15 June 2010

Pet Owners Turn To Advice Line For Summertime Support

• M&S Premier Pet Insurance offers a total of £7,000 a year in vets' fees for illness and injury, renewed each year to help with the continuing costs of long term vet treatment

A pet advice line is preparing to deal with calls from dog owners whose pets have been injured or become ill because of summertime hazards, according to M&S Pet Insurance.

Summer is one of the busiest times of the year for the qualified veterinary nurses at Vetfone™ - a 24-hour advice line available to M&S Pet Insurance customers.

In previous year's Vetfone nurses, who provide concerned animal lovers with immediate advice on a pet's condition, have reported several calls from policyholders whose dogs have succumbed to summer related hazards.

The advice has proved invaluable for many M&S Pet Insurance customers, with around 70% of calls to the service made outside of normal veterinary hours.

Previous summertime cases include:

• A five-year-old crossbreed dog from Shropshire who ran into a washing line with a frisbee in her mouth, suffering severe injuries to her teeth.
• A dog from Staffordshire who ate a packet of sausages destined for the barbecue.
• A six-month-old English Bull Terrier who swallowed a huge frog while out walking with his owner.
• A Springer Spaniel from Surrey who ate a large amount of walnuts fallen from a tree. Walnuts can cause an upset stomach and diarrhoea in dogs.

Vetfone Deputy Operations Manager, Clare Scantlebury, said: “It's lovely for pets and their owners to enjoy being out and about during the summer, but they need to be aware of hidden dangers, which although rare, do cause real problems.”

Other summertime dangers for dogs include:

• Algal 'blooms' can occur in stagnant fresh or salty ponds. What some dog owners don't realise is that by allowing dogs to cool down by having a swim, they are exposing their pet to extremely toxic compounds caused by algae. Clinical signs associated with a dog swallowing even small amounts of this water can include vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy, depending upon the particular toxin ingested.

For more information about M&S Pet Insurance or to apply, customers can visit www.marksandspencer.com/petinsurance or telephone 0800 731 4280.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information please call the M&S Money press office:

Simon Coughlin on 020 7992 1574
simon.coughlin@mandsmoney.com

Liz Neild on 01244 686 068
liz.a.neild@mandsmoney.com

M&S Money (the trading name of Marks & Spencer Financial Services) was founded in 1985 as the financial services division of Marks and Spencer Group plc, making 2010 the company's 25th anniversary.

The company is a top-ten credit card provider and the second-largest travel money retailer in the UK.  M&S Money also offers a range of insurance cover, including home insurance and car insurance, as well as loans, savings and investment products.

In November 2004, Marks & Spencer sold M&S Money to HSBC. HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,000 offices in 88 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,364 billion at 31 December 2009, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.

M&S Money has an executive committee comprising an equal number of representatives from HSBC and Marks & Spencer.

M&S Pet Insurance policies are provided by RSA Insurance Group plc.