Pet insurance should be made compulsory for dog and cat owners to address the suffering caused to animals when people cannot afford their veterinary treatment, MSPs have been told.

Members of the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee heard that vets' bills can often run to thousands of pounds in one go.

As a result, some animals end up being given up by their owners when they do not have the money to pay for treatment, it was claimed.

MSPs were also told that making it a legal requirement for dog and cat owners to have pet insurance could take pressure some off animal charities.

The points were put forward by petitioner Karen Harvey, who has lodged a petition "calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make pet insurance compulsory by law".

She told a meeting of the committee: "There is no NHS for pets and our pets are very often lifesavers. They are certainly the best companions in the world, giving us unconditional love and loyalty. Do we not owe it to them to give them the same when they need it in return?"

Ms Harvey told MSPs an estimated 46% of UK households have pets, including about nine million dogs and seven million cats, yet only 15% of these actually have insurance.

She pointed to figures suggesting that treating a dog for cataracts can cost £1,700 while cancer treatments can hit £8,000.

A 2012 survey found that in that year alone 320,000 cats and dogs in the UK which could have been nursed back to health were put to sleep prematurely, she told MSPs.

In a written submission lodged with the committee, Ms Harvey argued: "Having spent the last four years volunteering for a dog rescue charity and having family working in the veterinary world, it is clear that there is so much suffering attributed to no insurance in place for animals.

"The charity I was volunteering for saw numerous dogs given up to us because their dogs got sick and the owners couldn't afford veterinary treatment as it is so expensive.

"It was then left to us to take up the fund-raising baton for these poor dogs and rehoming them at a time when they needed their families most.

"Caring veterinary surgeons also hugely lose out on fees where they do treat animals and the owners turn out to have no money.

"Compulsory microchipping is coming in to Scotland but that doesn't go quite far enough, the animals need to be insured too.

"It would take so much pressure off charities too, many of them bursting at the seams and money very tight as animals charities get no subsidies or government funding and rely solely on goodwill."

Committee convener Michael McMahon questioned whether the cost to the public purse of such a scheme might be prohibitive and doubts were raised by other MSPs about how workable the plan would be.

Labour's Hanzala Malik told the petitioner: "It's an interesting concept but you've actually alluded to the fact that the type of person who needs the cover is the one who can least afford treatment.

"I think that's the same group of people who will least afford insurance as well.

"I'm opposed to additional burdens on people. Policing it is not going to be easy either. If somebody can't buy their insurance because they just simply can't afford it, that means we deny them a pet."

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said rough calculations suggest the scheme could cost £800 million a year in Scotland and £8 billion annually across the UK.

The committee agreed to contact a number of parties including the Scottish Government, animal charities and insurers to seek their views on the proposals.