I know that in the run up to Christmas finances can be tight, everything this time of year costs money and therefore this seems an odd time to write about paying for pet insurance – but I want to write about it now so that people avoid some of the pitfalls that we see in practice.

It is not news to anyone that we vets recommend pet insurance – there is nothing worse than having our hands tied by financial constraints when it comes to treating pets – we want to do the best for pets but with no public funding veterinary care must be paid for.

Hence, we recommend insurance, but please remember that not all insurance policies are the same.

Some policies will cover a pet “lifelong” – so all conditions are covered for the pet’s whole life, but some will only cover a condition for a year and when that year is up you will never get any insurance to cover that condition again.

Some policies have surprisingly low upper limits on claims, for example there are policies out there that will only pay up to £1,000 per condition – this may sound like a lot but the minute your pet needs surgery or any sort of intense treatment this limit will be reached before you know it – and again, once maxed out you will not be able to re-insure for this condition.

As a vet, I am not allowed to recommend specific insurance companies however what I can say is - do your research, not all policies are the same and cheap ones may be cheap for a reason. The last thing I want is clients to spend money on insurance, think they are covered and then find their insurance comes up short.

Alice Moore is a vet at Castle Veterinary Clinic, Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083