Dogged devotion: Britons dig deep for pets' health

By Michael Kahn

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget worming pills and a flea collar -- a trip to the vet in Britain these days could be about heart surgery, joint replacement, chemotherapy or a host of other cutting-edge procedures.

Britain is one of the few countries in Europe to offer many of these complex treatments: devoted British pet-owners have fuelled a fast-growing insurance market that helps fund care which would otherwise take a big bite out of a bank account.

Research firm Datamonitor has forecast the country's pet insurance market will grow to almost 600 million pounds ($1.18 billion) in 2011 from nearly 380 million pounds in 2006.

"It wasn't that big a market a few years ago but now it is growing," said Kelly Ostler-Coyle, a spokeswoman for the Association of British Insurers. "It is a combination of how much people value their pets and (the fact) that there are more providers in the market."

At Davies Veterinary Specialists, the largest private clinic of its kind in Europe, a lobby full of barking dogs is evidence of the lengths pet-owners are prepared to go for treatments for their pets, which can easily cost thousands of pounds.

The sprawling complex not far from London boasts five operating theatres and nearly 30 veterinarians -- with specialties ranging from orthopedics to oncology. Its facilities include a gleaming new MRI machine and CT scanners.

"People are very dedicated to their pets here and willing to spend time, effort and money to get them well," said Lea Liehmann, a soft-tissue surgeon at the clinic.

The veterinarians have performed skin grafts for dogs hit by cars, joint replacements for crippled animals and chemotherapy for pets with cancer, Jerry Davies, the clinic's founder, told Reuters.

While Americans like Paris Hilton may lead the field in pet-pampering, when it comes to insuring their animals Britons are among the top dogs.

About a quarter of Britain's 16 million or so dogs and cats are insured, compared with less than 2 percent in the United States, said Chris Price, a spokesman for Directline, a Royal Bank of Scotland subsidiary which offers pet insurance.

"VERY EMOTIONAL PRODUCT"

Insurers in many European countries do not even offer plans but in England a number of providers cater to pet owners in a market led by Allianz subsidiary Petplan. AXA SA also offers pet insurance.

"The sort of scope of veterinary treatment available these days is partly driven by insurance," Directline's Price said by telephone.

The only country that insures a greater proportion of its pets is Sweden, where the first policy was written and almost half of all pets are insured. One provider, Agria Djurforsakring, last year bought PetPartners PLC in a bid to penetrate the growing British market.

Rising costs have also persuaded more owners to insure their animals, which in turn has funded medical advances and helped create a market for the more complex procedures, veterinarians and insurers say.