Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Is it Pet First or First Pet?

Well, it's both. What am I talking about? The names of the two newest pet insurance companies: First Pet Life and PetFirst Healthcare. Do you think that if you were are customer of either of these two companies, you'll remember the correct name when someone asks you who you are insured with? I know I'm going to have trouble remembering the difference.

Just so you know, First Pet Life has announced it is "currently in negation with a major pet insurance underwriter to have policies underwritten." I had to admit that I laughed when I saw that. If Embrace had a dollar every time we were in negotiations with a potential underwriter, we'd be able to retire without setting up a pet insurance company at all! We'll keep an eye out for their next announcement of who their new underwriter is and let you know when we know.

Dog Flu Going Around

I've been seeing a lot of media articles appearing on a mysterious new dog flu that is going around kennels and adoption centers. It's something that has been around in horses for many years but has recently spread to dogs.

Most dogs who get it get flu-like symptoms we all associate with humans - fever, cough, congestion - and some don't get any symptoms at all; however, the mortality rate appears to be around 10%, which is pretty high. If you are boarding your dog any time soon or adopting a new dog, check out their cleaning routines and walk through the facilities just to see for yourself things look OK. That doesn't guarantee anything but you should be able to spot any obvious issues.

Embrace Pet Insurance is blushing

Welcome to Embrace Pet Insurance, Small Business Trends Powerblog Review readers!

Embrace PowerBlog Review

Given we are a small business in-the-make, I try to read a lot of blogs that talk about small businesses and the issues facing us. One particularly notable blog on the topic is by Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends. Anita happens to be based in Cleveland and I've been a big fan ever since I started reading blogs about a year and a half ago.

Anita and I have emailed back and forth a bit this year, and yesterday, Anita was kind enough to post one of her PowerBlog Reviews on Embrace. As a small niche blog, it's hard to get anyone with much of a profile to read our blog, let alone talk to anyone about it so we are very grateful to be profiled on such a well-read blog.

Thanks Anita - you're a star.

Chicago is Dog Fancy's "Dogtown USA" pick

I knew I loved Chicago for a reason - yes, I love the ribs and the music and the buzz of the city (have yet to try the deep dish pizza), but now I find that the city has a great love for pets and has been labelled "Dogtown USA" by Dog Fancy.

A friend of mine told me once that there is a local bank that has a section for dogs to play in while their pet parents do their banking - now that's progressive I say! I'll have to find out the name so you can check it out if you are in Chicago. Anyone know what it's called?

Article

UPDATE: my good friend Jason, who told me about the bank originally corrected my poor recall of the facts and added some good information to boot. Here is what he had to say:

The Bank’s name is North Community Bank. It’s the one on C

lark St

, ~2300 or so. You can see the PAWS info on their website. It’s an adoption center for cats that’s connected to the bank. The bank is very pet friendly.

So, not a place for dogs to hang out at all, in fact quite the opposite - a cat adoption center! Pardon my inaccuracies in my original message. Here is what PAWS had to say about the center:

In the summer of 1998, PAWS Chicago opened an  Adoption Center at 2337 North Clark Street in Lincoln Park. This facility was donated by North Community Bank. The PAWS Chicago Cat Adoption Center is open seven days a week and is completely staffed and managed by volunteers. Over 300 cats find new homes each year through the Adoption Center. Our Center has also become a Lincoln Park institution; it is a popular place for people who enjoy stopping by to visit the cats, or draw on our volunteers' expertise for questions about their felines.

I think I'd be banking at the North Community Bank if I lived in Chicago (and eating lots of deep dish pizza!)

What questions should I ask when buying pet health insurance?

There is definitely a lot you need to think about - it's good to be educated.

Here is a summary of the key questions you should ask any potential insurance company:

• What are the deductibles, copays, and maximums and how are they calculated?
• Will my premiums increase based on the pet’s age or with veterinary care inflation. What can I expect them to look like as my pet ages.
• Are there exclusions based on breed or hereditary conditions.
• For illnesses or accidents my pet has had previously, will he be covered going forward or not?
• If my pet gets any new conditions while I have this insurance, will she be covered by the insurance for the remainder of her life?

As you might expect with a product like this, you cannot decide on price alone so get yourself armed with good information so you can get the insurance policy that is best for you and your pet.

Blog: Local exec helps with Katrina animal rescue

BizJournal article

Eric Rice is taking a hiatus from his normal executive duties at BulkRegister to help rescue animals affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Rice, general manager of the Baltimore-based domain registrar, has been spending recent days wading through Mississippi mud trying to rescue animals and working to rebuild the Humane Society of South Mississippi's animal shelter.

And all the while, Rice is posting daily updates at www.ericsdogblog.com, a vehicle by which he is pleading for others to take time off from work and join him.

See more of the article here. I've added Eric's blog to my blog list on the left. Check it out.

Photo: Search and Rescue teams retrieved stranded dogs by the dozen in Floyd's wake. Dave Saville/FEMA News taken from this article, Hurricane's Dog WOW Finish at www.dogsinthenews.com

Is pet insurance for me?

Pet insurance is not for everyone. Consider this: What would you do if you were faced with the choice of paying an unexpected, expensive vet bill or putting your dog or cat down? Some people would just put the dog down and pet insurance would probably not be a benefit (although I always follow up with the question: What would your spouse and kids think about that? and people often rethink their answer.)

If you are like many pet lovers though, you will do whatever it takes to make your pet well or comfortable, even to the point of financial difficulty. We all know of stories of people who have spent thousands of dollars on their pet’s health, even when they didn’t have the money to spare.

Instead of pet insurance, you could budget a few dollars every week in a separate account and pay the vet bill when something pops up. This is certainly a step towards taking care of the unexpected but how many of us would actually put that money aside? If you're like me, there are always other places to spend those saved dollars and it's hard to be disciplined. In addition, what happens once that pot of money has been used up? Fixing a broken leg for a dog can cost over $1,000 so it’s not inconceivable that you could use up all the money on one accident or illness, only to be faced with another one sooner than the pot can grow again.

So, for those unexpected and expensive health issues, pet insurance is certainly worth a look.

Why not check out Embrace Pet Insurance to get a head start on your research.

Pethealth response to Katrina

Pethealth announced on Friday, September 16, 2005 that it has suspended insurance premium payments through January 1, 2006 for all PETCO P.A.L.S. members enrolled in a PetCare insurance plan and who live in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. Here is the link to the full press release.

Not sure what is being done for the Pethealth policyholders who are not PETCO P.A.L.S members. I'd contact the company directly if you are not sure if the suspension applies to you or not. The phone number is 1 866 275 PETS (7387).

why buy pet health insurance

Vet bills are much more expensive than many pet lovers think. In fact, vet bills have been growing at a rate twice as fast as that of our pay checks, so that pet health costs are now a bigger chunk of our take-home pay than ever before.

Why is that? Part of the reason for this is that vets can help cats and dogs in ways they simply couldn't before. For example, if your dog developed cancer ten years ago, your only option was to operate and hope for the best or have your dog put down when she became too sick. Nowadays there are new options such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy that carry reasonable chances of success.

In addition, the cost of veterinary drugs is increasing rapidly with human drugs now being used for animals. The downside to all these new drugs or procedures is that they cost a lot causing us to face the life-or-money decision more often.

What is pet health insurance?

In exchange for a regular premium, pet insurance pays a portion of your vet bills when your cat or dog is sick or gets in an accident. Typically, you pay the vet bill and the insurance company reimburses you an amount that is set out in your policy.

Pet insurance is in many respects like our own health insurance with deductibles, maximums, and copays and the portion paid to you is determined by these limits and the stated conditions that are covered. Pet insurance does not necessarily cover all treatments your cat or dog might get, such as routine care or transplants, so make sure you ask a lot of questions before you buy.

Under existing insurance plans, you can visit any vet you like in the US, which is good news. Even though our pets come and go in our lives, we often stay with the same vet over many years.