Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Jasper - when is it time to euthanize your dog or cat?

When I was about 9 years old and living in Scotland, we got two mischevious cats in our house, one tabby called Daisy (my sister's cat) and one ginger rascal called Jasper (my cat). Alas, Daisy died at a young age but Jasper lived to build quite the reputation in our household and we had a lot of adventures with him. He went for walks with us and even followed us to school once and started to climb up the fire escape looking for me (I was mortified at the time and thought about pretending he wasn't mine but then felt very proud of him and cheered him on until our teacher noticed and put a stop to that).

One day, when Jasper was about 6 years old, he disappeared for a couple of days, and I eventually found him curled up in a grass nest looking pretty sad. My mom knew something was very wrong and having a fair bit of experience with these things (being an animal nurse at one point in her career), told me that it was likely that Jasper was off to the vets for the last time since she suspected he had cancer. I couldn't bring myself to go with her and waved goodbye to Jasper bawling my eyes out (I am tearing up now remembering it) but I knew that it was the right thing for Jasper. It was my first real pet death at the age of 14 and a very difficult thing to accept.

I tell you this story to illustrate how each of us at some point will be faced with making some tough decisions on our pet's health and life. Deciding to put your pet down and going through with it is one of the hardest things anyone has to go through in life. I came across a brochure on pet euthanasia by the American Veterinary Medical Association, which might be helpful in these emotional decisions.

Your veterinarian understands human attachment to pets, and can examine and evaluate your pet's condition, estimate its chances for recovery, and discuss its potential disabilities and long-term problems. He or she can explain medical and surgical options and possible outcomes. Because your veterinarian cannot make the euthanasia decision for you, it is important that you fully understand your pet's condition. If there is any part of the diagnosis or the implications for your pet's future that you don't understand, ask to have it explained again. Rarely will the situation require an immediate decision and usually you will have some time to review the facts before making one.

In addition, here's another article that explains more about the actual process of euthanasia.

"The typical euthanasia is an overdose of anesthesia that suppresses brain activity and stops
the heart so that the animal doesn't feel any pain. Once the heart and breathing stop, death
follows shortly. It generally happens in less than a minute," explains Dr. Eurell. "It is possible
that there might be a physiologic reaction that can cause some concern for an owner
observing the death. The pet might go into an excitatory phase where there might be
muscular movement. Also, the sphincters may relax and the pet might urinate or defecate."
In addition, animals may not close their eyes at the time of death. These activities are not
indications that your pet has suffered pain.

Dog Fancy article on pet insurance

The April 2006 issue of Dog Fancy has an article on pet insurance. They don't have much online but you can read the first paragraph for a teaser. Now I'm off to buy a copy...

[how is it that the April issue is on the newstands and it's still February?]

Bill boards for dogs!

Dentsu, an advertising agency in Canada, has released Canada's first "doggie eye view" billboards for Toronto-based tony pet boutique Dogfather & Co (the billboard is the shown in the bottom half of the picture on the left).

Over at Dentsu, the Toronto-only campaign for Dogfather & Co. uses dog's eye view billboards -- posted two feet off the ground -- aimed at chic, urban canines and their owners. Toronto-based Wilcox Signs manufactured the signs. "The idea came about by our looking at the target audience. For our client, it's the dogs. So we created signs for dogs that will be put up at doggie parks within a five-mile radius of Dogfather & Co. For the owners there, they'll see the signs and think, 'what's my dog looking at? What's he peeing on?' [The pet industry] is a billion-dollar business." link

Wow, I wonder if it worked. Did dogs drag their people over to the bill board for a closer look? Inquiring minds want to know.

BTW, check out Dogfather's stuff. There are some unique doggie accessories here - beds, dinnerware, and apparel to name a few categories. I didn't see the feather boa from the billboard for sale online. Maybe you have to go visit in person for that...

Hat tip to Anne for the story.

Cat and Dog Birthday Parties

Many pet lovers celebrate their cats and dogs birthdays with gifts and treats, and sometimes even birthday parties (although parties seem to be held mainly for dogs though in my experience). Some doggie delis, which make treats and snacks for dogs, are even getting into making birthday cakes for dogs.

According to VPI:

For those pet owners who do throw their pet a birthday bash complete with cake, party hats and visits from their four-legged friends, they're not alone. Between 40 million and 70 million Americans attend pet birthday parties, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Have you ever had a birthday party for your pets? Can you send us a picture?

Update: If you are interested in hosting a party, check out Pooch Parties at the Embrace Pet Community blog.

Related Post: Ask Laura: what to do for a kitty birthday party

Jack Stephens, founder of Pets Best, now blogs

Dr. Jack Stephens, who founded both Veterinary Pet Insurance in the early 1980s and most recently Pets Best in 2005, has just launched a blog on "pet news and important pet information".

"On a daily basis, in both my professional and personal lives, I see the positive impact of pets on people. And throughout my years of treating and having pet companions, I have accumulated stories and experiences about this wonderfully mutual beneficial relationship between humans and animals. The Community site will also share pet news and important pet information. And there will be a section for like-minded animal lovers to post pet photos and stories as a way to share and inform others on the wonderful value of pets to us as individuals and to society as a whole," said Dr. Stephens.

Go check it out here. I don't see the section for posting pet pictures - I want to get a picture of Barnes up there.

I wonder if our blog inspired the Pets Best marketers to set their own blog up? I see they are avid Embrace Pet Insurance blog readers :)

Interview with Cathy Stanley, Inventor of the Pooch Potty

Well, actually Cathy actually bought the company in 2001 off Loy Norrix, who was the original inventor of the Pooch Potty in 1993, but she runs the show now.

I found the interview while browsing the Pet Gadgets website and found this interview with Cathy. It just shows how a small niche idea can blossom in the right hands. Who knew you could patent a sod recipe!

Here's an excerpt...

Throughout the entire inventive/manufacturing process what was the hardest obstacle you faced?

The most challenging obstacle was coming up with how to supply sod nationwide and after many years of research, growing experiments, and finally getting a fantastic group of agriculture experts on board, Pooch Potty finally has an amazing new lightweight sod. The growing process we use is patented and we currently have a patent pending on the actual recipe for the sod.

What type of pets do you own?

I have several rescue dogs. My latest addition to the doggie household is "Muffin," a blind cocker spaniel who barely survived starvation from being abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.

Dissenting view of pet insurance

I came across the blog entry below over at First Coffee, a blog about the telecom industry of all places. Seems like David doesn't know anyone who adores his/her pet. What's funny is that at the top, the Google Ads are for pet insurance - of course!!!

Link: First Coffee for October 25, 2005.

Chalk one up for common sense in at least 15% of the population: Research and Markets’ latest report, The Pet Market: Market Assessment 2005 finds that 15% of all pet owners say that they think pet insurance is too expensive and/or a waste of time. Pet insurance. Does it ever strike you that some people have too much disposable income? Intriguingly the research put forward in the report showed that Southern pet owners, where one would expect a more common-sense approach to the whole issue, are “considerably more likely” than those in the North or the Midlands to take their pet to the vet – understandable – but, incomprehensibly, “twice as likely to have pet insurance for their dog or cat.”

Only a very small proportion of pet owners whose pets are not already insured, the report finds, say that they are considering taking out pet insurance in the future – indicating that the pet insurance market may be reaching a critical mass, with most of those likely to purchase it already having done so. Also “slightly worrying for the pet insurance industry,” according to the report, is the fact that 15% of all pet owners say that they think pet insurance is too expensive and/or a waste of time.

Actually the fact that a pet insurance industry exists in the first place is slightly worrying.

Say that to a pet owner who didn't have to put her dog down because she had pet insurance to pay for the treatment.

Oh well, there are many people who don't relate. After all, even though pet insurance in the UK is very popular, with over 12% of all cats and dogs insured, that means that over 85% of cat and dog owners don't think it's right for them (yet!). It's not for everyone.

Pets Best Per Incident limits - how they work

I was looking at the Pets Best per incident limits in their policies and wasn't sure how they work in practise so I emailed them to see. Here is the Q&A on the topic.

Question:

Can you clarify for me what happens with chronic conditions and your maximums? For example, if my cat has a kidney problem that’s chronic but it only flares up every 2 years or so, would each occurrence count as a separate incident? If so, would my pre-existing conditions reset every year so that after the first incident of this kidney problem, it becomes a pre-existing condition? Thanks. Laura Bennett

Answer:

Thank you for your inquiry, The $7000.00 maximum on our Pets First policy is applicable to one incident. If a pet were diagnosed with a kidney condition, this would be one incident. If the pet were then cured of this condition in the intervening two years when it was symptom free, the policyholder could apply to have the records reviewed, if such condition is to be found cured not requiring any other treatment then it will be subject to a new incident limit and deductible should the condition return. Feel free to let us know if you have any further questions. Respectfully, Pets Best

So there you have it. I'm still not sure I get the answer since kidney conditions don't ever really get "cured", they just might be dormant for a while, but that gives me hope that for this kind of condition, the incident would be reset and the coverage increased.

I suppose that in the case of diabetes, which would be quite an active disease, your maximum coverage would be limited to the per incident limit of $7,000 but I'm not sure if at the end of the year, your coverage gets cut off as the diabetes becomes pre-existing.

This is a rather subtle effect of the per incident limit. If you have it in your policy, it pays to think about how these things work before you have to use them.

Why are there so many different types of dogs?

It's all because of us says this very interesting article from the PBS program Nova, one of my favorite programs on TV.

There are some "natural" breeds that developed by adaptating to different environmental niches; dogs in northern regions, for example, tend to be bigger because of the cold; however, the multitude of varieties came about from breeding for a particular purpose and then appearance:

For the next few thousand years, right up until the late 19th century, people bred dogs for certain skills: running down prey (greyhounds), hunting rodents in holes (terriers), flushing and fetching game (pointers and retrievers). It wasn't until the late 1800s, when kennel clubs first formed, that breeding for appearance rather than behavior began in earnest. Pure-breeding started then as well: to be registered as a purebred giant schnauzer, both your parents had to be registered as giant schnauzers. Breeders bent on designing the perfect breed are indubitably the reason why today we have dogs as divergent as the long-faced borzoi and squashed-faced bulldog, the Mexican hairless and lavishly hirsute Pekingese, the 150-pound St. Bernard and two-pound Chihuahua.

Another interesting tidbit I got from this article is that dogs are born with heads that grow to adult size but cats are born with adult sized heads. How strange is that?!

Recent articles on pet insurance

There was an article on AOL (sorry, I can't find the link at the moment) and another on CNN recently basically regurgitating the same message as an old Consumer Reports article - don't buy pet insurance. Instead, they recommend you put aside an amount every month to pay for your vet bills.

From the CNN article...

4. Beware pet insurance

Today you can even get pet health insurance. But be careful if you decide to invest. Only about 3 percent of pet owners carry this kind of insurance, according the American Animal Hospital Association.

With pet insurance, you'll pay deductibles, co-pays, and premiums. Plus, some treatments are excluded from coverage. Some policies also limit the amount they will pay per incident and may make you pay higher co-pays as Fido gets older. In fact, Consumer Reports suggest you skip it altogether.

Bear in mind that if you haven't chosen your lovable pooch, mutts are generally healthier than pedigreed dogs and cats. Consumer Reports says that's because the pedigreed animals may have been bred for appearance rather than good health. But Wendy Diamond of Animal Fair Magazine says that it really depends on the kind of breeder you buy from. Don't buy from a puppy mill.

From the AOL article...

SKIP PET INSURANCE

Unless you can't resist a breed with chronic problems, pet insurance will probably cost you more money than it will save you. As with human health insurance, you'll pay deductibles, co-pays, and premiums, and you may bump up against lifetime payment ceilings if you own a chronically ill pet. In addition, you might find some needed treatments are excluded from coverage. Some policies also limit the amount they will pay per incident and may make you pay higher co-pays as your pet ages.

For example, with PetCare's QuickCare Gold policy for dogs, you could pay $36 monthly premiums for coverage for a 3-month-old bearded collie. If that pooch needs $3,000 pacemaker surgery next year, you'll have to pay a $50 deductible, after which the plan pays 100 percent (up to a limit of $3,000) of your costs. Not a bad deal, because you will have paid just more than $430 in premiums. But if the surgery occurs after that dog turns 8 years old, the plan will only pay 80 percent of your costs and you'll be out about $3,500 in premiums. If you want to set aside money for future medical bills, you might do better by putting the amount you'd pay in premiums into a savings account.

Of course, I disagree. Putting aside money is all well and good if your pooch times her illness to after you’ve saved up enough money to pay for it and thoughtfully doesn’t have another illness/accident until you’ve built up your savings again.

Unfortunately, Consumer Reports is equating pet insurance in terms of budgeting, which is not what pet insurance is about. On average, no insurance makes sense as the insurer has to make a profit and pay expenses on top of pay the claims (i.e. your vet bills). What insurance does is protect you against unexpected and ill-timed spikes in expense you can’t afford and it removes the emotional life or money decision you would have to make otherwise. Savings just ain’t going to cut the mustard on that one.

Your thoughts?