PurinaCare Pet Insurance Blog

National Dog Show: Sponsored by Purina

This is a cross-posted note from the petblog at Scratchings and Sniffings.

On Thanksgiving Day Purina sponsored the National Dog Show which was hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia. They introduced a new breed called the Dogue de Bordeaux (also called a French Mastiff, so this site says) which I really liked. But, I did not get to see the whole event, so I am not sure how well it did.

Over at Scratchings and Sniffings, we have a video of the show, from MSNBC, so hop over and watch for yourself. Someone asked me why they would put the dog show on Thanksgiving Day and I can only guess but my sense is that it's for those of us who do not watch football.

BTW, this is just ONE of many events sponsored or hosted by Purina. The company is very pet-centered. To learn more about what they do, visit Petcentric and Pet Charts.

Just so you know that Pet Health Insurance is one product in a long line of things Purina does in support of our pets. My favorite, of course, is the Incredible Dog Challenge. More about that another time. Enjoy the National Dog Show. Let me know what you think of the Dogue de Bordeaux.

PurinaCare™ Podcast: Where is PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance Offered?

Dr. Larry and I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if you live in the U.S. If you're outside of the U.S. we wish you a great day all around.

This podcast discusses the progress PurinaCare has made over the last year, being implemented across the country. There are still a few states that have not yet approved this valuable product, but Dr. Larry and his team are working hard to get this approved in as many places as possible. One issue is the underwriting, as with all insurance products. In a future podcast, Dr. Larry will talk about that, a little bit.

Stay tuned! (for a list of states that have NOT yet adopted PurinaCare pet health insurance, click here.)

What do Vets think about Pet Health Insurance?

Yvonne and I were talking about this the other day. As a veterinarian I think it's an important issue we should discuss and I've done a fair amount of research into this issue over the course of the last few years.

In general I'd say that the vast majority of veterinarians are favorably disposed to the idea of Pet Health Insurance. In fact I have some pretty good data from the DVM News Magazine State of the Profession market research study conducted in 2006 that demonstrates just how vets feel about insurance.

Here are some interesting tidbits from that study.

1. 76% of respondents report that they would like to see greater use of Pet Health Insurance by clients.

2. 56% of respondents actively promote Pet health Insurance to clients.

When you look at the demographic breakdown of the respondents in item one above you also see an interesting trend. Younger female veterinarians are even more positive. Fully 81% of them support wider use of Pet Health Insurance. Since most veterinarians entering primary practice these days are female the prospects for Pet Health Insurance look good in the future from the vet's perspective.

Cross Posting: National Dog Show on NBC Thanksgiving Day

I just wrote a post over at the Scratchings and Sniffings blog about a discussion with the hosts of the National Dog Show presented by Purina, which will air on NBC Thanksgiving Day at noon. [it's also hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia]

The reason I'm posting about the show here is because I wish I could watch it. But, I'll be in a huddle with about 60 relatives (yep, that's the right number - we have to rent an American Legion Hall!) without a television. And, unfortunately, I am not sure how to get our VCR to tape it.

Which led me to wonder: do they offer the National Dog Show on DVD, afterwards? Man, I should have asked that question when I was on the conference call last week! I'm off to do some research and find out. One thing I know...I'm purchasing the DVD if it's available.

Meanwhile, I also wonder how many of the precious pets in the show have pet health insurance? I hope they all do. During the conference call I did ask if a vet was on staff at the shows, and David Frei and John O'Hurley who are the human hosts, said, yes. Which is only natural.

Pet health insurance - will it become a normal part of pet ownership going forward? What do you think?

PurinaCare™ Headquarters: A Pictorial

When Dr. Larry went off to PurinaCare Headquarters recently, he sent along some pics. I thought I'd share them here.

The first is a picture of the outside of the building, with a whole bunch'a folks standing in front. We'll introduce them later on... below it, is a picture of Dr. Bill (or David...we'll have to check with Dr. Larry on that) at his desk...

   

We'll have lots more picutres, over time. And more interviews with the folks at PurinaCare.

Don't hesitate to write us notes, leave comments, and ask questions.

Stay tuned...we have some fun things in store for the future!

Alice has surgery

I was first in line to vote this morning at the Sixth Street Elementary School here in Silver City. My wife and I walked over about 6:45 and we had the place to ourselves, other than the poll workers. We had been up for a while because our 18 year old dog, Darcie, wakes us up every morning between 5:30 and 6 AM.

Who needs an alarm clock when you have Darcie? Actually, that's not really my first thought when I hear her walking around so early in the morning.

Over at Scratchings and Sniffings we've been doing a series of posts on Alice the lab mix owned by my good friends, Phil and Martha. Alice has been pretty sick and you can read about her case here and the last update here.

I thought it might be interesting to run some numbers on Alice's medical bills and see how Phil and Martha would have fared had they had a policy from PurinaCare for Alice. Phil is a writer and has about four other jobs and Martha is a second year nursing student so you can imagine that they are not exactly rolling in dough.

Dr Larry Visits the PurinaCare HQ and Learns More about Stem Cell Therapy

I just got back from a visit and planning session at the PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance World Headquarters in San Antonio TX. As usual it was an informative event where our CEO gave us our marching orders for 2009.

I'm in charge of our marketing programs for Veterinarians. In addition, I get to do speaking engagements at veterinary conferences and meetings around the country. The good news is that I should have lots of frequent flier miles. The bad news is that I should have lots of frequent flier miles. Am I the only one that would prefer to drive a thousand miles over the same two and a half hour flight?

As part of my speaking duties I have to get advanced training on pet insurance underwriting from our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Bill Craig. Dr Craig is one of the smartest guys I know, second only in intelligence to our CEO; Dr David Goodnight, which is really amazing considering that they both went to Texas A&M.

Why Would You buy Pet Health Insurance

When I tell people what I do for a living they have a hard time understanding it right off the bat.

"Wait a minute, you work for a Pet Health Insurance Company? You mean for dogs and cats"?

"Ah, er, yes that's exactly what I do," is my usual reply.

I get a litany of responses after that.

"How much is it"?

"Should I buy if for my fourteen year old dog with congestive heart failure"?

Or my personal favorite. "I sure wish I'd known about that before my dog........"

Well, I'm sure the dog wishes his pet parents had known about it, too.

The dog, or cat for that matter, would love it because owning a PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance Policy is the best way to make sure you have access to the best health care possible.

That's what it is really all about (as Yvonne and I have been telling you, in this series of posts on why pet health insurance is a good option). It's not about saving money or even about breaking even. Who in their right mind wants to break even on their own medical insurance policy or home owners policy? Ouch! It's just not about high vet bills. It's about knowing that you can do whatever you need to do in the event of an emergency or a serious life threatening disease.

Today's veterinarians have access to the latest in medical and surgical technology. They can perform almost any procedure that your own MD can perform and veterinary specialists routinely do.

Pet Health Insurance: Not Gossip or Rumor, Anymore

I was talking about Carmie, the other day - to someone who had just found out about her leaving us for Doggie Heaven (over the rainbow bridge, my friend, Lisa, says) and the topic of Pet Health Insurance came up. Naturally, I told my friend about this blog and about Purina's new Purinacare Pet Health Insurance. She was duly impressed.

BUT...I don't know why there has to be a 'but'...but, there does! So, anyway, my friend - who is a pet lover the same as you and I, went on to express doubt and distrust, after saying she was impressed with Purina for venturing into this new territory.

"I can barely afford insurance for myself," she lamented. "How can I afford insurance for my dog?"

Hmmm...what could I say but, "How can you NOT?"

Visiting the Vet: A Story of Hope

As many of you know from reading the petblog Scratchings and Sniffings, I have spent my fair amount of time at the veterinarian's. Mostly, I don't mind because the visits are for routine things - yearly exam, vaccinations, maybe because my cat or dog is acting a bit "off." The "off" visits usually turn out to be simple fixes, change in diet for awhile, or just giving my pets a little more attention.

However, when you have to take your dog or cat to the vet's office for an emergency - or a scary "I can't figure out what's wrong and it looks serious" kind of thing, your heart begins to beat hard, you get a little shakey and sweaty, and your imagination runs wild.

Right?