Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Is it just me or is this a little misleading?

When you go to a pet insurer's website and the first thing you see is "over 1 million pets are already insured", don't you immediatly think they they are refering to themselves? It's kind of along the same lines as the Mcdonalds "over 99 billion served" message.

I certainly thought that when I went to the PetFirst Healthcare site but I know better. In fact, there aren't even half a million pets insured if you added up all the pet insurers in the US (as of 2005). The one million pets insured must refer to the whole of the world - hardly one company.

What do you think - misleading or not? Is this the case of one very small pet insurer trying to appear to be something they are not? Seems like that to me.

Sample vet bill - vulva inversion surgery

Our friend Jamie's dog, Mazzy, went in for surgery to have a girlie problem fixed for once and for all - a recessed vulva leads to all sorts of nasty infections that are no fun for anyone.

Here are the costs that were quoted for the surgery, which was done in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania yesterday (Monday Feb 13, 2006).

IV Catheter placement – $35

Fluids IV – $40

Pre-Op Injectable – $20

Anesthesia IV – $40

Anesthesia Isoflurane First ½ hour – $50

Hospitalization per day – $30

10 simplicef 200mg tablets – $30.10

5 Rimadyl 100mg Caplet/Tablet – $13.70

Surgical Procedure; vulva inversion – $175

Sub Total: $433.80

This is quite a simple and non-invasive surgery that is done on an outpatient basis and it still adds up to over $400. You can imagine what surgery for a serious broken leg could cost - somewhere in the range of $800-$1,000. That's a lot of unexpected cost all at once.

Do you have any vet bills you'd like to share with our readers? Broken leg or otherwise?

PS. I suppose this is rather an ironic post for Valentine's Day. I apologize for the rather unromantic nature of my topic today!

Update: I asked Jamie how Mazzy was getting on and he said "She is doing fine. She actually jumped right into the car when I picked her up! Here's a picture of her wearing the collar, she hates it. I only put it on her when I am not around." So it looks like she's mending well, even if not fond of her head gear.

Thinking of remodelling?

Your doghouse, that is. Well, I've always wanted a dog house in my back yard after being a huge fan of Snoopy when I was young (and I still hold a special place for him in my heart) but I never really considered a gingerbread house or a rose painted house. I think a sod covered roof might be cool though.

Check out the plans here at the HGTV website. No need to restrict yourself to your house, do the dog's too.

Hat tip to Doug Manzanec for the info.

Now you can subscribe by email

I just added an option for you to subscribe by email instead of by RSS or just plain looking at the site every day. Check out the right hand side of the blog.

Let me know if you like how it works. I can change some of the options so might play around with it over time. Any suggestions are sincerely welcome.

Thanks!

Barnes with his Fetching Tag

Last year, I bought a Fetching Tag for Barnes with his name and my cell number on it but it was just before he went off to Winnipeg to escape the neighbor from hell so I didn't put it on him at the time. I finally dug it out of his file and put it on and he's now the handsomest cat in the neighborhood.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked the tag . It cost a lot (actually, more like outrageous now I think of it - $30) and seemed very amateurish with the lettering spaced unevenly and the aluminum was not cut into a perfect circle but now I've decided I like it a lot. It's very unique and rugged. Perhaps the ruggedness will rub off on Barnes :)

Check out what we chose to put on the other side of the medallion - you can see it in the picture!

Hat tip to Clover for also buying a Fetching Tag and making me want one.

Can dogs sniff out cancer?

Yes, they can, according to a number of scientific tests performed on dogs detecting bladder cancer from a number of urine samples. There's an interesting article on CNN's website about the topic.

"They took breath samples from patients with breast and lung cancer, and from people who were cancer-free. They took the cancer samples, and repeatedly over a three week period stuck them under the noses of five ordinary household dogs. When the dogs smelled cancer, they got a treat. When they smelled the healthy samples, they got nothing.

The researchers then arranged four healthy and one cancer sample in a line, and the dogs picked out the cancer with amazing accuracy: 88 percent with the breast cancer samples, and 99 percent with lung cancers."

Of course, there are skeptics but I would pay attention to my dog if she seemed to be telling me something about my body!

Update: if you are interested, there was a program on the BBC about this very topic in December 2005. The comments are very interesting, showing how passionate people are about this topic.

My dog is having trouble swallowing

If your dog or cat is having trouble swallowing, it's possible that he or she has a muscle in his/her throat that isn't relaxing at the right time to let the food pass. It's a condition known as cricopharyngeal achalasia (try passing that one down your throat!).

I just read an excellent blog entry discussing a real case study of a daschund with this problem and how it was cured - pictures and all. Check it out here.

BTW, the Pet Peeves blog the article came from is about life in an animal ER and is very interesting. Check it out.

TRIPSwithPETS partners with the First Frequent Flyer Program for Pets

My friends at TRIPSwithPETS.com sent me a press release about a new partnership they with Midwest Airlines.

Midwest Airlines site visitors and Premier Pet Program members may now access TRIPSwithPETS.com's comprehensive directory of pet-friendly accommodations and activities across the United States, pet travel tips for flying, as well as access to TRIPSwithPETS.com's online pet travel store, BonzoBeans.com.

In addition, Midwest Airlines' Premier Pet Program members receive a special 10% discount on pet supplies at BonzoBeans.com. TRIPSwithPETS.com visitors and travel club members will now have the ability to plan and book Midwest Airlines pet travel through the TRIPSwithPETS.com web site. They can directly access the Midwest Airlines Premier Pet Program; the first of its kind frequent flyer program for pets, in addition to Midwest's newly expanded policy on pet travel.

taking great photos of your pets

I'm always trying to take good pictures of Barnes but can't quite get the picture I have in my mind's eye. At least the pictures turn out better than if I was to t ry to draw him!

For the budding photographers out there, there is an interesting article on the NY Institute of Photography's website on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Pet Photographer. Some good tips include:

• get inside your pet's brain - Amanda Jones is great at doing this
• tell a story with your picture
• be prepared for sudden movement
• control the clutter in your setting (how many times do you curse the perfect picture with your coffee mug sitting at the side distracting from Fluffy's close up?)
• consider the camera angle
• don't forget treats and props
• study your pet during the day (I can say I've done this one a lot!)

Hat tip to Doug Mazanec

Poor cat!

My parents were just down visiting their latest grand-daughter and to catch up on Ellie's newest tricks. When they went home, they discovered that Mary, one of their elder cats, had been shut in a bedroom for the length of their visit to us (Thursday to Monday) - poor thing!

You can imagine the mess that she made in the room - except that it was spotless. Mary had crossed her legs the whole time - egads! I can't believe she made it through five days without a drink either. She wasn't pleased, poor muffin.

Have you heard of cats going for extended periods of time without drinking or peeing? I knew they could do that but not for five days.