With the Christmas season coming up, I thought it a good idea to focus on accidents since there are so many opportunities for unexpected events to occur during the festivities.
Lots of food within easy reach, distracted people letting the indoor cat out, strains - or worse - from romping in the snow with the family. You get the idea.
So, I perused the Embrace Pet Insurance claims data and pulled out the following information about the accidents our Embraced pets have (the greater the ++++, the greater the number of that particular type of accident):
Dogs
++++ Puncture wounds or lacerations – basically a collection of cut paws (mostly), legs, ears and nose. Don’t get your foot caught in the door or walk on sharp rocks is all I can say there. +++ Ingestion of a foreign body – ranges from swallowing underwear to kumquats to toys, rocks, pennies, sticks, gloves, and even handwarmers (next highest cost) +++ Cruciate ligament tears – from sudden emergencies to chronic issues culminating in surgery (highest cost) ++ Soft tissue injuries – generally playing or exercising too hard and causing limping that heals itself reasonably readily + Poisoning – ingestion of prescription meds, vitamins and other supplements, acetaminophen, rat or ant poison, xylitol + Torn toenails – just what it sounds like + Bites – other dogs, cats, raccoons Cats ++++ Ingestion of a foreign body – ranges from bra straps to plastic mesh to grass, and even a needle (ouch!)
++++ Automobile accidents - when they happen, they are very very expensive. Sadly, most cats do not live after being in a direct accident
++ Soft tissue injuries – limping of an unknown cause that heals itself reasonably readily ++ Bites – mainly fights with other cats + Fractures – mainly feet and tails from being outside + Fan belt injury – hanging out in a warm car => not good :(I also suspect that cat poisoning would be up there but we often do not see them because they just go off and die from ingesting poison before they make it to the emergency room.
Good pet insurance has high limits for any eventuality. For example, we recently paid out $10,000 for a cat in a car accident - the full year's limit. More on that later in the month.
What accidents have you seen your pets get into? Was it costly?
