Seriously... Do not put off pet insurance

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Here is the good news:  Roo will live a long and healthy life.  The bad news is that it will cost between $2000 and $4000 a year because Roo has Addison's disease.  And because I had procrastinated about researching pet insurance.  Every time there was a post on DK about pet insurance, I meant to do it, sometimes, I even started the research.  Never really followed through. Boy am I sorry, but it only hurts my wallet.  For us it is not a fatal mistake for Roo, for my daughter, I really do not know what she would do.

Roo was four in October of 2011.  He has been totally, riotously healthy.  Until he wasn't.  Roo and Tigger went in Mon Jan16 for their wellness check-up and Roo's rabies booster.  We were placed in the room that we were in with Storm and Roo when Storm was euthanized.  He immediately crawled under the chairs.  Roo is boisterous to a fault, and has not previously shown anxiety at the vet's, although he is not exactly Mr. Cooperative either.  Both dogs were checked by the nurse, the vet,  blood was drawn for a "junior wellness" blood panel, stool and urine samples..... and Roo received his Rabies booster.  All was well except for Roo's odd under the chair behavior.

That afternoon was lethargic on his walk and picked at his dinner.  I thought - rabies vacine reaction.

Roo did not eat for the next four days, at all - nothing.  He got progressively sadder and quieter, not really sick, but certainly not well.  I put two and two together and got 832.  I thought the room had really traumatized him.  Friday Roo and I returned to the vet for a ACTH. It is a test to stimulate the adrenal gland, a definitive test for Addison's Disease if the dog's blood shows no change one hour after the test.  It was a long hour.

Roo definitely had Addison's disease.  A "repository" injection which will need to be repeated every three weeks for the rest of his life.  Today Roo is his old self and looking back to last summer there were two clear times when it was obvious something was wrong, it just fixed itself.  This time the adrenal gland wasn't weak. it wasn't operating at all and the visit to the vet was enough stress to send him toward an Addisonian crisis.

Yesterday I bought pet insurance for both Roo and Tigger.  It will not, of course, cover Addison's disease treatments.  But now I understand.  I am not invulnerable and neither are my beloved dogs.

 

 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Maryann,  Thanks for letting us know about Roo and all that worry you had before his diagnosis with Addison's. Reading lots here it seems he will hopefully live a long and healthy life with the help of those expensive meds.  

Before I brought Riley home I investigated pet insurance plans and took out the best policy that I could find when he was ten weeks old.  It's that peace of mind that it brings and the knowledge that there will never be a decision on any treatments that he may need based on cost alone.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I am not sure if you know but I have Addison's too, I flunked my ACTH test, in fact my cortisol level went down after it. It is very rare in humans but just so you know your puppy is in good company as JFK also had Addison's disease.

It is very common for trauma, stress or sickness to bring on a full crisis, that is what happen with me, I felt yucky for a real long time, was misdiagnosed with Chronic fatigue, fibromyaliga and several other things. I felt yucky but I will tell you this, as soon as I got my replacement dose of steroids, the Corteff, I felt like myself again within an hour.

Doctors could not believe it at first because we did not have the results back before they decided to treat, just in case. They did the ACTH test and then gave me steroids and I was on top of the world. My memory was clear, my head not foggy and honestly It is not bad for me at all, Only during times of stress and sickness does it rear it's head, but I am able to manage it with extra doses of pills. I never normally feel sick from the disease as long as I am taking my steroids and adjusting it according to my sickness level.

I don't get a shot, I just take Corteff and Florineff daily and it works amazing... So I know your baby can't talk to you and tell you, but I wanted you to know as someone with the disease, the treatment is highly effective. I have had it for over 15 years now.

Thank you for the reminder about health insurance, you are right. I do have it for Jack. I can't advocate it enough because for me, I would be in financial ruin if I had to pay for that for Jack... I would sell my house for him, and honestly that is what I would have had done, had I not had insurance.

If you are looking for a less expensive way to treat it then the shots, I don't know if it is the same for dogs, so I may be talking in error, but the pills for it to take daily at the pharmacy are very inexpensive so if you need to ask your vet about it, you can.

Best of luck

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

So sorry to hear this news, I really hope he will be fine with the treatments. It's so sad. I do thank you for the post, I need to have ANOTHER what if talk with DH. Hugs to you and Roo!

[Suzanne & Jack]

Thank you for the prod, Maryann.  Like so many others on here I have put off the boys insurance.  We've been fortunate so far that they've all been very healthy, but I know that it is only a matter of time.  I know most of the DK members use Petplan, but does anyone have Trupanion?  I was seated next to a vet last week on the plane.  I asked her for recommendations for pet insurance and she was very favorable on Trupanion.  She said her office uses them and they are very quick to pay out their clients.  Just wondering.

Very sorry about Roo's illness.  I hope he does well with his treatments

 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I looked at Trupanion.  Their quote was 2.5 times higher than PetPlan   :(

[Leslie Warner]

I find pet insurance to be helpful only if your pet has a serious ailment that requires regular trips to the vet. Even then you're still subject to certain conditions as far as coverage is concerned. I tried it in the past but ended up canceling once they started giving me the runaround on what they would and wouldn't cover. I then made my own 'insurance' fund and contributed to it when I had some extra cash. I also signed up for a vet discount plan 'Pet Assure' which gives an upfront savings at the time of payment. It is only about 10 dollars per month to cover my boxer and combining this with my rainy day fund has proven to be a winning combination!

[Kim/Mark and Sierra]

Hi, I'm really sorry for your news, but wanted to thank you for your post.  It motivated me to get insurance for Sierra.  I got it through petplan, hopefully they're a good one.  I have to admit there was a sense of relief that if anything does occur it will make getting her the help she needs easier.  Thx, Kim