Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Back to the real world

We've moved and I'm exhausted. Not only for the move but I'm also pregnant, with another little one due in January (just in time for Ellie's birthday). So, all the box packing, box carrying (that I wasn't supposed to be doing), unpacking, plumbing, carpentry, and organizing has worn me out a little more than usual. I must be getting old. I haven't even had a chance to get to my office yet so I'm sitting amongst boxes and empty bookcases, all waiting to be taken care of. After my cup of coffee I think.

Barnes is back with us and getting used to the new house. He recognizes us but is a little confused about the location. As well, Ellie was not so interested in him back in June when he left so he's had to put up with being followed all round the house by a shrieking banshee (she thinks she's copying his meowing but is a little off in her interpretation - very Halloween-like). He does love going outside though and enjoys the woods. We also noticed a mouse or two sneaking into our garage so I think he'll have fun trying to take care of that problem - not that he's a master mouser but he will spend hours trying.

Barnes is coming home!

We've been catless for most of the summer as we took Barnes to Winnipeg because of our heartless neighbor threatening to cart him off to the pound every time he stepped on her property (and the police if either John or I did the same). (must suppress nasty thoughts, must suppress nasty thoughts, must...)

So, I've been very busy lately because we've just bought a new house in Chagrin Falls, which is on the outskirts of the Cleveland area. Our new neighbors are quite delightful (strangely, they are called John and Laura as well) and they have no aversion to cats at all. In fact, they have 2 rescued greyhounds that lounge around in their fenced in back yard so Barnes better not go visit them because they are trained to chase small furry animals. I think he has enough space in our new yard, plus the creek beside us, plus the woods behind us, to not even think about visiting his doggie neighbors - let's hope anyway...

So, we're moving this weekend and John's brother is bringing Barnes from Winnipeg when he comes to visit on Friday so we're pretty excited about that. It will be nice to have a cat around the place again. A house is not a home until it has a pet - what do you think?

BTW, the pictures above are before and after shots of Barnes when he was groomed for the summer. While we may smile at his skinny looks and short fur, he thought he was the bees knees with his new look and loved the cool feel. I think it really helped with the hot summer. Now he's growing all his fur back for the Cleveland winter - which is certainly nothing like a Winnipeg winter.

More thoughts on buying pet health insurance

Here's another discussion on what to think about when considering pet health insurance. It refers to some British pet insurance companies but all the points certainly apply to pet insurance in the US too.

Let me know what you think.

Surprising benefit of microchipping

Everyone knows about the benefits of microchipping a cat or dog - if the animal is found without a collar, such as after an accident or having escaped from your care, the vet or pound can identify the cat or dog and locate the guardian quickly.

Another interesting side effect of being able to identify the animal is also being able to identify the guardian. Recently, a microchip was used to identify a pet lover who was hit by a car and killed while walking her dog. The dog was injured and the vet was able to identify the guardian and the police could locate the family immediately.

Not a particularly happy story but at least woman's family found out the terrible news quickly and the dog was able to get good care once the family came on the scene. See the story here.

Not so pet friendly

I have always had a soft spot for Air Canada since I lived in Canada for over 15 years and hold Canadian citizenship. If you travel a lot in the US and Canada, you'll know that Air Canada is generally a head above the rest when it comes to customer service and comfort - until now.

Among other cuts, Air Canada no longer allows any pets in the cabin for overseas flight. The good news is that they have pressurized cargo holds that can hold a pet in relative comfort (if you consider being penned in a cage for many hours) although the ticket is not inexpensive . Now, having said that, I can see that it could be a problem having pets in the cabin for many hours too, but now you don't have an option with Air Canada. See story here.

No matter what airline you use, if you are flying overseas with your pet, make sure to plan well in advance and consider all your options and what makes sense for you and your pet.

Does anyone have any advise for other pet owners on traveling overseas with pets?

How much would you spend on your cat or dog?

When I talk to people about pet health insurance, I'm often asked why pet insurance is more important now that before. To me, there are a couple of forces at work: the increasing cost of veterinary care and the growing presence of the pet in the family (not more cats or dogs in the family but they are a bigger part of the family than ever before).

The costs are growing because vets can do more for your cats and dogs than ever before. But, pet owners pay the increased costs because their pets are family to them. To highlight this trend, check out this article in CNN Money. Here's an interesting snippet for you, which highlights what I'm always talking about:

The pet health care industry is driven by free-spending empty nesters who spend money on pets instead of children, according to analysts. Some of them are baby boomers whose kids have left the house, while others are young professionals without children. Many of these pet owners treat their animals as humans. The pet health care industry, which closely trails human care in levels of technological advancement, is becoming more and more capable of accommodating pet owners seeking treatment for life-threatening maladies.

"I think 10 years ago you couldn't even get this kind of care," said Daniels, the William Blair analyst. "If you had a dog with a tumor, they used to just let the tumor grow and put the dog to sleep. But the human-animal bond is growing."

Have you ever been faced with a choice of costly treatment or putting your dog or cat down?

Do you have a cool dog or cat?

We all do, of course! (see my Simon to the right - he was so cool even when he drooled when he was happy)

The Hartville Group, a fellow pet insurer, is sponsoring a competition over at Dogster and Catster to find the coolest dog and cat. The winner is decided by the Dogster/Catster members and the competition runs until November 17.

Since the voting has started now, we better sign up now!

For more information, check out the press release.

Another new pet health insurance company - Pets Best

New pet insurance companies just keep popping up. Pets Best Pet Insurance is a new venture started by Jack Stevens, the founder of VPI, the oldest pet insurance company in the US.

The program is underwritten by General Fire & Casualty Company, which is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and offers direct coverage in 24 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. So, if you don't live in any of these states, I don't think you'll be able to get coverage from Pets Best, although when you get a quote, you aren't told that so you'd need to check with the company.

General Fire & Casualty Company is tracked by AM Best, but not rated, and assigned an NR-4 (Company Request) listing. I have to admit, I have no idea what that means (even with the website definition) so I'll look into it and get back to you.

Update: I emailed AM Best and they tell me that "NR-4 is assigned to companies whose managements have requested that their Best's rating not be published." So there you have it; not sure what it says about General Fire & Casualty though.

VPI's response to Katrina

VPI issued this press release yesterday:

In an effort to help pets and pet owners in the Gulf Coast recover from the devastating Hurricane Katrina, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency (VPI) is partnering with key pet industry leaders to provide support to 100 families with pets whose lives have been disrupted.  VPI is contributing to this effort by providing insurance policies for 100 families' pets that were affected after a month of chaos, destruction, and displacement.

See the rest of the release here

Community policing

I am continually seeing evidence of how much people care about their cats and dogs but there was one incident that really stuck with me over the last couple of days.

On Monday, I was running late for an apppointment that I was driving to. You know how it is, I was fretting and gnashing my teeth at any little thing that slowed me down when I came across quite a tail back on a leafy back road. What was the problem?

When I looked ahead, I saw a police car driving at 30 mph on a 40mph road and I started to moan and complain out loud - what was he thinking? Then the police car suddenly stopped for apparently no purpose, made a u-turn in the road, switched on his lights, and parked right in the road, backing up all the traffic going the other way. This was really puzzling. Then I saw what he was doing. There was a small black cat lying dead in the road and the officer was taking the cat out of further harms way. What a way to change my day in a hurry. I'm sure that some family will be glad that they didn't find their cat in the middle of the road mangled by all the traffic. Thank you Officer, your kindness was very much appreciated by me and I'm sure a few others in the traffic watching you.