Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

How much did you say patella luxation cost to treat in my dog?

Anywhere from $1,300 all the way up to $3,300 per knee.

Patella luxation is a hereditary condition that affects the position of the knee. It is generally found in smaller breeds such as Spaniels, Pugs, Chihuahuas, and Poodles and is often bilateral (occurs in both knees.) It can also occur from trauma to the knee such as jumping off the couch or going down the stairs too fast.

The variations in cost come mainly from the type of procedure performed but the location also has some part in the price with the most expensive being on the east or west coasts (no surprise if you live there!)

Here's a sample invoice for a Chihuahua in Plantation, Florida for a $1,569 bill.

ITEM	MODE	STRENGTH	QUANTITY	BILLED AMOUNT
Clavamox	Oral	62.5 mg	20	$19.00
Baytril Tablets	Oral	22.7 mg	20	$32.00
Rimadyl Chewables	Oral	25 mg	2.5	$10.00
Tramadol Tablets	Oral	50 mg	7	$14.00
Complete Blood Count w/ Differential			1	$40.00
General Health Profile in House			1	$75.00
Electrocardiogram Pre-anesthetic			1	$55.00
IV Catheter			1	$42.00
Fluid Intravenous per day			1	$35.00
Infusion Pump Daily			1	$5.00
Anesthesia General			1	$100.00
Anesthesia 1/2 Hour			1	$47.00
Anesthesia Electronic Monitoring			1	$25.00
Patella Surgery			1	$950.00
Buprinex	Inj.		1	$22.00
Baytril	Inj.		1	$35.00
Hospitalization per night	Inj.		1	$38.00
Daily Dr. Exam			1	$20.00
Infectious Control Fee			1	$5.00
				$1,569.00

Every veterinarian is different in how she/he charges but this invoice gives you an idea of the range of procedures, drugs, and services needed for a surgery such as this. And of course, there will likely be at least one follow up visit to check the surgery went well.

If your dog (or cat - cat's can have this too) has had this surgery, do share - how did it happen, how much did cost, and where are you located? We'd love to hear your experience.

Related Posts: Pet health story: Bronte, a Cocker Spaniel

Related stories: Destino's Luxating Patellas

Pet Travel is increasing - what do you think?

Here's the last "bonus" item in my Pet Industry Trends for 2008 article.

More people traveling with their pets
From day trips with the dogs in the back of the car, to trips abroad with your pets, more and more people are including their cats and dogs in their travels. As a result, more hotels, such as the Comfort Inn all the way up to the Westin are accommodating pets beyond just allowing them on the premises. This gives small businesses the opportunity to provide services to local hotels for pets or for accessories to make traveling even easier.

Recently someone asked me about my pet travel assertion and how I determined this trend.

In answer to that questions, there’s no magic stat that I’ve seen; I use the mosaiic theory - put a number of other stats and observations together and draw a conclusion.

• From Michael Dillon’s report Pet Industry 2007 Strategic Report, he comments on the baby boomers retiring and their pet spending:

55-64 year-olds represent a very compelling demographic due to 4% projected growth through 2010, according to the Census Bureau. 55-64 year-olds are the fastest-growing age demographic in the pet industry, spending $7.75 billion in 2005, up 127% from 2000. With the active boomer generation set to spend more time with their pets, whether at home or on the road, we expect to see more travel products for pets over the next two years.

• Boomers travel more than most (trends from the TIA Domestic Travel Market Report)
• Proliferation of pet friendly hotels (intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Wyndham Hotel, Ritz Carlton, Radisson, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Red Roof Inn, La Quinta, etc.)
• Appearance of numerous specialty travel services either for pets or involving pets (Bailey Knows Travel, Pets Welcome, Puppy Travel )

And so on…

What signs are you seeing to support my assertion or not?

7 Shopping Tips for Getting a Good Deal on Pet Insurance

If you are out shopping for pet insurance, what can you do to get good value for your money? Here are some practical tips you can actually do something to keep your dog or cat's premium down and the coverage up.

1. Pay in full for the year
   Some companies give you a discount for paying your year's premium upfront
2. Don't get routine care
   Wellness checks, vaccinations, flea and tick meds - why pay an insurance company to be the middle man for costs you know you are going to have every year?
3. Go for a high deductible
   If you can budget for a $500 or greater annual deductible, let the insurance cover the vet bill above that for less money than if you had a lower deductible
4. Buy online
   Some companies give you a discount for buying online instead of calling in
5. Get a discount
   Is your pet microchipped? Is she spayed or is he neutered? Do you belong to an organization that has a discount with a pet insurance company? Are you part of the military? Always ask because you never know what discounts you can get.
6. Ignore the frills
   Frills such as burglary rewards and dog liability insurance may not be necessary or covered elsewhere
7. Insure all your pets with the same company
   Most companies offer multi-pet discounts

You can find a list of the US pet insurers on the left of the Embrace Pet Insurance blog or at www.petinsurancereview.com

Happy Valentine's from your Embracers

Everyone at Embrace sends your pets pats on the head and ruffles of the ears for a healthy Valentine's day.

We're celebrating the love with oatmeal cookies I made and turning our Lijit search field pink today.

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine's Day?

Why you should buy pet insurance in a recession

With all this talk of a recession in the US, it's easy to get nervous about spending money.

Every penny that goes out the door is one less penny you have in hand to buffer any financial surprises that might occur during tough times.

So you might think that pet insurance is another needless expense, another luxury, and not something to get when you are pinching your pennies.

Well, I would argue that for some of us, it's in times like these when we should buy pet insurance.

Let me tell you what happened to me during a time of financial difficulty.

Back in 2003, my husband (John) and I had just finished our MBAs. We graduated with huge debt, a small cushion of savings, and no income.

I worked on building Embrace and John worked on getting a job but all the while the savings were dripping away, our first baby was on the way, and we were a little stressed to say the least.

We also had two 8 year old cats - Simon and Barnes - who had no health issues up to this point. Because I was working on Embrace Pet Insurance, a start-up pet insurance company, I had bought a pet insurance policy for each cat from our competitors earlier that year. The premiums were about $45 a month in total.

As the months ticked by and John still has no job, our savings got lower and lower and I seriously thought about dropping the policies to keep our monthly spend as low as possible. But I didn't because of Embrace.

That's when Barnes got really sick with kidney disease and he had to spend several nights at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - one of the most expensive hospitals in the US.

The bill ended up being around $1,500 (including big discounts because they felt sorry for us), which was money we did not have.

And that was when I realized the true benefit of having pet insurance. It was there when we needed help with a large unexpected vet bill we really could not afford. Barnes and I say amen to that.

So, if something happened to your cat or dog, do you want to have to choose your pet's veterinary care based on your finances in a recession or based on the right thing to do?

What do you think?

Have we found the best dog diet?

Want to help your dog lose weight? We all know we should walk our dogs more and focus on portion control and no scraps from the table, but what if you need more immediate help and have to resort to the "D" word - diet.

While doing my daily blog browse in early January, I came across an article by Christie Keith over at SFGate: Weight loss for dogs: Why most dog owners fail — and how you can succeed

When Sacramento high school teacher Joe Spatafore adopted Jo Jo from NorCal Boxer Rescue, the 6-year-old former stray weighed a healthy 57 pounds. After a few months of the good life, she'd ballooned up to 72 pounds.

It wasn't Jo Jo's weight that sent her owner to the vet, but her constant digestive problems, including vomiting, gas and bad breath. But, unlike many dog owners, when the vet told him she needed to lose some weight, Joe listened. He switched her to a simple diet designed by the veterinarian just for Jo Jo, consisting of some oats, vegetables and meat cooked up in a Crock-Pot once a week, with a few supplements and herbs. The diet takes him only 20 minutes a week to prepare and, as for feeding, he told me, "It doesn't take any longer than feeding the dry, really."

Is it too good to be true? Further in the article... 

If getting the weight off dogs like Jo Jo is easy, why are one-third to one-half of all dogs overweight?

In theory, the cause of canine obesity is very simple. As Marty Becker, DVM and co-author of "Fitness Unleashed: A Dog and Owner's Guide to Losing Weight and Gaining Health Together," says, it's "too much food in the bowl, and not enough miles on the feet." Dogs used to have work to do and got plenty of exercise. "Now," he says, "they're born retired."

I just love that last line - they're born retired. I know a few people like that!

When I read the article, I recognized Joe as a policyholder of ours (no, I don't know all our policyholders off by heart, just a few) so I emailed him for the recipe in the hopes he'd share and here is what he said:

I crock pot up some meat (Beef, chicken, pork roast etc), something different every sat/sunday. I steam a whole batch of frozen veggies like green beens with peas, chard, carrots etc, and rice or instant oatmeal. It takes about 30 minutes a week to prepare, then just scoop out a ladle of each and microwave it to warm it up.

She loves it, and she has lost about 14 pounds over the first 2 months, and is holding steady at 57 lbs. I should go on the same diet! Her eastern med vet gives her supplement herbs to toss in the bowl, and that is it. JoJo looks great, and is very active and happy. She has lost her upset stomach and bad breath as a great side effect.She still gets her treats, but a girl has to have some graham crackers and people snacks too. I hope this helps. It is really easy, and the results have been fabulous. Feel free to pass this on if you wish.

So there you have it. I'd run this diet by your veterinarian to get some recommendations on the amount to feed your dog and the supplements you would need to add and then you are both good to go.

And of course, as a pet lover [and yes, pet insurer], I'm delighted JoJo is back to a healthy weight with sweet breath. We all love that!

If you try this out, please let us know. We'd love before and after pictures too if possible.

Lily and Barnes visit our new office

We're well ensconced in our new digs and now that we have our own space (as opposed to sharing with another early stage company), we can bring in our pets and allow them to wander the halls.

Lily and Barnes came for the day yesterday and they had mixed reactions. Barnes was a little more curious but Lily at one point completely disappeared and ALL of us ended up looking for her.

We finally found her under my desk, not on the cat shelf there (who knew that desks came with such things!) but under the drawers under the desk, tucked right into the back in the shadows. She's a wily one!

Have you ever taken your dogs or cats to work and how did that work out for you?

Welcome Diva Marketing Readers!

If you've come to my blog because of Toby Bloomberg's interview on Why Facebook?, welcome to Embrace!

For a quick overview of who I am and what this blog is about, there's always the About Me page.

To learn about pet insurance, check out the Pet Insurance 101 section in the left hand column and for a general wander around the blog, there's always the category cloud and archive section to the right.

We also love our Lijit search feature top right.

And of course, you can here's the I've Been Embraced By Embrace Pet Insurance group on Facebook.

If you have any thoughts, comments, questions or anything else on your mind, please email me. I'd love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Laura Bennett
Chief Embracer and Co-Founder

Related Posts:
Guest Blogger: Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing blog
Join the "I've been Embraced by Embrace Pet Insurance" Facebook Group

Pets Best expands into Japan

The Buy Idaho website just announced some interesting pet insurance news - an expansion into Japan by Pets Best.

Dr. Jack Stephens, pioneer of pet insurance in the US and more recently, founder of Pets Best based in Boise Idaho, has taken the bold step to launch in Japan.

Mr. Iwao Nonaga, the founder of Pets Best Japan said, “After dealing with many companies in North America and Europe, we found that Dr. Jack Stephens, the founder of pet insurance in the United States, was by far the person with the most knowledge and insight to provide us with a model for success. Our goal was to have a highly automated, streamlined system from which to operate and the best product to market to a highly discerning market in Japan.”

This is a very interesting development in the North American market as this is the first time a North American company has expanded its brand beyond the US and Canada. Trust Jack to be the pioneer - he started pet insurance in the US and now is spreading his wings abroad. It's a gutsy move.

I'm certainly very curious as to how the Pets Best insurance model will fit into the Japanese culture. Pet insurance is not new in Japan - there are at least 5 other companies selling policies according to notes I made at the International Pet Insurance Conference a couple of years ago. In fact, as I recall there were 5 main ones plus 10 other smaller ones with a total market share of 1.5% at the end of 2005 - that's 3 times the penetration of pet insurance in the US so it's not without competition.

I was fascinated by a presentation by a Japanese pet insurance entrepreneur - Mr. Nobuo Shiraishi - who talked about entering the Japanese market and the competition there. He mentioned one particular cultural difference in Japan that might impact the automation of pet insurance:

The distribution of pet insurance policies can be a cumbersome process with a lot of movement of paper to and fro between pet owner and company – Japanese culture means that pet owners “seal” and stamp their applications so it feels like a real contract, which can't be done online.

If anyone has a perspective on this aspect of Japanese culture and how it might affect online sales, I'd love to hear it.

Here's a who's who in the picture above:

Pets Best Insurance Client Advocate Torrey Stephens taking a last minute look at the agreement.

Also included in the picture, (from left) are Masahiro Aruga, Business Development for Pets Best Japan, Donald Dietrich, (standing) Administrator, Idaho Department of Commerce, Iwao Nonaga, President & CEO, Pets Best Insurance Inc. Japan, Dr. Jack Stephens, Founder & President Pets Best Insurance, Dale Peterson, (standing) Executive Director, Buy Idaho Inc., Greg McDonald, CEO, Pets Best Insurance.