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Advances in veterinary care  have given us the opportunity to keep our pet’s healthier and living longer than ever before. However, these advances don’t come cheap. They come at a cost; a very real cost that can adversely affect a pet owner’s wallet. That’s where pet insurance enters the picture.
Pet Health Insurance Versus Human Health Insurance
Most of us understand the value of health insurance for ourselves and our families. After all, even a short hospital stay for a minor medical procedure can run into the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. It makes sense, then, that purchasing health insurance for our pets might be a wise decision as well. And it might very well be.
Still, there are very real differences between human health insurance and pet health insurance. Understanding these differences is important in making an intelligent decision about insuring your pet.
Pet Health Insurance: What Company? What Policy?
Currently, there are several companies that offer pet health insurance. On top of that, there are many different types of policies available. There is an insurance option available to fit the needs of almost any pet owner but it is important for pet owners to understand exactly what they are purchasing, what the policy covers and what it doesn’t.
Common Pet Health Insurance Questions Answered
We’re fortunate in this episode of Animal Cafe to have Laura Bennett joining us. Laura is the CEO and co-founder of Embrace Pet Insurance. In this interview with Animal Cafe’s Dr. Lorie Huston, Laura shares some of her insights about pet health insurance. She talks about her experience being the first pet insurance actuary in the US and discusses the ins and outs of purchasing and taking advantage of pet health insurance.
This entry was posted in Lorie Huston, Pet Health, Pet Products and tagged pet health insurance, pet insurance, pets on June 4, 2012 by Lorie Huston, DVM.
Lost Pets: Incredible Journeys, Travel Tales
Guest Post by Quentin Baker
A dog is a man’s best friend, so the saying goes. Well yes, quite so; he doesn’t text back, leaves without a word, and occasionally pees in the corner of your living room. But wandering pets very often do come back. In fact, many animals have the homing instinct, even snails.
There are many tales of animals returning to their owners across incredible distances. Perhaps the legends began with The Incredible Journey, the children’s book by Sheila Burnford, which told the tale of a Labrador, a bull terrier and a Siamese cat who trekked across the US to get back home.
Not all animals go home; many go in the other direction.  Our dog often made the short run from our local park to the vets’ practice; even my childhood pets were hypochondriacs. Indeed, a penchant for paint buckets made him quite easy to trace, and allowed me to spot when family members had failed to scoop that poop on his afternoon walk, as the pavement would be decorated with bright blue little round dots.
Now when pets leave home, we have a distinct advantage: thanks to technology, we may be able to find them again – unlike Luath, Bodger and Tao, these modern day travellers were found and returned thanks to the power of the microchip.
Colorado cat in Manhattan
The United States is so large that it’s no wonder so many cats (and people) never travel. Why bother, when a cat can make the 1,800 mile journey from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to bustling New York City, without having to go abroad?  Willow, the calico cat, took five years to make the journey – and we can only imagine what adventures she must have had along the way.
Fortunately the cat had been microchipped, enabling the savvy New Yorker who picked her up to have her identified at the Animal Care and Control Shelter. Her owners thought their pet had been eaten by coyotes, and were so glad she had been recovered that a happy Jamie Squires told AP, “If I could microchip my kids, I would.”
Eight years is a long time to be without your beloved pooch. But it took Petunia, an American Staffordshire terrier-pit bull mix, eight years to cover almost 3,000 miles, while the rest of us were spending the decade worrying about climate change, the Middle East and the economy. Despite not having seen her pet since 2003, Kristen Pruitt from Virginia in the US recognised her pet instantly from photos, after she was picked up 2,709 miles away near an air force base in California. The Animal Care Centre was equally baffled to find, after scanning the microchip of the canine adventurer, that she was registered on the other side of the country.
So don’t panic if your pet leaves home or decides to take a gap year. Having them microchipped –a scanable chip about the size of a grain of rice, containing identification information, implanted just beneath the skin – seems to be the sensible option. Just make sure you’ve got pet insurance for when they return, otherwise your veterinary bills might find you putting your dog back on the train.
Pet Insurance and other industry guest posts help Animal Cafe support itself.
This entry was posted in Animal Welfare, Mary Haight and tagged lost pets, pet insurance on February 16, 2012 by Mary Haight.
Categories Select Category Animal Welfare Breeding and Reproduction Edie Jarolim Eric Goebelbecker Guest Post Kelly Gorman Dunbar Leadership/Motivation/Counseling Lorie Huston Mary Haight Pet Conferences Pet Foods Pet Health Pet Products Pet Travel Steve Dale Training and Behavior Uncategorized
Pet Health Care and Prevention
Pet health care is not something pet parents want to skimp on. We know prevention is key to continued good health and lower vet bills. So why is the trend showing less visits to the vets? Watch Steve Dale's video5/27–7/2013
Fleas, Ticks, Mosquitoes Want Your Dog!
Fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are soon to be out in force, looking for a meal. What will you be doing about prevention meds for your pets this year? Watch Steve Dale as he chats with Dr Ernie Ward on visiting your vet.4/26/2013 – 5/3/2012
Rescue Shelter Pets from Testing Labs
You may not know that more than 30 States allow your local animal shelter to sell pets to research and medical testing labs. Listen in as attorney & author Allie Phillips gives us the highlights and lowdown on this controversy.4/09/2013 – 4/16/2013
Dog Play - What Games Are Your Rainy Day Favorites?
Carol Bryant of Fidose of Reality stopped by to share a game she plays with Dex, her cocker spaniel, at home and on the road. Dog play is great fun and an excellent bonding experience - listen in!3/29/2013 – 4/7/2013