Research has shown that people who lose a pet experience grief the same or worse as losing a loved one.

With our pets providing so much joy and happiness in our lives, it can be quite challenging knowing what to do financially when they take ill.

Caring for pets that have serious medical conditions can cost many hundreds - if not thousands - of euros.

Bray-based veterinarian Pete Wedderburn told The Pat Kenny Show that many people see their pet as a family member.

“One of the new trends actually is for young people in their 20s to take on a pet, whereas they used to maybe wait until they were married and had kids,” he said.

“Young people in their 20s, when they get together, they still have that urge to have something to care for, but they don’t want to have children yet.

“So, they’re freezing their eggs and they’re getting a pet.”

Young woman sitting chair patio loving her pet cat. Image: imageBROKER.com / Alamy. 18 August 2018

Mr Wedderburn said some young people see their pet as being equally as important as their life partner.

“When it comes to a medical issue, they want to get the same level of care for that little animal as they would get for their life partner if they were taking them up to the Blackrock Clinic or the Beacon or whatever,” he said.

“You can see that although it’s expensive, that’s what people want to do, they want to give the very best care.

“The challenge for us vets is, we want to give those animals the very best possible care as well, but we have to do that in a contextual way which has to also take into account what the people’s resources are.”

According to Mr Wedderburn, vets are delighted to hear when a pet is covered by insurance, as it means they can be afforded the highest possible level of care.

Main image: Female and Male Veterinarians Doing Health Check Ups on a Visiting Pet. Image: Aleksei Gorodenkov / Alamy. 7 December 2022