Many horses when jumping a fence will clear the fence with its body, front legs, but as they go over the fence/ wall they can take the top rail or stone off the wall if they drop a back leg...

I read the incident as the dog jumped the wall, and would have still done so regardless of knocking some of it down.

Danielle can try to appeal, but I would not build any hopes up, the insurers probably are not interested in the whys, only the how's .

I don't insure but I think if money is tight which it frequently is when you have young kids, then insurance is usually the best option. Putting £30 a month away won't cover much in the way of treatment. Rio's treatment for uti, struvite crystals and incontinence cost me around £600 . Diesels blocked saliva gland was around £200 last year. Seriously you either need deep pockets, large savings or a credit card with a healthy limit and no balance on. For me these costs have been fine because they are generally fit and healthy dogs and have gone years without costing me a bean, but Harley may well have ongoing problems from the operation and even if she doesn't, she's a rescue with unknown history and have you had her long enough to evaluate her general health etc.

Trouble I see it in the same way as this - the only time I've ever insured a household appliance was years ago when I was not earning much money and had two kids to raise. I insured my washing machine because I knew I could not have afforded to replace it if it died on me. Didn't matter that people said I could have bought one with a couple of years' premiums - I wouldn't be able to wait 2yrs saving what the ins. would have cost to be able to get one!

The only insurance I pay for now is for my car (to the hilt) and house contents.

Regarding pet insurance. As I've never insured but have owned pets for 30 odd years - I reckon I'm quids in as the most expensive single ops or procedures I've ever had to pay for were in the region of about 300.

I do think it behoves people to consider whether they can afford to own a pet from the outset. But you will often hear people talking about the 'cost of having a dog' in relation to just how much it costs to FEED them and how much more expensive it is to feed a big dog than a small dog and so on. I think food costs are only one part of the equation. Even without taking illness or accident into account - just the regular checks and jabs at the vets add up. Then, if like me, you need to travel, the cost of boarding is a very big one over the year. And if you have a dog that attacks and injures someone you will be landed with paying the bills for that too - it isn't just your own dog being injured you have to consider.

Also if the washing machine stops working there is always the launderette if you can't afford to replace it immediately, generally when pets need help they need it now, they can't wait for you to save up. Also of course the OP still has the 2 grand vet bill to pay off if the insurers don't relent and if the dog needs further treatment for anything at all they may well find themselves in dire straits.
Milan my rescue Dobermann came to me with a few health issues and a carrier bag full of medication, I insured her for the first year she was here and of course sods law she was fine and has never cost me a bean in the 5 years she's been here but you can't predict that.

That's the situation I'm in with insurance Pat, I couldn't put enough aside every month to cover several catastrophes close together. One previous dog having seizures (brain tumour) could've been operated on but wouldn't have been a cure. He wasn't insured but if I thought it would've cured him I would've found the £7k needed somehow. Another dog needed 2 major ops in 6 weeks, the bills topped £7k, thankfully covered by insurance. Now I feel I can't afford NOT to be insured but dither every time a renewal comes through (and inevitably premiums increased). I'll just have to carry on working past retirement, not smoking and not having holidays I guess!

My vet tells me that people are mostly still insuring their dogs but when the pet dies they are not being replaced which is sad really when a pet becomes a luxury.

I do really feel sympathy for you twix. And if I had any faith that insurance companies had 'hearts' I'd hold out some hope. Alas I don't think they do. They work from the premise (just like medical insurers of humans) that if they can find any reason not to pay out that will not pay.

It was a particularly unfortunate incident. Do you think your dog would have cleared that wall whether it fell down or not?

I do hope you don't have salt rubbed in your wounds by somehow being responsible to repair the bluddy wall too! Although, if it keeps your dog IN I expect it is in your interest to do that in some way to secure it.

Life sucks sometimes doesn't it? Just when you think you've 'covered all the angles'?

We have had all 3 of our dogs at different times insured in case of accident or illness and I must say so far Max who we lost to cancer in 2002 we would not of had the £1000 + to give him the tests to diagnose and the palliative care for 8 weeks.
Ollie the same a bill of £4000 + for diagnosing hospital stay and treatment till he had to be PTS.
Dillon so far has cost £1000 + for x-rays on his hips and toe and hydrotherapy. The removal of the hystiocytoma (sp) a seperate diagnosis when being neutered of £300 + between his toes he has received so far he isn't 2 yet.
We could not of afforded any of these treatments for any of the dogs so for us it is a safety net.

The vet school told us when treating Ollie how many people have to put their pet to sleep as they have no insurance and an illness or accident has caught them out and they cannot afford to even think about treatment as it would be too expensive or they surrender them to the vet school if the vets or nurses think the dog can be cured or saved.
Some of the vets there and nurses have dogs that have been surrendered.

For us personally insurance is a must. If you can afford a big unexpected bill then it is probably the best way to go if you can't then insurance has to be the way to go.

Agree with you totally Lynn. And it's very unfortunate that OP thought she had got it all 'covered' and turns out she hasn't?

In my case - anything spent on muttley just reduces the kids' inheritance! But then they are always telling me that the dog is 'my favourite child' lol! They aint altogether wrong! But they still argue about 'who gets Bella' when I die and I gently remind them that I ain't DEAD YET! lol!

My ex used to say I thought more of the dog than I did of him and he DEFINITELY was not wrong!

** adding here that I've seen several posts where people HAVE got their dog covered on the insurance and the ins. will pay out but they can't afford the 'excess' (or whatever you call the contribution from them) or they cannot afford to pay it up front and wait for the ins. co. to reimburse? Now that's just plain daft in my view. Paying for insurance and not being able to use it when they will pay out?

My boys say I love the dogs more than them. Sometimes I think Gorden thinks the same too.

Of course I don't but he is just so much easier sometimes and not so demanding.

Where my ex was concerned I'd just AGREE with him and comment that I probably thought more of my fish in the pond than I did of him and thought of them more OFTEN too!