Pet insurance

[Ron & Dee]

Our boo got sick a couple of days ago right after we got back from a five day camping trip to Disney World, maybe to much Mickey Mouse. His temp went up to 105 and he became very lethargic so we took him to the Vet. They had to keep him over night until his temp was back to normal. They did all of the blood test and various other test to find out what was causing his fever but could not find anything other than he evidently had some kind of infection that was causing the high temp, probably some kind of unknown virus.

That bill was over 3 hundred dollars. We have spent close to a thousand dollars on Blackie so far this year, and close to a hundred dollars on Shadow. Two years ago we spent almost 5000 thousand dollars on our beloved Ginger.

If we would have had insurance it would have defrayed part of the cost of our veterinary bills. Does anyone out there have any recommendation on insurance policies.

Thanks,

Ron

PS Does anybody have suggestion on a good way to administer pills to cats? Boo is going to be on antibiotics for about ten days, one pill every 12 hours. It takes two of us to man handle him to poke the pill down his throat.

[Ron & Dee]

Our boo got sick a couple of days ago right after we got back from a five day camping trip to Disney World, maybe to much Mickey Mouse. His temp went up to 105 and he became very lethargic so we took him to the Vet. They had to keep him over night until his temp was back to normal. They did all of the blood test and various other test to find out what was causing his fever but could not find anything other than he evidently had some kind of infection that was causing the high temp, probably some kind of unknown virus.

That bill was over 3 hundred dollars. We have spent close to a thousand dollars on Blackie so far this year, and close to a hundred dollars on Shadow. Two years ago we spent almost 5000 thousand dollars on our beloved Ginger.

If we would have had insurance it would have defrayed part of the cost of our veterinary bills. Does anyone out there have any recommendation on insurance policies.

Thanks,

Ron

PS Does anybody have suggestion on a good way to administer pills to cats? Boo is going to be on antibiotics for about ten days, one pill every 12 hours. It takes two of us to man handle him to poke the pill down his throat.

[machman72]

I've had luck in the past crushing the pill and mixing it with a small amount of canned food, or tuna.

[David K]

Our Mittens is on a heart pill that she has to take each day. Prior to giving her any food each day, we take the pill and put it in a very small amount of the wet food -- about the size of a pea and she takes that from the end of our fingers -- kinda press it towards her and she takes it all in one bite and swallows. Sometimes she will lose the pill and we make another small pea size ball and usually sucessful that time. You might try this -- especially if Boo has a favorite wet food you can work with. Mittens has been taking two different types of pills daily for over 2 years now.

[TXiceman]

You can get anything down our two schnauzers with a dab of chunky peanut butter on it.

Ken

[Brigadoon]

Ron & Dee,
We insist on liquid antibiotics for our cats. Then one of us wraps the cat tightly in a bath towel and holds on while the other uses the dropper to shoot the liquid to the back of the cats throat. This causes the cat to swallow and the job is done.

Once we had a pill that we had to give to the cat, so we crushed the pill, added a small amount of water, sucked that combo up into the dropper or syringe (sp?) and used the same proceedure outlined above. That is why we now insist on liquid drugs if available.

By the way, what a big difference in vet fee's in other parts of the country! On our recent trip, we had to take one of our cats to the vet in Maryville, TN for a sinus infection. The exam and antibiotics cost us $48. In S.Fla that would have been no less than $120. I don't know where you are in FL, but it sounds like you suffer under the same vet price structure that we have here.

[Ron & Dee]

Thanks for all of the replies and suggestions

So far we have tried just about everything. Tried the covering it up with tuna, he ate the tuna and spit out the pill

Tried crushing it up and mixing it with one of his favorite treats, strawberry yogart, he turned his nose up at that.

This morning the wife disolved one in some chicken broth and put it in a syringe, that worked pretty well.

I might call the vet and see if they have a liquid antibotic that can be used instead of the pill. We have always used liquid medicine in the past and that works really well.

I'm worried about his sister Shadow, she has been giving him a hard time ever since he got back from his stay at the vets. She hisses and spats at him and doesn't want anything to do with him. They were always so very close, and would cuddle and hug each other if they were ever stressed out. She didn't want him to sleep with us the first night, but she let him sleep with us last night even though she wasn't happy about it.

Ron

[Brigadoon]

We had the same problem when we took one cat, Hurakan, to the vet leaving the other, LeMieux, at home. Upon bringing Hurakan home from the vet LeMieux hissed and spat at him. It took about 3 days for things to return to normal.

The next time we had to take him to the vet, one of us took LeMieux into another room while we loaded up Hurakan and put him into the car. Upon our return we again put LeMieux into another room while we unloaded Hurakan into the house. It worked like a charm. We have used this method several times and have not had the hissing problems since.

Since both cats go everywhere together, we think LeMieux was jealous when she did not get to go to the vet with Hurakan.

[Ron & Dee]

Terry,

We are in Tampa

We'll have to try that method of putting the other cat in a room while we leave with the other one. Boo and Shadow are brother and sister and usually get along with just an occasional spat, just like normal siblings

Shadow has always been a stuck up little "Brat". Her big brother follows her around everywhere and is pretty much laid back and happy go lucky.

Shadow hissed and spat at Blackie after she came home from her surgery, but I thought it was because Blackie looked a little strange with her hip shaved. It took her about a week to not treat Blackie like an outcast.

Thanks for the reply, at least I know maybe our Shadow is just acting normal

Ron

[Dalsn1]

Take a look at this http://www.akcpethealthcare.com/

But read the terms carefully. Most genetic conditions are excluded.

Steve

[K-Star]

We have VPI Pet insurance. Our 3yo lab was diagnosed with epilepsy earlier this year. i really expected that they would either deny coverage for next year or raise the rate so high that I would cancel. Surprisingly they didn't so we will renew. However, I won't keep the Routine Care coverage. The cost vs. what they reimburse doesn't make it worth while. It costs $ 144.00 and (for example) they only reimburse heartworm medication $ 25.00. Actually I have been considering putting 50 to 100 bucks in a special account each month and drop the insurance all together.

[Ron & Dee]

Thanks for the pet insurance suggestions.

Ron

[jfb]

The only policy I ever examined in any detail was limited to dogs under 7 y.o. Never looked again. Is this true for all policies now days?

[Dalsn1]

http://www.akcpethealthcare.com/

All applications for coverage are subject to underwriting. Our policies are available to US residents for dogs or cats aged between 8 weeks and under 9 years at start of policy.

Steve