Earthtimes - With this in mind, Embrace Pet Insurance , a company that specializes in offering affordable, practical and simple pet health insurance plans, has launched “Embrace Your Employees,” a new program that enables employers to offer pet health insurance to …

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A decrease in students applying to and getting accepted into veterinary colleges, expensive state-of-the-art equipment, liability insurance, expensive prescription drugs, and the cost of maintaining a veterinary clinic/office has inflated pet owners veterinary bills to never before imagined prices. When the beloved family pet suddenly falls ill or is injured in a freak accident many pet owners find themselves forced to put the family pet to sleep in a decision called economic euthanasia. Many family pets could have been saved from economic euthanasia if their owners had only thought to purchase pet health insurance coverage.

The cost of veterinary expenses for the average dog owner is approximately two hundred and eleven dollars per year. The average dog owner will visit the local veterinary office about 2.8 times a year. The typical reasons for dog owners to take the family dog to the local veterinarian is her basic routine health care such as physicals, vaccines, dental work, neutering or spaying, nail trimming, and heartworm testing.

The typical cat owner will visit the veterinary and 2.3 times per year to take care of declawing, physicals, vaccines, dental work, neutering or spaying, and ear mites. D. average yearly cost for these 2.3 visits to the local veterinarian each year it is approximately one hundred and seventy-nine dollars. These statistics are based on a 2005 survey done by the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association.

Pet health insurance coverage and is insurance coverage that helps pay veterinary costs if your family pet becomes ill or is injured. Depending upon the policy you purchase your family may be reimbursed if your family pet is stolen, lost, or dies. Pet owners purchased pet health insurance coverage for a few various reasons. The main reason people purchase pet health insurance coverage is to pay for unanticipated and extremely expensive veterinary bills. In many cases the purchase of pet health insurance coverage can be the difference between a recovery and economic euthanasia for many family pets.

Pet health insurance coverage is not a brand new concept. Horse owners have been ensuring their valuable show and pleasure mounts against major medical bills and the fatality/mortality for years. In Europe cut health-care coverage has been available since the 1940s and approximately 25% of all British pet owners care in some type of pet health insurance coverage. It is estimated that nearly 50% called loved household family pets have some type of pet health insurance coverage. All developed countries offer some type of pet health insurance coverage.

Many dog owners in the United Kingdom also carry a type of insurance called Third Party Liability insurance. This insurance became popular after the 1971 animals act came into being; this act states that if a dog is directly responsible for an accident, like a car crash, the dog’s owner will be held accountable.

Pet health insurance coverage does not typically cover potential hereditary conditions, pre-existing conditions, and normally include a cap on surgeries and other miscellaneous medical expenses. Some pet insurance companies will also cover the cost boarding your pet at a local kennel or veterinary hospital.

MSN MoneyCentral - Matt Lile, president of Vsurance, Inc., commented, “We are excited to bring this much needed coverage to pet owners. As we studied the successful pet health insurance market in the UK, where more than 25% of all pets are insured, liability …

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Channel 3000 - MADISON, Wis. — Taking care of pets can be big business, and Consumer Reports recently took a look at the $230 million pet health insurance business. Lillie is a healthy dog with no emergency trips to the veterinarian. But her owner Vickie Dey said …

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Throughout history most of a veterinarian’s clientele was farm livestock (large animals). Dogs, cats and other household pets made up such a small amount of their daily business there was very little reason to study up on it. Even the beloved European veterinarian, James Herriott, counted on the Yorkshire farmers for a majority of his country clinics business. In 1884 that began to change when the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school opened the United States very first clinic specializing in the veterinary needs of dogs. In 2001 the United States of America had over 28,000 veterinarians who specialize in small animals.

It is fitting that Pennsylvania opened the very first vet clinic that specialized in the veterinary needs of dogs, the state has had a long running bond with the canine population, starting with the states founders, William Penn’s, Great Dane. A portrait of this Great Dane standing beside his master can be seen hanging in the governor’s reception room of the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania considers the Great Dane the state dog. Owners of Great Dane’s appreciate the breed’s faithfulness, intelligence, beauty, courage, and tolerance. Great Danes stand approximately 30-34 inches tall and weigh anywhere from 120-200 pounds, people who have Great Danes believe that the larger the dog the better. Because of their large size Great Danes are not an exceptionally long lived dog; their bodies simply aren’t designed to last very long. Many Great Danes suffer from heart problems, bloat, twisted intestines, and tail injuries. Some Great Danes have been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Great Dane owners are not advised to take their Great Danes jogging until the puppy is at least one year old. Dogs featured in ancient Greek art work bear a strong resemblance to today’s Great Dane. German hunters were especially impressed with the dog’s ability at hunting bears and wild boars and bred the best great Danes to the best Greyhounds which helped create a leaner more agile breed.

Dog owners in the state of Pennsylvania are more then eligible to purchase pet health insurance for their dogs from the American Kennel Club. The American Kennel club estimates that the average pet owner who purchases an essential pet health care insurance plan (the essential health insurance plan is the name of the AKC’s lowest health insurance policy) through them will only pay approximately sixty-eight cents per day. Pet owners who purchase pet health insurance through the American Kennel Club have four different types of health insurance plans to choose from. The American Kennel Club Insurance company is happy to include cats into its health care insurance program. The American Kennel club is so confident that pet owners will love the benefits of purchasing pet health care insurance through them that they proudly offer owners the opportunity to test drive their insurance policy free for sixty days. Pet owners who insure their pets with pet health care insurance offered by the American Kennel Club are allowed to decide if they would like to receive a monthly statement in the mail or if they would rather pay for the an entire years worth of insurance in one lump sum and then not have to worry about it for twelve months.

ST. JOHNS - June 12-15, 93 sixth grade students in schools throughout Clinton County will be spending four days in area businesses learning what it takes to work within various industries.

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Ad - Available in NY, NJ & CT only?Optimum Cable TV, Internet & Digital Phone Business Services.

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Filed under: .: Pet Health Care , .. By Dr. Dunn - HART @ 12:55 am Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate supplements are fast becoming the most widely used supplements in dogs’ diets.

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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.

The Pet Food Recall of 2007 has brought an enormous amount of attention to pet food. With tens of thousands of pets affected by the recall and with the death of several thousand pets from tainted food (refer to the PetConnection Database), it is not at all surprising that we have questions. The surprising thing is that its taken us all so long to ask these questions.

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