Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Dog thong

What do you think - an April Fool's joke? :)

Dogone Dog Fart Neutralizing Thong

This dog bag is definitely a hoax and a good one too.

Smart Money Pet Insurance Article

The April edition of Smart Money has an article on pet insurance "Pet Peeved" by Ken Bensinger.

With veterinary costs on the rise, pet insurance may sound like a no-brainer. But it has some pet owners climbing the walls. What to know before you fork over for Fido.

It's not electronically available yet until the next issue comes out so go out and buy it if you can't wait a couple of weeks.

I spoke with Ken at length about pet insurance and gave him my perspective on it and he was nice enough to write about Embrace at the end of the article:

And then there's Cleveland-based Embrace Pet Insurance. Originally dreamed up as a business-school project of Wharton graduate Laura Bennett, the company pitches itself as the touchy-feely, pet-owner-friendly option, vowing to be "open and honest" about its coverage. Embrace won't start selling policies until later this year, but the company already boasts what may be the industry's first pet insurance blog. "There are not too many segments that are sexy in insurance," Bennett says. "But this is one of them."

How do you like my quote?!

Age at issue

Most pet insurance policies restrict the age they issue new policies to - both at the baby end and at the senior end. Here is a summary of the issue ages as best as I can find out from the companies. Be sure to check with each company to be sure of the exact ages.

	Age
Company	Minimum (weeks)	Maximum (years)
Hartville Group	8	13 dog 15 cat
Pet First	8	9
Pet Partners	8	8
Pet Protect	8	11
Pethealth	8	8 dog 10 cat 6 select dog
Pets Best	7	16**
Veterinary Pet Insurance	6	9*

* VPI does not have an upper age limit, but underwriting approval is required for enrollment of all senior pets. You can check out the requirements here.

** Pets Best quotes to high ages but you should check to see if there are similar underwriting conditions to VPI with the company.

bug jar to entertain your cat

I've been looking for something that might keep Barnes entertained in his old age (he's a spritely 10.5 years old) and I came across this bug jar at Moochie and Co. I can just see Barnes swatting at the floaty butterflies (no, they are not real!) and having loads of fun.

We used to have Barnes run up and down the living room and up the stairs in our house in Philadelphia chasing a laser pointer - the "evil dot" - but we don't have carpet in our new place and he doesn't seem to have as much fun running around as he used to. I think he feels he might slide or fall on the hardwood floor. I don't blame him.

So, the bug jar might just do the trick. We've got to keep our old boy fit and spritely.

Some Monday morning fun

Introducing Jake - discovering his inner nutty professor.

Courtesy of Deb, and her boys. They must all be getting cabin fever up there in Canada, eh!

urbanhound is going tri-coastal

I've always been a big fan of Urbanhound, which is "the city dog's ultimate survival guide" in New York. Of course, I don't live in NY or even have a dog, but they have interesting content and a very nice layout (something very rare in the online pet world, have you noticed?).

Finally, Urbanhound has noticed that not all its readers are from NY and so they are spreading their paws to the midwest and west coast. Go sign up for the new locations at the Urbanhound website.

Congratulations to Urbanhound, one of the best pet websites around.

Pet Insurance Waiting Period

When you buy a pet insurance policy, your coverage does not start the minute you click the "buy" button; you generally have to wait for a short period before coverage starts.

In general, the waiting period is very short for accidents, such as the next day, because accidents are unexpected and have no signs in advance that they are going to happen. For illnesses, it ranges from a couple of weeks to 30 days, which is longer than the incubation period of most illnesses that could have been contracted before the insurance policy was purchased.

Make sure to check your policy to find out what your waiting periods are.

Related posts: pre-existing conditions part 1; pre-existing conditions part 2

Tags: waiting period, pet insurance, accident, illness

Can I choose any vet with pet insurance?

Yes, you can! Some US pet insurers imply in their marketing pitches that other pet insurers restrict yur choice of veterinarian but at the moment, all pet insurers allow you to choose any vet you want to go to in the US.

Now, there are two discount programs that are not insurance programs, which restrict you to their network of vets (see menu on the left for "non-insurance options") but as I said, they are not insurance providers, just discount programs.

Questions to ask a breeder and yourself

Many people want to get a purebred dog or cat but don't know the right questions to ask the breeder. In addition, sometimes potential pet parents don't know what they are getting themselves into by bringing a dog or cat into the house.

I found a good summary of the questions you want to ask a breeder and yourself about bringing a new dog into the house. It's focused on Golden Retrievers but I think it is equally applicable to other types of dogs and maybe even cats (except the exercise part).

The questions to ask yourself are very enlightening:

• Can I take full responsibility for this dog and all of its needs for his lifetime? (approximately 10 years) (not something to delegate to the children)
• Can I invest the time, money, and patience it takes to train my dog to be a good companion? (this takes a lot of time and devotion)
• Can I always keep the dog safe, not let it run loose, or ride in the back of an open pick-up truck, and not let it be chained outside?
• Can I make sure my dog gets enough attention and exercise? (a Golden needs several hours of both, every day)
• Can I live with lots of shedding, retrieving, drooling and activity for its entire lifetime?
• Can I spend the money it takes to provide the proper vet care? (not limited to vaccines, heartworm testing and preventative care, along with spaying or neutering and annual checkups)
• Am I willing to be educated about the proper care of this breed? (correct training and grooming)
• Am I willing to keep the breeder informed about the dog's progress and any problems that might crop up?
• Do I have the patience to accept the trials of Golden puppyhood along with its rewards and enjoyments?
• Will I be able to continue to accpet responsibilities for this dog despite life changes? (like babies, moving, divorce)
• Can I resist impulse buying (for a dog) and have the patience to make a responsible choice?
• Does everyone in the family want this dog?

Dog umbrella

Just check out this beauty from Tails By the Bay - talk about an innovative way to keep your dog dry, I just couldn't resist. If you walked down the street with one of these, you'd have everyone asking you where you got it.

Seeing the Westie here brings back good memories of our Westie from my childhood called Blossom, who used to partner up with her "sister" Apple, a yellow Labrador, and got into all sorts of naughtiness. I could tell you quite a few stories about them from my childhood. Happy happy days!

[hat tip to the Purina Petcentric newsletter for the product tip]