What do you do when you are going on holiday and have to leave your cat behind? Knowing that a trusted caregiver is watching your precious fur baby gives you peace of mind when you are enjoying a well-deserved and long-awaited holiday. But how do you find someone you can trust? Luckily, many options are available to you, from pet boarding facilities to pet sitters, both professional and more causal like friends or family. Depending on your desires and your cat’s needs, you have options of boarding your cat outside of your home or hiring someone to look after them in the comfortable surroundin ..read more

At Petplan, a pre-existing condition will never stop your pet from getting pet insurance coverage. While your pet’s pre-existing condition will not be eligible for cover, you will still be covered for all other issues that could happen in future, including chronic conditions. As pet insurance specialists, we offer New Zealand’s best range of policy options packed with added benefits to suit every budget. Our plans are affordable and designed to cover the unexpected. As long as you continue to renew your pet’s policy each year, without a gap in your cover, we will continue to pay claims for lif ..read more

New Zealand is a nation of animal lovers, almost more so than anywhere else in the world. In fact, according to the recent Companion Animals New Zealand 2020 report, our 4.35 million pets nearly outnumber people! The survey reports that more than 75% of dog and cat-owning New Zealanders consider their pets to be members of the family. But just as with any family member, keeping pets happy and healthy can be expensive. Injury, accidents, and illness can happen at any time, and the reality of veterinary fees can come as quite a shock. At Petplan, we know how quickly vet bills can add up when ill ..read more

With such a technology and online–focused world, passwords have become an annoying necessity in life.  We are always forgetting them, we are being constantly asked to change them, and worse; we are now being asked to make them more complicated by adding special symbols!  It’s all too hard, so to make things simple for ourselves, what do we do? Our loved ones, birthdays and yes, of course, our pets’ names are top choices for password inspo.  It’s only natural we use names that are special to us to help remember our never-end ..read more

Easter is a busy time for veterinary clinics. While kids are searching for baskets of treats and eggs hidden by the Easter bunny, some pets get into mischief and eat things they shouldn’t.     Common Easter foods like chocolate and hot cross buns can be dangerous and potentially life-threatening to animals.    “We have seen them all – the box of Scorched Almonds, a packet of Easter eggs and even a whole entire chocolate cake (yes – it was a Labrador)” says Dr Fiona Walkinton (BVSc, distinction) of Waikato After Hours Veterinary Hospital.  ..read more

January is Walk Your Dog Month and what better way to kick start your New Year Resolutions by heading out into the great outdoors and walking off some of that festive food and drink? We’re very fortunate that New Zealand is one of the few countries not in Covid-19 lockdown and Walk Your Dog Month falls in our glorious summer. It’s the perfect time for you and your four-legged friend to head out and soak up the sunshine and the smells! Here are 8 reasons why you and your canine companion should take part in Walk Your Dog Month: Good exerciseDid you or your dog overindulge a little over the ho ..read more

FIREWORKS!!! There’s nothing more spectacular than a fireworks display to bring in the New Year. We may love them, but many of our pets don’t. For our sensitive-eared pets, it’s a terrifying experience; explosions, bangs and bright flashes can cause stress and anxiety. Thankfully, there are many simple things that we can do to ease our pet’s distress around fireworks. Here are our tips to try and make them more comfortable. Walk your dog early If you usually go for an evening or late-night walk, try to head out early to avoid being outside when the fireworks start. Even if they don’t normall ..read more

In the last few years, buying Christmas gifts for your pet has become increasingly popular, you’ll be hard pressed to find a supermarket that isn’t selling branded stockings for your dog and cat, but what about your horse? Here we look at some last-minute Christmas gifts you could buy for you horse to show how much you care for them this holiday season. Treats Adding some treats in your horse’s breakfast on Christmas morning will bring extra joy to their day. You’ve got so many options from fruit and vegetables as a top up to their usual breakfast or you could go a little further and bake a t ..read more

(Photo f.l.t.r.) Mark van As – Business Development Manager; Sally Hart – Founder, Franklin Farm Sanctuary   Petplan invited nominations of local cat & dog charities and shelters that are working hard to protect vulnerable animals which often goes unrecognised. The top five nominated Charity/Shelters would each receiving a donation of $500 and Franklin Farm Sanctuary was one of the top five nominated charities. Day in and day out, there are countless local organisations working hard to save, rehabilitate and rehome vulnerable or abused animals. Petplan wanted to show our appreciatio ..read more