Pet Insurance: Is it the Correct Choice for me?

Insuring your pet is still a new phenomenon in veterinary medicine. Many of our clients don’t know that medical insurance is available for their pets. More and more companies are getting into this market and consumers really have few avenues to research what insurance policy may be right for them and unbiased advice is hard to find. Veterinary medicine has advanced quite dramatically in the last 20 years. We have gone from hoping clients try heartworm prevention to offering MRI for laser disk surgery for back pain, chemotherapy, radiation cancer treatment, and the list goes on. Unfortunately the cost of these procedures has progressed along with our ability to treat difficult, technically demanding problems. In spite of the fact that veterinary medical pricing is a bargain in comparison to human medical costs, eventually we will come to a cost crossroads in veterinary medicine. We can either decrease the level of care we give our patients to decrease cost to our clients, or we can find ways to offset the cost of veterinary care to our clients so that they can afford to give their four legged loved ones the care they deserve. I believe insuring our pets will be the most rational choice.

Insurance is by definition “an offset of potential future risk.” When we insure our car or home, we are hoping to offset catastrophic financial risk that we cant afford to incur. Pet insurance is no different. Many people, both within and outside of veterinary medicine, are concerned that adopting insurance will cause an upward spiral of medical costs as human medicine has seen. That is not a risk with the present structure of pet insurance. Pet insurance reimburses the policy holder directly and not veterinary clinics. Since the financial relationship is not with the veterinary hospital, veterinarians are not bound by any contractual relationship to the insurer. Therefore no overhead costs will be incurred by the hospital and then transferred back to the client via fee increases. This is really property-casualty insurance for your pet. Another benefit of this structure is that the insurance company will not dictate treatment options for your pet.

Contrary to human health insurance, pet insurance is far less complicated. Companies have made it simple to qualify pets for insurance and most policies are easy to understand and read through. I would recommend looking at policies that help provide coverage for the normal expenses pet owners absorb every year. Does this policy have an affordable rider that helps me pay for vaccines, bloodwork, dentistry, heartworm prevention, etc? Some companies will also allow these charges to count toward the deductibles of many plans.

Read the policies carefully and be careful! Not every company is reputable.

Veterinary medicine has come a long way in the past 20 years. We have more capabilities than ever before. The biggest issue veterinary medicine faces in the next 20 years will be finding legitimate means for our clients to be better afford this state of the art care. I believe some kind of insurance for pets will be the best way to afford the care our pets deserve.

Check out this comparison website for more information www.petinsurancecomparison.org

Some dangers, tips (and Help!) about your pet’s dental health

Infectious disease is a common issue with our dogs and cats. Most of our clients are well aware of the advantages of vaccination for infectious problems like parvovirus and distemper(dogs), and feline leukemia (cats). What most clients don’t realize is that the most common infectious disease that our dogs and cats suffer from is periodontal (dental) disease.

Periodontal disease starts early in a pets life and continues throughout his or her lifetime. Foul breath, gum disease, and tooth loss are just some of the problems encountered by pets because of periodontal disease. Bacteria, usually a species of Porphyrimonus, will attack the gum and then gain access to the periodontal ligament that attaches the tooth to the jaw bone. They start to eat that attachment and cause bone loss.

They can eat so much bone that fractures (breaks) of the jaw can occur.

It would be bad enough if the issues were just confined to the mouths of these patients. Many of these pets also have conditions that can be worsened by periodontal disease. These bacteria gain access to the circulatory system of these patients and cause problems at distant sites. Sites like the heart valves (valvular insufficiency) and heart lining (endocardititis) kidneys, and liver can be negatively impacted by this bacterial disease. So when periodontal disease is addressed we are really helping prevent or address systemic disease as well as localized disease in the mouth.

Riverchase Animal Hospital runs dentistry specials every February and September to help our clients better address their pets periodontal needs for less cost. We are filling up fast for February so if your pet needs some care please give us a call and take advantage of our special pricing.

If you are uncertain if your pets needs a dental cleaning please call to set up a free dental exam to assess your pet's level of need.

Ask the Doctor — Holiday Edition

With the holidays come fun, merriment and many times an emergency room visit for our family pets. Below are some but, not all of the most common holiday hazards your pet may contact through the holiday (ie eating) season.

1. Chocolate. Chocolate contains a substance, theobromine, which can be toxic to pets. Baking chocolate has the highest amount of theobromine (390 mg/ounce), followed by semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate (44 mg/ounce of theobromine) and chocolate-flavored treats. Pets with chocolate toxicity can have vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, very fast heartbeats with abnormal rhythms and may die. Mild clinical signs occur when the pet has eaten 9 mg of theobromine per pound of body weight (90 mg for a 10-pound dog, or about 1/4 ounce of baking chocolate or roughly 2 ounce of semisweet chocolate). Severe signs occur when the pet eats 18 mg of theobromine (180 mg for a 10-pound dog, or 1/2 ounce of baking chocolate or about four ounces of semisweet chocolate), Smith says. It may take up to four days for the theobromine to clear the pet's body.
2. Raisins and Grapes. These contain an as-yet-identified toxin that can cause acute kidney failure in susceptible pets. Although not all dogs and cats who eat raisins and grapes develop life-threatening kidney failure, amounts as little as 0.22 ounces of raisins per pound of the pet's body weight or 1.4 ounces of grapes per pound of body weight can cause toxicity, Smith says. For a 10-pound dog, that would be just over two ounces of raisins or 14 ounces of grapes. Kidney failure in these pets is manytimes irreversable.
3. Mistletoe, holly, Christmas rose and lilies. Mistletoe can be very toxic and even fatal if ingested by pets. Holly is considered moderately toxic, with vomiting and diarrhea most often seen in a pet who has ingested a small amount. When a large amount is ingested, holly can be fatal, Smith says. The Christmas rose is moderately toxic, with vomiting and diarrhea most often seen. Smith adds that lilies are potentially fatal to cats, as they can cause acute kidney failure. “Any lilly — Stargazer, Asian, Easter, Tiger and some day lilies can be fatal to cats. In fact, even the pollen from lilies can be hazardous to cats and kittens,” he adds.
   
   While many pet owners think that poinsettias are poisonous to cats and dogs, Smith says that this favorite holiday plant most often only causes stomach and intestinal irritation, with vomiting and diarrhea.
4. Tinsel, ribbon and string. Cats in particular are attracted to the shiny tinsel, ribbons and string that adorn holiday trees and packages. However, these can be deadly if swallowed. Smith explains that these objects often become wrapped around the cat's tongue and are swallowed. When they enter the intestines, they can cause the intestines to perforate, often with deadly results for the cat. Cats with these foreign bodies can have several signs: They may vomit, not eat, try unsuccessfully to defecate and become very lethargic. Smith cautions that cat owners who see their cats trying to defecate a piece of tinsel or string not pull on it, as serious consequences can develop.
5. Toy parts. Dogs in particular are prone to picking up and eating small toy parts that are left strewn around the house, Smith says. These parts often are too large to be defecated and can cause life-threatening intestinal obstructions. “It’s not uncommon for us to see one or two dogs each holiday season who have eaten part of a child’s toy and must undergo surgery to remove it,” he adds.

Make the holidays fun but safe for all your family members. No one should celebrate at the emergency vets office!

What is Heartworm Disease?

Many clients have asked me “why do I vaccinate my dog or cat every year with everything when I dont do that to myself or my kids?”

Until the American Animal Hospital Association came out with Veterinary-driven guidelines for vaccination in 2006, all we had were manufacturers recommendations for re-vaccination. These recommendations were for yearly vaccination for all diseases (rabies as the only exception). Now we have studies that show longer duration of protection for distemper parvovirus and hepatitis virus. At R.A.H., we have implemented the guidelines of the prestigious panel of veterinary disease experts and can now start to decrease vaccination without compromising the protection of our four-legged loved ones. Here at R.A.H. we strive to make medical recommendations for your pet with the most recent unbiased veterinary medical research.