Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Claim Example: Cherry Eye in Koa, a Bulldog puppy

The English Bulldog is instantly recognizable by their wrinkly faces and barrel-chested physique. But, in the veterinary world, Bulldogs are notorious for their eye problems.

Dewey and Koa, both English Bulldogs in Newcastle, DE, were no exception. Starting out with a corneal ulcer in March 2009, Dewey was the first to have troubles. By May, he underwent surgery to correct Cherry Eye (also known by the convoluted name of prolapsed gland of the third eyelid), a painful condition in which the third eye lid is prolapsed, forming a red bubble in front of the eye.

Later that year, Dewey became a big brother when Koa came home. But poor Koa wasn’t even four months old when he was diagnosed with his own case of cherry eye. So, in he went for his own corrective cherry eye surgery, and follow up treatments.

Dewey and Koa are now back to normal, happy and healthy bulldogs again.

Dewey: Total cost for Cherry Eye Surgery: $524.07
Annual Deductible remaining: $0.00*
10 % Co-pay: 52.41
Reimbursement: $471.66
*Dewey had already met his annual deductible with prior claims for illnesses

Koa: Total cost for Cherry Eye Surgery: $626.22
Annual Deductible remaining: $200.00
10 % Co-pay: 42.62
Reimbursement: $383.60

Details on Koa's claim:
This claim is pretty typical of many Cherry Eye correction surgeries in that the correction was done at the same time Koa was neutered. Since Koa's insurance policy does not cover neutering (but our optional wellness plan does), the anesthesia was proportioned to 75% cherry eye correction and 25% neutering and covered accordingly (highlighted below).

ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT	ALLOWABLE CHARGES	COVERAGE TYPE	COVERED IN POLICY?	COVERED CHARGES
Triple Antibiotic Eye Ointment	$ 13.44	$     13.44	IL	Y	$    13.44
Additional Anesth. Maintenance/30 min.	$ 41.16	$     30.87	IL	Y	$    30.87
Neuter Canine 21-40 lbs	$   195.00	$ 195.00	RC	N	$   0.00
Hardarian Gland Tack	$   276.86	$ 276.86	IL	Y	$ 276.86
Surgical Ophthalmic Pack	$ 30.76	$     30.76	IL	Y	$    30.76
Inhalation Anesthetic Maintenance	$ 64.68	$     48.51	IL	Y	$    48.51
Intravenous Induction	$ 25.87	$     25.87	IL	Y	$    25.87
IV Catheterization-Surgical	$ 26.00	$     26.00	IL	Y	$    26.00
Pain Management Injection	$ 19.93	$     19.93	IL	Y	$    19.93
Pre Anesthetic Medication	$ 25.87	$     25.87	IL	Y	$    25.87
Examination (Pre-Anesthesia)	$    0.00	$   0.00	IL	Y	$   0.00
2.5 Novox 75 mg.	$ 17.55	$     17.55	DD	Y	$    17.55
5 Tramadol 50 mg.	$ 17.55	$     17.55	DD	Y	$    17.55
Soft Recovery Collar Canine 17 cm	$ 15.64	$     15.64	IL	Y	$    15.64
Canine H3N8 Influenza Vaccine, 1st	$ 25.00	$     25.00	RC	N	$   0.00
Tobramycin 0.3% Ophthalmic Soln 5 ml	$ 13.82	$     13.82	DD	Y	$    13.82
Recheck Visit-Brief	$ 32.66	$     32.66	IL	Y	$    32.66
14 Clavamox (Antibiotic) 125 mg.	$ 30.89	$     30.89	DD	Y	$    30.89
	$   872.68	$ 846.22			$ 626.22

So the total claim reimbursement was $383.60, which is calculated below (this is the detail we send out in our explanation of benefits):

STEP 1: Calculate Potential Refund
Billed Amount:								$ 872.68
Covered Charges:								$ 626.22
Annual deductible remaining								$ 200.00
	subtotal							$ 426.22
Copay 10%	(your copayment)							$     42.62
Potential Refund								$ 383.60
STEP 2: Compare potential refund against your annual maximums
Annual Maximum								$     10,000.00
Prior refunds for this policy year								$   0.00
Coverage remaining								$     10,000.00
Your total refund is:								$     383.60

Koa's policy ($200 annual deductible, 10% copay, $10,000 annual maximum, drugs and dental extension, no wellness coverage) costs $63.65 a month. Koa's premium is higher than many dogs because English Bulldogs have more hereditary conditions than most breeds, all else being equal.

Dr Janet Tobiasson Crosby will be writing more about Cherry Eye treatment and surgery in a blog entry next week.

Related Posts:
July is Eye Month at Embrace Pet Insurance
Claim Example: Cherry Eye in Koa, a Bulldog puppy
Cataract surgery claim example: Nala 2 yr old Papillon
Guest post: cherry eye treatment options
Guest Post: lens luxation in a Dalmation

Ask Laura: what happens to my Embrace pet insurance policy when I die

As they say, Death, while not a very savory topic of discussion, is one of the only guaranteed things in life. So, I thought it very interesting to get this thoughtful question from one of our policyholders, Reed C.

Question:

My husband and I are updating our Wills, and I am wondering, in the event of my death, would my Embrace policies be automatically cancelled? I would like to know what would happen to the policy were I to die and my husband would survive me --- would it continue as long as paid the premiums? He is currently not named in the policy. Can we arrange for this?

Secondly, were my husband and I both to die simultaneously, we have made arrangements for my sister to take both Otis and Gracie. Would the policy continue with her? If not, can we arrange for that?

I know this isn't the most pleasant topic, but we are dedicated to our pets, and want to plan for them should the worst happen. Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer:

Reed, what a thoughtful question!

If the named policyholders died (currently you but we can add your husband – more on that later), we would just continue the policy until further instructions from the estate. In your case, you’ve put instructions to transfer to your sister so we would honor that without a break in the policy; however, if she decided to cancel the policy after that, we would have to honor that too.

If you’d like to add your husband as a named insured, just call in (800 511 9172) or email me with his name and we’ll have him added. He’ll have the same powers as you over the policy, including to cancel it. You would be notified if the policy was cancelled by him of course!

Got any other questions on estate planning for your dog or cat?

Great example of using your Embrace Wellness Rewards benefits

Over at the Embrace Pet Community blog, Lea recently posted about going online to save some money for her flea and tick preventative medication for Lyger.

It was so easy to squeeze out the most benefit from her wellness budget by shopping online (muchos dollares saved there) and by using the Embrace wellness plan (spreads the cost out over the year and saved $21!).

I like this bit best though :) :

And, since I use Embrace's Wellness Rewards program, to cover Lyger's checkups, vaccines, and preventative meds (even meds bought online) I'll be reimbursed $200 for today's costs!

Check out the rest here: Saving money on flea and tick medication

Cancer claim example: Grade III Mast Cell Tumor

Miel was 6 years old when Nisha discovered he had mast cell tumors on his neck, collar bone and right leg. Through ultrasound, she also found out that Miel had enlarged nodes internally as well.

Mast cells are the cells in the skin and connective tissue (among other places) and play a protective role in wound healing, a well as inflamation in allergies and analphylactic shock.

Grade III mast cell tumors are the most aggressive of mast cells tumors (Grade I being the least) and are the most likely to rapidly metastasize. This grade of mast cell tumor is the least common but also the most deadly.

Miel's cancer treatment lasted 6 months, including one surgery and at least seven rounds of varying types of chemotherapy treatment. The skin masses appeared to improve over that time; however, the cancer spread further inside Miel's intestinal area, severely narrowing his rectal passage and finally his urinary tract, forcing the decision to euthanize Miel at the end of his brave cancer battle.

Nisha was a medical student when she bought Miel's policy (when he was 5 years old), figuring she really didn't have any spare cash if something expensive should happen to Miel.

Embrace Pet Insurance Policy: $200 annual deductible; $5,000 annual maximum; 20% copay; prescription drugs covered. Monthly premium $35.90

Miel's cancer treatment costs at a veterinary clinic in Washington DC in 2008 were a total of $5,659.37 with pet insurance reimbursement of $4,367.50 (=$5,659.37 - $200 deductible * (1 - 20% copay).

___________________________________

Are you about to go through cancer treatments with your dog or cat? If you would like to share, we'd all like to pass on our positive thoughts for your pet's strong recovery.

Related Articles:
April is Cancer Month at Embrace Pet Insurance
Guest post: veterinary thoughts on dog and cat cancer
Cancer claim example: Grade III Mast Cell Tumor
Cancer Claim Example: Anal Sac Apocrine Gland Adenocarcinoma
Rates of Cancer by Dog Breed

Claim story: Squiggy the cat hit by a car, $12,170+ claim

I wanted to share with you the story of Squiggy the mixed breed cat who was hit by a car in September 2009. The words below are from Tracy, Squiggy's owner, who describes what happened:

We adopted squiggy from a shelter when he was 2 months old. He acted more like a puppy than a kitten. Likes to play fetch, hide and surprise you!!

The accident happened on 9/14/09 There was a knock at the door, a woman said she'd hit my cat and believed she had broken his leg, said sorry and promptly left. I found Squiggy in the bushes where he had dragged himself, could not get that image out of my head when I closed my eyes for weeks. It took 15 mins to get to the ER ( longest car ride ever) at which time he had already gone into shock and his breathing very labored.

The preliminary vet exam showed multible fractures & breaks. His back was broken in two places. He was bleeding internally. Initially we were told he'd be paralized with no neurologic function as they couldn't get any pulses in his lower extremities. They stabalized his breathing and were able to get faint pulses back. He was put on pain medication, made comfortable overnight.

Next day we saw Squiggy, he licked my hand and looked at me and I knew I had to do all I could to save him. He was operated on shortly after we saw him. The neurosurgeon told me it would be a long road to recovery with pins in his toes,leg & pelvis on one side of his body and no bowel or bladder function. We would not know if that would return for weeks or if he'd walk. He fought hard to get through this horrible ordeal.

Nine weeks later he's not only walking & climbing up on the bed, bowel & bladder function have returned. We hope Squiggy will be with us for a lot of years to come. He has of course used up about 7 of his 9 lives!!!! 

I was very distraught when Squiggy was injured and every person I spoke to at Embrace treated me like family with kind words of encouragement and lots of help submitting my claim. The claim was processed quickly. Thanks Embrace, you helped us to save Squiggy's life. 

Sadly, we got this update just 4 days later.

Unfortunately my story doesn't have a happy ending. Squiggy had a bladder infection that couldn't be controlled. He went from great one minute almost dead the next. He spent the last two weeks in the hospital where I thought he should stay till the infection was gone but no amount of medicine could fix him. I really thought if he stayed in the hospital he'd get better I'm heartbroken! I took him home and put a christmas collar on him wraped him in a christmas blanket and buryed him in a spot under the bay window in front of our house where he loved to hang out and watch the world go by. Thanks for everything.

Tracy's coverage included an annual maximum of $10,000, which Squiggy needed in totality.

RIP brave Squiggy.

Accident Month - Rocket uses two of her nine lives in a month Part 2

Continuing yesterday's post on Rocket's accidental "adventures", here's Accident #2.

[Just so you know in advance, no kittens were harmed in the making of this story.]

Last Monday night, I was multi-tasking the laundry downstairs with some blogging and email catch up in my office upstairs. It was about 11:30pm.

You know the routine: buzzer goes, run downstairs, fold prior load of laundry, pull next load from washer to dryer, put in next washer load, press go, run back upstairs again... repeat 5 times (kiddy laundry does go on and on and on...)

So, all this runnning up and down stairs gets the kittens all in a quiver. What is this very exciting activity and how can we get into mischief in it? And so they bound up and down the stairs, boing in and out of every laundry basket, and chase every sock thrown into the laundry hamper. Such an adventure!

And Rocket keeps jumping in the dryer. Why not? It's warm and cozy and seems like a very good idea to a 4 month old kitten. 

Every time she'd do it, I'd have horrors of a tumbling kitten while I pulled her out and put her across the laundry room. But she'd soon be back in as I continued folding the laundry. So I pull her out for the last time after the last piece of clothing was done, then I put the clothes from the washer into the dryer, closed the door and switched the dryer on.

[Remember, no kittens were harmed in the making of this story - just in case you were getting anxious.]

So, as I was loading the washer with yet more laundry, I couldn't help notice the clunking in the dryer. What is that noise? Did I wash one of the girls' shoes by mistake? I finished loading the laundry, put in the detergent, started the laundry and that noise kept bonking and clunking.

[no kittens were hurt in this story - just remember that]

So I opened the door to see what was going on and my heart literally stopped - Rocket rocketed out from under the towels "me-elping" (no other word to describe it). I'll never forget it.

I was rooted to the spot. I felt ill. My life rushed before my eyes. I ran after her.

By the time I caught up with a very frightened kitten, her heart was beating out of her chest, her face was so afraid. I picked her up and her breathing slowed down and the purring began. I felt so awful; what had I done? How could I have been so careless? How could I not have realized immediately what had happened? (I still don't know how she got back in - must have been when I reached into the washer to pull out the last sock.)

Rocket tumbled around in the dryer for at least 10 seconds. FOR AT LEAST 10 SECONDS :(

Miraculously, Rocket is fine. She was lining up for food with Rosie when I put her down just a few minutes later as if nothing had happened. I do marvel at the elasticity of kittens (but do not test this at home - take my word for it).

Boy oh boy though, I'll be locking the kittens up early when I do laundry next time. An angel was watching over Rocket that day; there's no guarantees she'll be there next time around.

So Rocket, please don't give me any cause for Part 3 of this series. We love you in one piece with no broken bits. No more kitty adventures. We like a quiet life.

Accident Month at Embrace - literally. I think January is going to be Wellness Month...

Running Theme with our Embraced pet parents

Perhaps we shouldn't order the milk-bone flavored paper anymore? Within the last 2 weeks, we received these 2 emails:

Hello Chris,
Sorry for the delay. I had every intention on signing that paperwork and sending it back, except I really believe that my dog ate it. I know I know, that excuse doesn't even fly with grade schoolers, but I found little bits of it and half of an envelope. Would it be posible for you to remail it or email it to me again. Thanks.
george

And...

Hello!
Thank you so much for checking on the check. :)
We DID receive it but then my husband left it on the table and, this is true, the dog chewed it up. The puppy decided that since it was for his vet. services, it was his check to destroy!
Sigh...
Would it be possible to tear the check up completely and be reissued a new one or perhaps to do the instructions below and setup our account for direct deposit?
Thanks again...you guys have been so wonderful!!!

Dog ate your Embrace paperwork anyone?

Friday Fuzz: Rocket and Rosie

Why not lighten the mood today with the Rocket and Rosie show:

• 
• 
• 

The first one is Rocket age 3 weeks snuggling at the Embrace office; the second is at Halloween - Rosie age 10 weeks; the third is Rocket and Rosie snuggling on the couch.

I'll try to get some video next week. If they'll stay in one place that is!

Patellar Luxation Surgery: Destino, A Chihuahua Mix with Bilateral Luxating Patellas

You might not have imagined that jumping off the couch for a little dog could be the start of big knee issues but poor Destino was destined for 2 major knee surgeries before he reached the age of 4.

Patellar luxation is a slipping knee (the patella) that can move out of position too easily. It's measured in grades (grade 1 being the least problem, grad 4 being the worst) and is treated with pain medication in less severe cases and corrected with surgery for the higher grades. 

After Destino jumped off the couch one day, he started to limp a little and after a veterinary exam, his owners discovered he had a 3.5 grade out of 4 patellar luxation in his left knee as well as a grade 2 of 4 patellar luxation in the right knee. His pet parents had no idea.

Destino had two surgeries over 2 years and is now back to his old self.

Here's an example of the costs associated with the most recent surgery on the right knee performed in Parkland, Florida in January 2009.

ITEM	BILLED AMOUNT
Baytril 68mg Qty 7	$ 21.70
Clavamox 125mg Qty 14	$ 16.80
Tramadol 50mg  Qty 21	$ 21.00
Metacam 10ml	$ 26.50
CBC	$ 43.00
General Health Profile IH	$ 84.00
Electrocardiogram Pre-Anesthetic	$ 60.00
IV Catheter	$ 45.00
Fluid Intravenous per Day	$ 38.00
Infusion Pump daily	$    5.00
Anesthesia General	$   105.00
Anesthesia 1/2 hr	$ 50.00
Anesthesia Electronic Monitoring	$ 28.00
Buprinex Inj x4	$   108.00
Baytril Inj	$ 37.00
Hospitalization per night	$ 40.70
Daily Dr. Exam	$ 21.40
Metacam Inj	$ 36.00
Infectious Control Fee	$    5.00
E-Collar	$ 19.50
Surgery	$    1,100.00
	$    1,911.60

Destino's refund check was $1,463.04 after a $200 deductible and 10% copay (the Prescription Drugs & Dental Illness add-on was not chosen for Destino's policy) for a monthly premium of $24.76.

Related posts:
Guest post: A General Discussion of Orthopedic Issues in Dogs
Guest Post: Four Most Common Orthopedic Problems in Dogs
Top 10 ways to prevent orthopedic issues in dogs
How much did you say patella luxation cost to treat in my dog?

Embrace pet: Tahlula, a seven year old rescued Rottweiler

For some blogging fun, we're going to highlight some of our staff pets. Today, we’re here with Tahlula, a seven year old Rottweiler, to talk about her life as an Embrace pet.

Q: Hello, Tahlula. Tell us a bit about yourself.
A: Hi, My name is Tahlula, but everyone calls me “Wu”.

Q: So, Wu, what do you like to do for fun?
A: I like naps in my little bed near the space heater, but when it’s warm outside, I prefer lounging outside in the sun, watching the birds in the garden.

Q: So you’re pretty laid back then?
A: Yes, sometimes my body is sore, so I like to nap more than most. I had to have surgery in both of my knees a few years ago when I tore my cruciate ligaments, whatever those are! Mom said that her $50 shelter dog ended up getting $4,000 bionic knees, but I feel much better with them. They still have some arthritis and I also have hip dysplasia, but I take pain relievers for that now, and it doesn’t bother me much. I guess it’s just part of being a senior Rottie.

Q: So you think that these issues are because you’re a Rottweiler?
A: Well, probably. My back pain is also part of being a big dog.

Q: Ow, a back problem?
A: My mom says it’s called IVDD. It means one of my discs slip and put pressure on my spinal cord, which is not only painful, but scary. The first time it happened, I couldn’t walk so well. I would fall over like a baby deer, but I didn’t even realize my legs weren’t working.

Q: What do you do when that happens?
A: My people give steroids, and they drove me to a vet’s office that gave me physical therapy in the underwater treadmill to help me walk again. I got to go every week for a long time! Everyone said that was much better than another surgery, and I agree. It’s on youtube if you want to see.

Q: So you liked therapy?
A: Yes-it helped me pump up my big muscles. Rottweilers look funny with little scrawny legs. Plus, I liked it when they used the blow dryer on me afterwards.

Q: How did the back injury happen?
It flares up if I get too excited and put strain on my neck. Like, a couple of weeks ago I saw a cute puppy on our walk, and we played, but then I was paying for it the next day. Mom says I can’t wear collars anymore-only harnesses, so I don’t strain.

Q: But otherwise you’re life is pretty normal?
A: Yep, it’s good. I can do most everything I want, including visit my friends at the Embrace office. They’re nice, and some of them share their lunches with me. But, that’s off the record, because I’m not supposed to tell my mom.

Q: You like to eat? What is your favorite food?
A: Oh yes! I love fruits and vegetables. My favorites are bananas and apples but most of all green tomatoes! Speaking of which, I should be going. I think I need to remind my mom that it’s almost time for dinner...

Thank you Wu for joining us today. I've got some noms at my desk when you come to visit - we won't tell mom :)