There is a widespread and expensive idea: that a cat which never goes outside runs no risks and therefore needs no insurance. What actually walks through veterinary consulting rooms says otherwise. The flat has hazards of its own, and several of them produce the kind of bill that hurts.
This article covers the four commonest emergency groups in indoor cats in Spain — falls, foreign bodies, urinary problems and heat — what can be prevented, and which part a policy covers.
The terrace and the windows
Falls from height are a classic city emergency. They cluster in spring and summer, when windows and balconies are opened, and they affect younger cats most, chasing a bird or an insect and misjudging it.
The belief that cats always land on their feet is half true and wholly dangerous. Many do manage to turn in the air, but a fall can cause fractures, chest trauma, a split hard palate and internal injuries. And a cat that survives the fall often runs off in fright, so the medical problem comes with a search attached.
Prevention here is physical and cheap: protective netting on windows and balconies, firmly fixed insect screens — pressure-fitted ones give way under a cat’s weight — and care with tilt-and-turn windows left in the tilted position, which can trap an animal by the abdomen with very serious consequences.
What an indoor cat swallows
In cats, foreign bodies have a particular twist: the linear ones. Thread, ribbon, hair ties, curtain cords, Christmas tinsel. Because the tongue’s barbs point backwards, a cat cannot spit thread out and ends up swallowing it.
It is among the most serious emergencies seen, because a thread can anchor at one end while the intestine keeps moving, causing damage at several points at once. It usually needs surgery and it does not wait. If you see thread coming from the mouth or the anus, do not pull: go to the practice.
Then there are plants. Lilies — both true lilies of the genus Lilium and day lilies — are severely toxic to cats and can cause acute kidney failure from very small amounts, pollen included. Check what you have at home before your cat does.
The urinary tract: the feline emergency
Lower urinary tract problems are the most repeated reason for consultation in indoor cats, and in males they can become life-threatening. When the urethra blocks, the animal cannot pass urine and the situation deteriorates within hours.
The signs are worth knowing by heart: repeated trips to the litter tray with nothing produced, obvious straining, crying while trying to urinate, blood in the urine, persistent licking of the genital area, lethargy or vomiting. A cat that has not passed urine for a day is an emergency, not an appointment for tomorrow.
Stress has a recognised role here. Too few litter trays or badly placed ones, a tense relationship with another animal, a single water point or changes in routine are all associated with feline idiopathic cystitis. A simple working rule: one litter tray per cat plus one, spread around and away from the food.
Heat and summer in a closed flat
Heatstroke is less common in cats than in dogs, but it happens, and the typical scene is a closed flat with no ventilation during a heatwave, or a cat shut into a sunny room, a wardrobe or an enclosed balcony.
Always leave water in several places, blinds down through the middle of the day and a cool spot the cat can reach. And before leaving the house in summer, check where the cat is: accidental shut-ins in storerooms and on terraces are more common than you would think.
What insurance covers, and what it does not
All of the above — a fall, a urinary obstruction, surgery for a foreign body, a poisoning — falls within the veterinary costs a health policy covers, subject to its limits and terms. Prevention does not: worming, routine check-ups, dental cleaning or neutering.
With Petplan a cat can be insured from around 16 euros a month, with reimbursement of up to 100% of covered costs, an annual limit of €3,100 and a €45 excess per illness rather than per visit. The enrolment age runs from 2 months to 7 years, and once insured the animal renews with no age limit.
Two details worth reading before you sign: the waiting periods are 15 days for accidents and 30 days for illness, and each injury or illness is covered for 12 months from the date it occurred or first showed clinical signs. In a cat with recurring urinary problems, that second point deserves a direct question.
Four changes that cut the risk
Net the windows and balconies, and check the insect screens. Put thread, elastic bands and cords where the cat cannot reach them, and swap toxic plants for safe ones. Increase the number of water points and litter trays — the cheapest intervention there is, and the one that heads off most urinary trouble.
And insure the animal while it is well. In a young indoor cat, that is exactly the moment when the policy costs least and covers most, because there is nothing yet written in the history.
