In this podcast, Dr. Bill and Dr. Larry discuss how PurinaCare® pet health insurance helped a pet owner with the serious issue of Mast Cell Cancer.

This is for anyone who has had to deal with cancer in their lives. Having insight into how it works in pets, and how pet health insurance coverage can be extremely helpful in defraying costs, is something worth knowing.

Oftentimes pet people wonder what the pet health insurance industry allows, and Dr. Larry talks openly about that on this blog, regularly. Read his posts and visit our podcast page to hear stories about claims and more on the issue of pet health insurance.

In this discussion, we listen to Dr. Bill describe a claim made by the owner of a dog, named Piper, with hip dysplasia. This is a common concern of pet people who have larger dogs, and Dr. Larry has discussed this issue over at Scratchings & Sniffings, if you would like even more information.

Dr. Bill's claim story is from a family in CO, which is where we'll be moving next week. Isn't life interesting, that way? You'll learn what hip dysplasia is, that it's a chronic condition, but also what the claim on the PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance policy covered for this dog (hint: it's a lot!). Listen up...

Pet insurance companies put limits on how much they will pay out on claims. They do it in three different ways.

Per incident limits apply to specific issues like an ear infection or a broken leg. Some companies won't pay claims beyond a certain amount for a specific problem.

Annual limits are limits on how much an insurer will pay out over the course of a policy year in total and lifetime limits refer to how much they will pay over the course of the pet's life.

If you are considering pet insurance there are a couple of watch outs. The first would be a relatively low lifetime limit or annual limits. You buy insurance to protect your pet and your finances. Some conditions can be expensive and require lifetime care. There is at least one popular plan out there that limits you to $8000 annually. And with this plan if you get into a serious problem requiring ongoing care they can exclude coverage for that serious issue in subsequent years. This plan also has per incident limits. It is relatively inexpensive, though. 

A lot of us love pure bred dogs and cats, but they do have a higher incidence of hereditary conditions than their mixed breed cousins. I'm corresponding with a woman now that has a Wheaten Terrier with Glaucoma secondary to hereditary lens luxation.

She's looking at some pretty pricey surgery by a veterinary eye specialist to save her dog's sight. I wish she had a PurinaCare policy. We cover hereditary conditions. In her case we couldn't cover it now because it is pre-existing.

At PurinaCare we will cover hereditary conditions that are not pre-existing. Hip dysplasia is a common hereditary condition in lots of large breed dogs. In many cases the signs of hip dysplasia don't show up until a dog is three or four years old. In some cases of severe hip dysplasia signs can show up earlier than that.

I was curious about how the pet health insurance industry is doing so I did a Google search (have yet to get used to Bing, but I hear it's a good engine, also)...and anyway, I ended up on the  About.com: Veterinary Medicine site which has loads of information on this topic.

Just for fun, I took Dr. Janet Tobiassen Crosby, DVM's poll, which asks: Do you have insurance for your pets? My answer had to be "no, but maybe someday" as I will have it when we get a new dog, but I don't have it now. (btw, David Goodnight, President and Chief Operating Officer for PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance has an interview on Dr. Tobiassen Crosby's site).

Once you take the poll, you're offered the results and I was a bit surprised by the results.

Here are the possible answers: (1) Yes, for all my pets, (2) Yes, for some of my pets, (3) No, but maybe someday, (4) No, it is a waste of money, (5) Trying to find a plan that fits and frustrated!

Interestingly, the biggest response was for #5. The second biggest response was my answer, and the number three response was, "Yes, for all of my pets."

This highlightsa lot of what we talk about on this blog. We talk about how to choose a good pet health insurance plan and we discuss what comes with your PurinaCare policy, depending on what policy you choose. Dr. Larry and Dr. Bill have given us ample stories in a number of podcasts about pets that were able to be properly treated for disease, accidents, or emergencies, because their owners invested in pet health insurance with PurinaCare.

The fact that folks are still looking for good pet health insurance but they are frustrated, tells me we are on the right track in describing the pet health plans offered by PurinaCare and how they work. And, it also tells me that we need to get the word out better, to help people understand what their insurance policy actually covers.

Interestingly, the "no, it's a waste of money" answer was the second least clicked. And, "yes, for some of my pets" was the second least clicked reponse, which could mean folks insure their cats and dogs but not their birds. I do not know if there is bird pet health insurance. I know that PurinaCare is for cats and dogs.

While there are not a lot of answers to this poll (only 22), the answers I saw gave me a strong feeling of encouragement. The pet community is definitely tuned in to the benefits of pet health insurance. Now, we just need to let them know we offer simple, easy-to-understand explanations of pet health insurance right here, on the PurinaCare blog.