions to the company. Not sure if stasis would be considered a pre-existing condition, as it’s not really a condition in-itself but a result of something else.

[Sirius&Luna]

Hi!

I did some research on rabbit insurance in the UK a while back, and could only find 3 companies that cover rabbits.

I went for Helpucover as it seemed to be the most comprehensive plan even though it was cheapest. I pay £10 a month per bunny, and I’ve claimed twice – once a £1500 bill and once a £100 one and they paid out with no fuss at all. I’ve been very impressed with them. There’s a £50 excess for each condition.

All the insurers seem to have restrictions around dental, as that’s a common problem.

I also fear in your case that stasis would count as a pre-existing condition. I recommend you give them a call though and see what your options are.

The other two that I found that do rabbit insurance are PetPlan and exotics direct, so perhaps it’s worth calling them all to ask what your options are.

I’m sorry that Theo keeps suffering GI stasis though! Can you identify any food triggers? Eg, did he get anything different over Christmas (Brussels sprouts? ?) that might have bothered him?

I fear that some bunnies are prone to stasis though. Sarahthegemini started a recent thread on it, as one of her bunnies has had stasis 3 times, at about the same age as Theo. She has cut a lot of veg out of their diet, so I recommend you read this thread for some possible ideas

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/164213/Default.aspx

[Milly&Theo]

Thanks for the replies. I have read the T&C’s for some of the insurance policies today but obviously they don’t specify exactly what is considered a pre-existing condition. I feel like GI stasis shouldn’t be considered as obviously between episodes they do completely recover from it and won’t necessarily get it again, but this is insurance companies we’re talking about. I’ll give them all a call when they’re open again and see what they say.

He hasn’t had anything different than normal, however both times he’s had this have been at the same time in the evening (roughly 1-2 hours after being given some veggies). I’ve read the other thread (thanks for the link) and I think I need to try gently reducing his veggies as this is the only common thing between the two episodes. The first time he had this was after being given some carrots, and the other night he’d had some mint leaves and romaine lettuce.

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