Archive for » January, 2009 «

Noninfectious Reasons to get Health Insurance for the Family Cat

Most people do not to think about purchasing pet health insurance for the family cat simply because it seems as if cats never get sick. The veterinary concern most cat owners worry about is what will happen if their family cat gets run over by a passing car. Cat owners who keep their cats in the house don’t even worry about that. The truth is that there are many health problems that can cause the family cat to need to visit the family veterinarian and most of them are expensive. On the rare occasions cat owners find themselves facing an emergency vet bill they wish they had purchased a pet health care policy for their cat.

When humans think about cat allergies they automatically assume you are talking about humans who are allergic to cat hair what they don’t realize is that cats can have allergies all of their own that can plague them for the rest of their lives. Some cats suffer from inhalant allergies, these are allergies caused by inhalant allergens with are airborne particles that irritate the respiratory system. Inhalant allergies often make themselves apparent in asthma like symptoms. Some cats who suffer from inhalant allergies will also have skin lesions and experience hair loss. Dusty kitty litters, pollen, perfumes, cleaning sprays, deodorizers, dust, and smoke are all things your family cat might be allergic to.

A second type of allergy cats suffer from are called contact allergies with are allergies that are caused be physical contact with a substance that causes a physical reaction (often hives, swelling, and/or hair loss). Contact allergens a house cat might be exposed to are plants, carpet fresheners/cleaners, household cleaners, dust, synthetic fibers, wool fibers, some medicated skin crams, and ink.

If your cat has any type of allergies do not treat it with an over-the-counter anti-allergy medication without your veterinarian’s advice. Some cats require veterinary care for anal gland problems. Anal glands are glands are small glands in the anal sphincter muscle. Sometimes these glands become, impacted, injured, or infected and require veterinary care.

Veterinarians say that most cat constipation is caused by a hairball that is plugging up the cat’s system. If the hairball is extremely large your veterinarian may have to perform immediate surgery to remove it. Like their human owners some cats suffer from liver and kidney disease. Liver and kidney disease is most commonly seen in older cats although some younger cats will suffer liver disease that can be caused by parasites, medications, infections, cancers, and toxins. Blood tests are normally needed to accurately diagnosis kidney or liver disease.

A potentially lethal inflammation of the pancreas is called panaceatitis. Pancreatitis can be caused by infections, shock, infections, trauma, and/or metabolic disorders. Cats that have pancreatitis typically have abdominal pain, fever, elevated heart rate. If you suspect your cat is suffering from pancreatitis you can try with holding food and pushing water spiked with electrolytes. Your vet should be consulted immediately.
Pancreatitis is often associated with diabetes.

Using Multiple Pets to Find Pet Health Insurance for a Low Cost

You love your pets. They are the first things you see when you wake up in the morning. They lay at your feet while your eating breakfast, they run with you as you get your early morning exercise, they look heart broken when you leave them behind, when you get home from a long day at work they are so happy to see you that they can hardly contain their joy, they listen attentively as you rant and rave about the trails and tribulations of your day, at night they crawl into bed with you and keep the nightmares at bay while you sleep. What they don’t do is criticize you, judge you, or abandon you.

There is very little you wouldn’t do for your pets. That’s what you think almost everyday of the year but on the days you have to take them to the vet and pay the obligatory bill you have to wonder. All your cat had done was a treatment for a mild case of ear mites. And your dog had been a yearly rabies vaccination. The whole processes for both pets took less then fifteen minutes. How could it possible cost so much?

You might be able to see the benefits of pet health insurance. You might salivate at the idea of not dealing with the ginourmous vet bills you get every six months ago. You might even daydream about the day you don’t dread the financial repercussions of taking your dog or cat the vet. But right now you simply don’t think you can afford to monthly bill a pet health insurance bill would put on your budget, after all its not like having pet health insurance would make the vet bills completely disappear, more then likely you would still have to pay the office visit.

You might not think you can afford pet health insurance at the moment but don’t walk away from an offer, not yet. Looking at a policy does not mean that you have to walk away from it. If you are a clever bargain shopper there are ways to find pet health insurance at a low cost.

If you have more then one pet you probably automatically qualify for a lower premium. Lots of pet health insurance companies offer multiple pet discounts. There is one little catch, a lot of the companies only offer multiple pet discounts if the pets are the same species. In other words if you have two cats that you insure you will pay a lower premium but if you have a cat and a dog lots of pet health insurance companies will consider it two completely different accounts.

Are you starting to despair? Don’t worry two much, while many companies don’t consider pets of separate species ground for a multiple pet discount a lot of those same companies have a policy that offers discounts to customers who carry more then policy with the company. The multiple policy discount usually takes about ten percent off the total bill but a good bargains shopper can find companies that offer higher discounts all they have to do is be willing to spend the time to shoe around.

Pet Health Insurance for VIP’s

When most people think a pet is spoiled feel that it is getting to many treats, has too many expensive toys scattered around the ground, or it’s allowed to sleep at night in bed with its humans, normally taking up the entire bed and hogging all the covers. I once even saw a pot bellied pig who was so spoiled that its humans designed an built the miniature porker its very own out house so it wouldn’t get cold answering natures call.

Japanese pet owners take the term very-important-pets to a whole new level. In Japan well loved pets enjoy aromatherapy, acupuncture, trips to the doggie spa where they a lovingly massaged, and in some cases have their very own personal trainers.

It is a well known fact that we tend to spoil our pets because we love them we want them to have the best of everything but recent studies have shown that pampering our pets might actually doing as much harm as good. One recent study from an undisclosed source claims that we are actually making our beloved pets stupid by spoiling them. We are in such a hurry to make their lives easier that we take away their need to problem solve on their own. The less they have to loose their brains the less they can do on their own. This problem is especially common in households were the dog seems to be running the show. What would happen to that pet if it really had to think for itself?

A concern veterinarians have regarding spoiled pets is weight. The more spoiled the pet the more obese it seems to become. The obesity can lead to later health issues that can actually decrease the life of the pet. Weight can affect the skeletal system until hip problems start to develop, obesity can cause respiratory and cardiac problems, the extra pounds of blubber constantly pushing on the joints can start to create stiffness and discomfort.

It is not uncommon for veterinarians to see a lot of the spoiled pet as it enters into the last few years of its life. The problem with older overweight pets is that every time they are brought to the vet clinic they are exposed to more germs, bacteria, and viruses that can lead to still more endless trips to the vet.

For the most part the humans caring for the very-important-pet don’t have to worry about the increasing number of the visits to see a doctor. Most doting parents bought pet health care insurance during the early years of the pet’s life. All of the pet’s health care needs are essentially bought and paid for.

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if in a few years you didn’t see pet health insurance companies raising the rates of their VIP customers. On solution to the pudgy, somewhat shallow house pet is the appearance of specialist animal slimming clinics. Pet owners can go to these clinics and learn all about their pets nutritional needs and exercise programs that will help the spoiled child start to shed some of those unnecessary pounds.