Around $130 a month for insulin alone, according to real NZ owner accounts, and that's before vet visits and ongoing monitoring costs.
About 1 in 300 dogs and 1 in 230 cats will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Once diagnosed, ongoing management can really add up: a Tauranga dog owner told the NZ Herald she spends about $130 a month on insulin for her diabetic pet, which requires two injections a day. A second Bay of Plenty family reported paying $93 for an insulin pen plus $36 for a pack of 100 needles.
NZVA's head of veterinary services for companion animals, Sally Cory, estimates diabetic pet management costs "probably a few thousand per year" in total, once monitoring and vet visits are included alongside insulin.
As a lifelong, daily-management condition rather than a one-off treatable event, diabetes is a clear example of why ongoing illness cover (not just accident cover) and a policy's annual limit both matter more than they might seem to at the point of diagnosis. Breeds prone to weight gain, like British Shorthairs, carry extra risk here — Southern Cross is one of the few NZ insurers that names diabetic cover directly.
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