I'm new to the forum but one of my biggest questions is whether there is any pet insurance in Switzerland? I'm coming over from the uk where we have it for both our dogs and at the moment haven't been able to find any info on pet insurance in Switzerland.

Can anyone help?

Many thanks

LOL you are joking of course, you can get insurance for EVERYTHING in Switzerland

i know Zurich Insurance offer it although we are still using our Finnish insurance for our 2 dogs.

Try joining the Yahoo group for dog owners in Switzerland and ask the question there you will get a much wider view point than from the few dog owners on this board.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dogs-Switzerland/

Thanks I'll go and have a look. I thought there must be. One of them has a pre exisitng condition so that will probably up the premiums - never mond shes' worth it

My neighbour has a German Shepherd and it seems to be always at the vets. It cas cost her nearly 20 percent of her salary so far this year.
Will be very interested if someone finds a cheap policy which includes know conditions.

Yes. There is pet insurance. When I looked at it previously, it really didn't seem like it was worth the money... They didn't really cover anything!

But, I'll dig up the name.

Epona
http://www.epona.ch/

Thanks

We pay about £28 per month at the moment for the 2 dogs. One of has cost us about £1500 in the last 12 months.

If you are considering any of the Swiss pet insurers, do research any exclusions carefully. I looked into it a few years ago, and quickly concluded that for us it was a complete waste of money.

Pretty much everything my middle-aged to senior dogs were likely to encounter would have been excluded under the pre existing conditions clauses, and the yearly premiums were more than my current vet bills for all but one of my dogs. (And the one where insurance might have made sense - my medical mystery mutt - was uninsurable due to age and health.)

I have found vet care to be a surprising bargain here in Switzerland, compared to other places I've lived. Routine care has been reasonable, and even specialist treatment (and I've been through a lot of that ) hasn't been quite as bad as I expected. Plus, my vet bills monthly - no payment at time of service needed. Even the Tierspital, where one is supposed to pay when you pick up your pet, usually send me a bill weeks later. Although I would suspect that is because I'm often there post-midnight.

YMMV.

We spoke about insurance with our vet once we arrived in Zurich and they said it wasn't worth the money because it was impractical and doesn't have the same coverage you would get in Canada. We decided to pass.

Yes. I agree.

Anyway, I just read the Epona page & your dog must be under 4 years old just to get in!

Thanks everyone

I think if the vet care is reasonable we might not bother with the insurance. The older dog (6yrs) has never had anything wrong with her but the younger one has arthritis which is under control and the meds aren't expensive. Its just if she needs her joints replacing in the future but we can always set up a dog saving fund for that

You may want to check that any meds or supplements you are giving your dog are available here, or that your vet can give you an acceptable substitute.

I was surprised to find that some common 'over the counter' products seem to be unavailable here, including some basic first aid products. I end up having several arthritis/senior supplements (things like glucosamine/joint care and senior vitamins) shipped over regularly from the US.

I am only in Switzerland for 6 months a year and I kept on the UK Pet Policy, extended to holidays in Europe for £10 extra premium) and have had no problem with claims. I agree with the posters who point out veternary treatment in Switzerland is significantly cheaper than the UK and we think better.

I am wondering if it might be a good idea to put your 1st six months on an extended UK policy? Then you could see what the treatment costs and insure/ not insure accordingly?

Just a thought....

Nope they will just exclude treatment for the pre existing condition,
One of mine has SLO and the insurance covers everything except treatment releated to that.

Our dog is getting up there and takes glucosamine supplements that we buy from the vet - they look like little pellets and she gets 1 scoop per day. It's pricy to buy, about 150 CHF, but it's lasts a very long time. I'm actually surprised your vet can't help you, if you live in Zurich I can give you the name of my vet if interested.

Thanks JanerMacP - but I have tried a few glucosamine supplements available here, and haven't been as happy with the results as I have with the one I use from the States (it's an extra strength glucosamine plus-a-bunch-of-other-stuff supplement) And as I have several wobbly senior dogs, I go through a LOT of the stuff - it works out far cheaper to ship it here in bulk.

HEllo again! I was wondering if anyone has their pet insured. We have our dog insured here in Sweden but i wonder if it is possible to do it in Switzerland and if it's too expensive...

If you reccomend a company that'd be awesome

thanks!!

Hi,

Can you tell me the name of your vet ? Thank you

Hi,

Can you tell me the name of your vet care ? Thank you