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OK, a little off the pet insurance topic but if you are raising money for your business, check out my tips on pitching to angel investors recently published American Venture Magazine.
I'm always raising money for Embrace so when they asked, it wasn't too difficult to come up with something pertinent.
One of our Customer Care Embracers, Lea, very kindly offered to do a guest blog for me as I catch up from my 2 weeks away from the office.
Lea is well experienced at blogging as she also writes the Embrace Pet Community blog and has several personal blogs as well.
Thanks Lea for the excellent post!
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In the course of a day, we Customer Care Embracers get the opportunity to talk with pet parents across the country, each of them looking for something different. I hear many of you looking to avoid some of the 'sting' of vet expenses. Even a $300 bill can hurt the budget if it comes up at the wrong time.
Some of our callers are looking for help in reducing the costs of their routine or wellness care. No doubt, these items can be expensive too, but since you know they're going to come up each year, you can plan and budget for these things.
But you don't have to plan for your human wellness care, right? 
The best explanation as to why we don't cover wellness care is to compare pet insurance to auto insurance. (I know as well as you do that pets and cars are very different, but hear me out.)
If your auto insurance were to cover your oil changes, they'd cut you a check for, say, $30 three or four times a year. But since they know they have to give you this $30 every 3,000 miles, they would have charge you that same $30 in your premiums, plus the claims costs. So now instead of you saving money, you've just given the insurance company maybe $40 in premium, to get back $30.
Think of a vaccination like your car's oil change - it's something that is recommended for the long-term benefit, but it's also a smaller, more budget-able expense.
But if you're in a major auto accident, your insurance company helps you repair the car. This was not something you could have planned for, wouldn't likely have been able to save up for, and therefore would have put you in a pretty tough spot financially, right? Your auto insurance helps you manage the risks associated with driving, just as Embrace helps you manage the risks associated with pet ownerships.
We're here for your pet's little ‘fender benders’ and catastrophic ‘collisions’.
I always marvel at how people get to my blog - check these out:
hottub black girls (also google images) - likely the searcher would be very disappointed to find the cutest picture of Calvin the Labrador Retriever in the hot tub!Ah, Friday fun!!! Gotta love it.
The following is the story of Termyte, a one year old mixed breed cat, that occured in September 2007 in Belmont, California. Read on for a totally unexpected but stressful situation for all involved.
About a month after Termyte was insured by Embrace, he was rushed to an emergency vet with an unexplained high fever on Labor Day and treated with antibiotics. After his treatment, something was still wrong and he continued to decline.
Termyte spent 4 days in critical care at another facility where they finally determined he had bacterial sepsis with reactive lymph node in his stomach. He almost died from the condition but after treating him with some heavy duty intraveneous antibiotics, they were able to turn things around and Termyte pulled through.
Costs: The initial visit to the vet cost $259.08. The visit to the critical care unit cost $2,142.00 with a follow up visit of $55. Total = $2,456.08
Reimbursement: $1,973.77 The policy had a $200 yearly deductible, an annual maximum of $10,000 plus a co-pay of 10%. The drugs and dental option was not selected, causing $47 of take-home drugs not to be covered. Annual premiums were $246.10 (including a 5% microchip discount).
Who would have thought a one year old mixed breed cat could get into so much trouble? Termyte's mom, W. Wilcox, copied us in on some comments she wrote about us later:
"I am so impressed with Embrace, I hope to work for them someday and provide other pet owner’s with the same quality and care and affordable pet insurance. It was reassuring to think only of my pets needs and not have to make monetary decisions in a moment of crisis. Termyte fully recovered, gained his weight back, and will live a long life now."
Ms. Wilcox, we're delighted to hear Termyte is doing so well and maybe you will come work for us some day - now wouldn't that be another great story.
Do you have a pet insurance story you'd like to share with us - good or bad. Feel free to add to the comments or email me.
While I was preparing to go away for a couple of weeks, I put a plea out on Facebook to see if any of my friends would be interested in guest posting and a wonderful moment happened - one of them said yes! Yvonne Divita, who writes so many blogs I can hardly keep up, offered to pitch in and here is her post. Enjoy!
I am the lucky owner of a dog and a cat. That’s all, just one dog and one cat. We had two cats once upon a time…but we’re down to one dog and one cat.
Here’s the thing – this dog, Carmel, and this cat, Wabby Wibby (that’s short for baby kitty, in case you wanted to know)…grew up together and sometimes they forget which species they are. Carmel often thinks she must be a cat. And Wabby…well, Wabby never forgets she’s a cat but she tolerates Carmel better than the other cat we had.
Carmel’s “space” in the house is with me. Wherever I go, she goes. If I go downstairs (we have a raised ranch) to see Tom, who works in the lower level…and if I say to her, “I’ll be right back, you don’t have to follow me,” … she follows me anyway. You see, she’s going on 14 which is old for a Shepard-Lab mix. She doesn’t hear well and her joints are definitely bothering her – it’s hard for her to get up off of a bare floor. If she’s not on a rug or her bed (as seen in this picture), she struggles mightily, until one of us helps her. And, then she acts very embarrassed.
The cat, on the other hand, who is a mere six months younger, gets around just fine. She doesn’t jump up on the bed as much as she used to – it’s several inches higher than the couch, where she claims territory, so I guess she’s not as spry as she’d like us to believe, either. Still, I have not had to take her to the vet in quite awhile, while Carmel is due for yet another visit tomorrow. (rear end problems… let’s not talk about it)
Occasionally I see the two of these furry creatures nose to nose and I am positive they are communicating. There were times when I was sure they were plotting something, but… that’s just my overactive imagination. Mostly, I think they’re just checking to see if one of them has been fed yet. That’s their main purpose in life – to be fed. Wabby gets fed around 5 o’clock, and starts bellowing for her dinner around 3 o’clock. Yep…two hours of hearing her whine and cry and circle my chair, wondering why I’m not jumping up to feed her. I’ve told her repeatedly that if I were her, why… I’d run away! She just looks at me blankly…because she’s not allowed outdoors.
Carmel isn’t so insistent…until OUR dinnertime arrives. THEN she thinks, “Oh, goody, people food!” I guess it’s our own fault. One of us has a soft heart (guess which one) and always saves a piece of food for her. The crust of pizza is her favorite. Licking the yogurt bowl is another. She’s not like other dogs, she won’t eat just anything… but, she will lick the bowl of a Wendy’s salad…and eat any leftover lettuce. And, sometimes… when we have fish, both pets will be at my feet just watching…just staring…as I put hand to mouth with food in it… being patient because…they know they’re going to get a smidgen.
Dr. Larry, over at the petblog, says that’s not a good idea, feeding pets from the table…but, I don’t have to listen to him cause we don’t eat at the table. We eat in bed.
Love it!
We recently received a new claim for lymphoma in a female 3 year old mixed breed dog called Red. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes, which can be treated successfully with chemotherapy.
Red's care, spread over 3 months, has cost $4,300 so far, paying for initial symptoms of panting and overheating to her chemotherapy treatments. There will be further follow up care, likely putting the total vet bill for her lymphoma over $5,000.
In cases like this though, while the cost is incredibly high, the emotional toll cannot be underestimated. In my post on Coping With Your Dog's Cancer, I mentioned Millie's Million, an organization that helps pet parents learn about and cope with their dog's cancer.
Debbie Celli, the force behind Millie's Million, knows from person experience with her dog Millie how difficult it can be to comprehend what is happening and to connect with people who have gone through the same thing.
For example, check out the video section as a great resource from veterinarians and pet parents alike on the realities of canine cancer.
There, veterinarians from the Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital talk about:
In addition, there are videos from pet parents sharing their stories:
As well as the video center, you can sign up for canine cancer mentorship and delve into other canine cancer resources online.
If you are going through cancer with your dog or know someone who is, Millie's Million is a great resource during a very emotional time.
Related Posts:
What is Osteosarcoma in dogs and cats?
Toe tumors;
My cat or dog is limping;
And a beautiful story of dog cancer, friendship and caring in Grace's story and Grace's eulogy.
[warning - you are about to experience overwhelming cuteness. Don't say I didn't warn you]
Most breeders are very particular about who they sell their puppies or kittens to and they will often have you fill out a questionaire before you are approved by them, and they will send along recommended food and favorite toys with your new pet.
Now, there's a new addition to the accoutrement that might come with your new family member - pet insurance.
At Embrace, we are seeing an increasing number of breeders include 1 year's worth of Embrace Pet Insurance coverage with their puppies and kittens. For example, one of our breeders bought 8 policies for her recent litter of 8 Coton de Toulier pups in the name of the new pet parents, each policy in the range of $150 - $190 for a year's worth of coverage (the amount varies on the location of the new owner).
Our most recent breeder to be Embraced, Roseann, raises pugs in NJ at Teyha Pugs. She kindly agreed to let me interview her about her decision to get a pet insurance policy for each pup.
Why did you buy a pet insurance policy to send along with your puppies? 
Check out Roseann's babies at Teyha Pugs.
What would you think about having a pet insurance policy come along with your new pet? Would you think it worrying, weird, worth mentioning, or wonderful?
Just for fun, I entered Barnes in the Coolest Dog & Cat Show over at Catster. So, you want to, click on the icon above and put a paw down for Barnes, supervising me at my desk.
I stayed home today as I was feeling very much under the weather and I have a work trip coming up that I have to be well for.
After I took the girls off to daycare, I came home, took care of some email and then crawled into bed. As I was dozing off, I heard this scuffling noise next to me and I saw through half opened eyes Barnes crawling his way under the duvet to cuddle up beside me.
I felt so much better after that...
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