<p>We just went through an ordeal with our 8 month old kitty that I thought I’d share.</p>
<p>We adopted our kitty, Mina, from a shelter when she was two months old and she has been just the sweetest little girl - very affectionate, loves to be held and carried.
Mina had been given vaccinations by the shelter vet before we got her, and got some additional vaccinations from our vet when she was four months old, with no problems.</p>
<p>A couple of weeks ago I took her in for her final vaccine, for rabies. She seemed fine for a day or so, and then gradually began to become very lethargic and stopped eating and drinking. Four days after the vaccine I took her back to the vet because she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for more than 24 hours. She had begun hiding behind furniture and wouldn’t come out. When I took her in to the vet she could barely pick her head up off the examining table, and when the vet palpitated her abdomen she practically snarled at him.</p>
<p>He kept her at his clinic for four days and she seemed slightly better after she got some IV fluids and an antibiotic. Unfortunately, her blood tests came back showing that she was extremely anemic, and she would need blood transfusions. At this point he was stymied as to what was causing the symptoms because apparently it is highly unusual to have this kind of a reaction to the rabies vaccine. (There are some other rare reactions, but anemia isn’t one of them.)</p>
<p>He sent her to a veterinary internal medicine specialist, who was also baffled. The specialist vet gave her two kitty blood transfusions, did ultrasound and discovered her spleen was enlarged, and did a whole bunch of other tests which ruled out feline leukemia and blood parasites. His final diagnosis was that the rabies vaccine somehow caused her immune system to attack her red blood cells, so he put her on steroids to suppress the immune response.</p>
<p>Fortunately, all of this treatment saved the kitty’s life, but it came at a cost of almost $4000. Luckily for us, we decided to buy pet health insurance a few months ago, so we will only end up paying $400 instead. When we signed up for the policy I kind of thought it was a waste of money, but not any more. While the insurance is relatively cheap ($20/month for Mina) for young animals, I’ve decided to add our two older animals to the policy too.
Pet health insurance - $20 a month
Not having to watch the kitty die because the treatment is too expensive - priceless.</p>
<p>Glad that your kitty is ok! I know how those vet bills can mount! We did not have insurance for our cat and when he was about 2 he had some weird illness…ended up costing us over $2,000. Yikes. He’s no longer with us, but we have a 5 year old dog that I keep meaning to look into pet insurance for. It sounds like you had a good experience with your company - can you share the name of the company you used and any other specifics (i.e. type of policy)?
Thanks!</p>
<p>I got the policy through Trupanion, which is a subsidiary of PetCo.
The claim is still pending, so I haven’t yet been reimbursed. If I were them I would investigate to make sure it is legitimate, since we’ve only had the policy a few months and this is a pretty large claim. </p>
<p>They base the premium on the age of the animal when you sign up, and it remains mostly level throughout the life of the pet. They say they only make increases based on the inflation of veterinary costs in your area, not on the age of your pet as it gets older.
We got a policy with a 0 deductible because it was only a couple of dollars more a month than one with a larger deductible. For the older animals we will probably get a deductible because the price difference is greater. For our 11 year old dog the premium is around $45 a month. Also, pre-existing conditions are not covered, nor are vet bills for ordinary care.</p>
<p>Glad you had the pet insurance, but so sorry your kitty was sick and you had to use it.</p>
<p>We’ve considered buying pet insurance in the past, but never have. It is sort of a gamble - like disability insurance for a human. You buy it, hoping we will never have to use it, but it is nice to have if you need it!</p>
<p>We have had six cats and one dog during our 30 years of married life that have lived (to this date) a total of 56 years years. If you multiply that by 12 months and by $20 a month, that would be nearly $13,500 in premiums. The actual total would be higher in that the premium increases with age.</p>
<p>With our seven pets, we have only had one have a significant vet bill - one of the cats we have now (we have a 13 year old dog, 8 year old cat and 5 year old cat). Last Christmas she developed acute kidney failure due to a blockage caused by a kidney stone - almost unheard of with a female cat. She spent 5 days in the “ICU” at the specialty animal hospital 100 miles from us; she saw internal medicine, nephrology, and neurology veterinary specialists; had a catheter, IV, a lot of lab work, and sonograms. The vet didn’t give us much hope she would have a good outcome, and we ended up with a $3,500 bill. The good news is she survived and thrives! How much is that worth - priceless!</p>
<p>Y’all are obviously pet lovers so I will ask you for advice. My son’s dog, 1-year old Australian Shepherd mix, was hit by a car yesterday and broke his hind leg. It is broken near his hip so could not put a cast on it. He had surgery this morning requiring a pin and plates and grafting bone from a front leg. We live in a rural area so the vet bill will be less than some areas, but still will be staggering for my 20-year-old son who doesn’t earn a lot of money. Against my better judgment, I have become attached to this dog and I am heartsick and worried about him. He will not be able to play or go on walks for 8 weeks. Have any of you had any experience with this kind of injury? I am worried that we will not be able to keep him from “playing.” Any tips on caring for him? He comes home from the hospital Monday and I leave Tuesday to go out of town, so I am also worried that son (who loves the dog dearly) will not be a good mommy.</p>
<p>I’m glad your kitty is doing better.
We had two cats- who lived to 19 & 21 & a lab who lived to 16.
Didn’t have pet insurance on any. Although we also only gave them ( very) minimal vaccinations.
None of them ran loose- so that was a cost efficient decision for us.
Our dog had her spleen removed at 14 years, after hemorrhage from a pain medication for osteoarthritis. That was expensive- but each pet got one big medical treatment & she didn’t need hers till she was 14!
Our older cat had laser surgery for a sarcoma on her nose when she was about 10, she was a calico cat that liked to sit in the sun.
:)</p>
<p>musicmom, you have to ask the vet a lot of questions at the discharge. They usually provide good instructions for caring about their patients. We followed the discharge instructions religiously when our dog had spinal surgery, and eeverything (knock on wood!) turned out OK. DH even took a couple of days of vacation to care for the poor pooch. I’m sure that you will be asked to keep your dog confined to a small area, so he will not have too much space for bouncing around. I will see if I can get a hold of my sister tomorrow and ask her for any advice.</p>
<p>musicmom, as BunenBurner has said follow instructions to the tee.Even one short run can undue any surgical repair. i have a lab with alot of joint problems hence multiple surgeries.We only use board certified ortho specialist.It is a long eight weeks and pup will start feeling better and want to run resist any urge to let off leash until given the okay by vet.Also unless dog is with you do not leave the collar off or stitches will be licked and wound disrupted.I didn’t have these problems but very well could have if I let my emotions take over.I did switch hard elizabethian for soft one and that worked well.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your replies. If the dog were not so big (I can’t lift him), I would not have so many doubts about caring for him. If he were little, I would carry him around on a pillow. lol. Poor fellow just got neutered a month ago. The vet said he destroyed the collar thing before we ever brought him home. He did not bother his incision much and it healed with no problem. I just hate to think of him being in pain. Geez, I’m a softie. Just for the record, we do not normally allow him to run loose–he sleeps in the house at night and stays in the backyard during the day.</p>
<p>To the OP, I’m glad your kitty is ok. That must have been so scary for you to not know what was going on with him.</p>
<p>I doubt dog will be out in yard by himself. Typical recovery is out on leash for 5 minutes (just enough to potty) then back in house.We set family room as recovery room.Gated it off.We took turns sleeping there with him.They can’t do stairs so he could not come up to rest of house.We ate meals on tray tables there ect.It is the only room that had one step from garage so it was the recovery room.They do amazing well.You just can’t feel to sorry so you fudge on the instructions.</p>
<p>musicmom1215, Our crazy AustralianShepherd/BorderCollie mix had surgery for his knee. We tried keeping him in the crate like the doctor told us, but he would go crazy and I seriously thought he might flip the crate over. Finally, we put him in a small bathroom and he was better there. He still cried to come out, but we kept him busy with peanut butter filled kongs, rawhide chews and frozen chicken broth. He made a very quick recovery - I hope the same is true for your son’s dog. Stock up and hopefully your son will be able to handle it. Good luck!!</p>
<p>DS picked dog up today, but took him to his dad’s house (where S lives part time), so I haven’t seen the dog. I leave town tomorrow so probably won’t see dog until I get back. DS said he is able to “hop” around and is not hurting. He probably just told me that so I won’t worry. Thanks for all the encouragement. I’ll check back with an update next week when I get back.</p>
<p>This has been the week from H***. The dog got injured last Friday, had surgery Saturday, came home Monday (but not to my house) and I left town on Tuesday. On Wednesday, my DS calls me and says he is interviewing for a new job on Friday 200 miles from our hometown and if he gets it, he starts Monday. Well, he got it, he’s gone, and I’m left to care for the dog for a week. In son’s defense, he has made arrangements to kennel him with his friends who have a “pet resort,” but they are out of town this week, plus dog still has to take a pill each morning and I have to take him to get staples out Saturday. I can’t seem to stop crying. I don’t know if it’s because DS has moved so suddenly or if I am worried about keeping the dog from hurting himself. Or maybe I’m just tired from my trip. Dog has been licking his leg and staples today. I put his cone collar on and he went crazy, so I took it off for fear he would hurt himself. Dog has been sleeping in son’s room (with son), but I don’t know whether to shut him in there alone or let him sleep in my room. Son’s room is smaller so he would be more contained. Fortunately, it is an option for me to take him to work with me where I could watch him so he doesn’t mess with his incision, but I don’t know what to do. Sorry to type such a book, but I don’t have any chocolate to make me feel better.</p>
<p>Well, it gets worse. I just came back from store after buying rawhide chews and dogfood. I set the bag of dogfood on the floor in the living room while I put some other things away, and now the dog is “guarding” it and growling at me when I come near it. I have never heard him growl at anything before. Great. It’s going to be a long week.</p>
<p>I just wanted to update this thread with a couple of things. The kitty is still doing well. As I speak she is peering out the window trying to pounce on some dried leaves blowing by on our porch, so she’s definitely back to her old self.</p>
<p>The insurance company paid the claim after verifying her medical history, so I am very happy with them.</p>
<p>A few days ago I received a call from a manager at the insurance company (Trupanion) who apparently googled his company name and found this thread. They tracked me down through the real life information they have and asked if I would mind speaking with their public relations person. I did, and they will be writing up our story for publication. My baby kitty will be famous ;-)</p>
<p>So glad for you and your kitty! Next thing you know, he will be giving autographs…or paw prints!</p>
<p>My dog is doing fine. Took him to the vet to get his staples out this morning. He still can’t be outside without me attached. Since the dogfood has been put away, he is back to his old, sweet self. Don’t know what he was thinking. He is driving me crazy, though. He’s like a toddler who can’t entertain himself.</p>
<p>@musicmom - they are like our furry kids, aren’t they. Our other cat got out last night and didn’t come home till dawn. I kept getting up and calling for him. It’s a lot like having a difficult teenager…</p>