Pets Best Insurance – Sep 30, 2009

In an effort to continually better our service and to learn valuable information from our customers, we recently conducted a random survey which many of you participated in. We want to thank those of you who participated and wanted to share our results with all of our policyholders. These results will be utilized to focus our efforts on what is important to you.

Results:

Most pet owners heard about us through the internet or their veterinarian, referrals from friends were ranked third.
The internet, veterinarian and friend were the top secondary referral sources as well.
91.2% purchased pet insurance for financial protection.
90.3% made the decision to purchase Pets Best based on benefits and coverage and 86% utilized the website content for making their decision.
77.84% were first time buyers of pet insurance and 22% had previous experience with other providers.
97% were extremely or likely to recommend Pets Best to a friend or pet owner.

What We’ve Learned:

We need to better communicate your benefits, coverage and how to effectively use your policy.
Our Wellness/Routine Care needs better explanation of how it works. We find some want minimal benefits, while others want much more broad benefits.
We identified several areas where we can improve our service to you and will begin to implement these within the next few months.
Overall we felt we had a great rating on our most important measurement, “Would you recommend Pets Best?” at 97%.
We need to make it easier for you to contact us with specific questions when they arise or when you need an answer regarding your policy or a claim.
We heard overwhelmingly that you would like an option of direct payment to your veterinarian for claims and direct deposit for claims paid by you. Direct deposit is a feature we’re already working on, with the projection of being able to deposit most funds within 24-48 hours of claim receipt. Watch for the announcement of this new feature coming to you soon!

Congratulations also to the following policyholders who were randomly drawn for the $50 gift certificates:

Gian B. – San Jose, CA
David K. – West Hollywood, CA
Karen S. – Raleigh, NC
Chris E. – Incline Village, NV
Jacquie A. – Thornton, CO
Eva A. – Santa Rosa, CA
Tanner S. – Helena, MT
Dennis F. – Lodi, CA
Maggie T. – Portland, OR
Serge L – North Hollywood, CA

From comments made on the survey, we realized that there is some confusion about policy details and coverage. We thought the following list might be helpful for you.

Clarifications on Items that May Not Be Clear:

Wellness/Routine Care Clarifications:
No Deductible and No Co-payment
You will be reimbursed up to wellness amount listed, or the total amount you paid your vet for the wellness service if it is less than the amount listed. (For example, if you paid $25 for your annual exam, you would be reimbursed $25.)
Utilize wellness benefits at any time during policy term, after the two week waiting period from enrollment.
Dentals or teeth cleaning are covered for up to $100 annually in our wellness plan. This amount is additive to the annual exam fee of $35 and any other wellness benefits provided at that time or any other time during the policy year.
To learn more about our wellness plan, visit our website at http://www.petsbest.com/plans/routinecare.aspx Accident/Illness Policy Clarifications:
We provide per incident limits of $2,500 with Pets Basic, $7,000 for Pets First and $14,000 for Pet Premier. There is only one deductible per incident, and the incident can carry forward year after year until the maximum payment is reached.
We provide $42,500 lifetime limit for Pets Basic and $100,000 for Pets First and Pets Premier. Any number of incidents can occur over the policy terms and there are no annual limits.
Pet insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions (conditions present prior to enrollment and the waiting period.) However, conditions which existed prior to enrollment and become “cured” and then reoccur may be eligible. If in doubt, call us or send in your claim.
Prescription medications are covered and included in our 80% coverage of your bill.
Claims Process Clarifications:
You may dispute a claim if you feel it was denied in error. Our goal is to pay all legitimate claims and correct any mistakes if we make them.
While we want your claims submitted quickly, we allow 6 months or more to submit your claims. If in doubt about your coverage, simply submit your claim or give us a call!

Jack L. Stephens, DVM – Sep 30, 2009

Scientific proof is now available that documents what pet owners have known for years; pets make us feel better. Not only do pets help us to feel better they improve our health in the following ways:

Decrease your blood pressure
Reduce your blood levels of cortisol, our stress hormone
Increase your blood levels of oxytocin our feel good hormone
Increase your levels of prolactin our bonding hormone
Increase your blood levels of endorphins our exhilaration hormone
Prevent loneliness
Increase blood levels of serotonin a natural antidepressant
Increase our levels of pain tolerance and wound healing; decreasing hospital stays
Increase levels of neurotransmitters at our nerve endings
Allow us to express our feelings without judgment
Raise self esteem
Social lubricant to meet and greet others
Heart attack victims with pets live longer
Walking a dog improves weight loss over traditional methods
Much more

Adopt a pet from your local shelter or rescue group and you may feel better as a result.

Jack L. Stephens DVM

Keith Erickson, Oxyfresh Worldwide, Inc. – Sep 25, 2009

Bad breath could be a sign of pet dental disease

October is National Pet Wellness Month and the perfect time to focus on educating pet owners about the importance of preventive pet health care.

Did you know that 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats over age 3 have some kind of dental disease? Left untreated, this can cause bad breath, swollen and bleeding gums, loose teeth and difficulty eating. Even more troublesome, it can lead to heart, liver and kidney disease — shortening your pet’s life by up to 5 years!

That’s why pet dental disease is known as the “Silent Killer of Pets.” Don’t let this happen to your furry friend.

What can you do?

Protecting your pet’s health starts with a healthy smile!

3 Ways to Promote Optimum Pet Dental Health

1. Pets have teeth, too … brush them!

Brushing your pet’s teeth regularly is the best way to fight dental disease. The great thing is that you only need to brush for 30 seconds a day to make a big difference in the dental health of your pet. Brushing scrubs away plaque and tartar that can’t be removed naturally with saliva or by eating. On top of the health benefits, developing an in-home brushing regimen could save you a bundle on professional cleanings — which can cost between $70 and $350, depending on whether anesthesia is needed!

2. Add some TLC to their water bowl

Pets need water anyway, why not nourish it? There are several safe and effective products that freshen pet breath and help reduce the formation of plaque and tartar. Brushing is always best, but for an added benefit use a water additive. Just pour the recommended dose into your pet’s water bowl daily and your work is done — it’s that easy!

3. Use a pet toothpaste for extra cleaning power

Imagine brushing your own teeth with just water. It would do nothing toward freshening your breath and you certainly would not receive the same teeth-cleansing benefits as with toothpaste. The same is true for pets. Using a specially formulated pet toothpaste (human toothpastes can cause stomach upset and should not be used) takes dental care to the next level, promoting a healthy mouth, freshening breath and helping fight dental disease.

Celebrate National Pet Wellness Month in October by making a commitment to adopt a year-round dental home care plan for your pet. It will make him happier and more huggable … and it could even add years to his life!

Keith Erickson, Oxyfresh Worldwide, Inc. – Sep 25, 2009

Protect your pet’s oral health with Oxyfresh

A healthy smile and fresh breath are the unmistakable sign of an Oxyfresh pet.

Formulated with our exclusive ingredient Oxygene®, Oxyfresh pet dental products are 100 percent safe and positively proven to freshen breath while fighting plaque and tartar buildup that can threaten your pet’s health.

Eighty percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats over age 3 have some kind of dental disease, which can lead to heart, liver and kidney disease — shortening your pet’s life by up to 5 years!

Protect your pet with Oxyfresh by following these simple dental care steps at home:

Step 1 — Just add water!

Add one teaspoon of Oxyfresh Pet Oral Hygiene Solution to one quart of drinking water and pour into your pet’s drinking bowl; freshen daily. You can also use a sprayer bottle to mist the same solution into your pet’s mouth twice daily. Pet Oral Hygiene Solution is completely safe, tasteless and odorless so your pet will readily drink it. In about three to five days, you will notice an obvious improvement in your pet’s breath. Oxygene® goes to work, destroying bacteria in the mouth and breaking down sulfur compounds that cause bad breath. Oxygene® is also proven to reduce the plaque and tartar buildup that can lead to dental disease.

Step 2 — Brush those choppers!

Apply Oxyfresh Pet Gel daily to the gums and teeth with the Oxyfresh Triple•Pet Toothbrush. Pet Gel further helps freshen breath and has a phenomenal healing affect with continued use. Formulated with aloe to soothe, plus Oxygene® to cleanse and deodorize gums, Pet Gel is an important part of your home pet dental care program. And the uniquely designed Triple•Pet Toothbrush has a triple-sided head to make brushing quicker, easier and more effective.

Oxyfresh’s life-enhancing two-step program is easy and very beneficial for all pets. You love your pet. Why not give him the best products possible to support his overall health and well-being?

Jack L. Stephens, DVM – Sep 25, 2009

Adopting a disabled pet is not for everyone, but can lead to great satisfaction and joy. If, however, you are not ready and willing to spend the additional time a disabled pet requires, it can lead to anxiety and frustration.

The most common disability causing pets to be placed for adoption is dogs with a paralysis of the rear legs. This paralysis is usually due to a “slipped disc” in the back causing pressure on the spinal cord, such that the cord can become permanently damaged, leading to paralysis of the rear legs and even loss of bowel and bladder control. If treatment (which often include very expensive invasive surgery) is implemented soon after symptoms develop, it can often be reversed.

As pictured, there are carts or doggy wheelchairs that allow a paralyzed dog to be ambulatory and get around surprisingly well. Schatzie was a dog my wife fostered for about a year after being abandoned. The owners could not afford the necessary surgery. We purchased a cart and cared for him for nearly a year, until we found a permanent home with a veterinary technician who also had her own grooming business. Today he runs around her business daily as she grooms dogs, bringing joy and hope to everyone who meets him.

In Schatzie’s case there were special requirements, such as manually expressing his bladder, otherwise he would build up urine until his bladder was so full he dribbled or leaked urine. Occasionally he acquired bladder infections. And of course, he had to be placed into his cart from a crate, otherwise he would drag himself around with his front legs and create sores.

While all of this extra work is not for everyone, I can say we saw him as a blessing during the time he was in our lives. He taught us many valuable lessons, not the least of which is to be thankful for our health and the inner joy for helping pets live out their lives. We are the richer for it, and you could be, too.

Sincerely,

Jack L. Stephens DVM

“Of course you need to feed bones to your dog,” says Steve, who works at my favorite pet-supply store. He seems to think I’m crazy for even asking the question. “I thought everyone knew that. Bones are crucial for your dog’s health.”

“Absolutely not!” says my wife’s Aunt Evelyn when the subject comes up at our annual family pot-luck. She’s has been breeding Standard Poodles since Ronald Reagan was President and knows for a fact that bone fragments are a choking hazard, not to mention the fact that dogs who swallow larger chunks of bone have to have painful, costly operations to remove them.

Hm, interesting. Later, I tell Steve about Evelyn’s advice. “She’s talking about bones that have been cooked. Raw bones are perfectly safe. I’ve been feeding them to my dogs for years,” he states.

Via e-mail, Evelyn says “Cooked, raw, it makes no difference. They can kill your dog. And by the way, tell your friend Steve that he’s an idiot.”

Are they nutritious? Are they deadly? I’m so confused! To settle the argument, I consult my veterinarian. The answers, I find, are far from black-and-white.

Yes, she explains, dogs do seem to get nutritional benefits from a diet that includes raw bones, especially compared with a diet of nothing but cheap, corn-based dog food.(Most of the dog food on the shelves at your local grocery store falls into this category.) That’s because domestic dogs, like their wild ancestors, are primarily carnivores. Though they can digest a variety of foods, their bodies were never designed to run on a diet of vegetables like corn.

On the other hand, my vet points out, the nutrition dogs get from bones does not come from the bone itself. It only comes from the meat, cartilage, fat and connective tissue that happens to be along for the ride. The scant amount of protein in the solid parts of the bone mainly exists in the form of collagen, which dogs are unable to digest.

But if you’re feeding your pet a quality, meat-based dog food (look for meat, such as chicken or lamb, as the first item in the ingredient list), they’ll get all the nutrition they need without having to scrounge for it by gnawing on bones.

Are there other benefits from chewing on bones? Well, yes. For wild dogs, the act of chomping on some poor animal’s femur helps to scrape plaque and tartar from the teeth—this is absolutely necessary when it comes to a long, healthy life. But many domestic dogs have their teeth professionally cleaned, and experts recommend that you brush their teeth on a regular basis to prevent the plaque that can lead to tartar build-up.

Next, I ask if bones are dangerous for dogs. My vet tells me that they can be. “Gnawing on bones can crack of the tips of the 4th premolars,” she notes. It’s something she sees fairly often in her practice. These cracks can lead to root infections and abscesses that require dental treatment.

Plus, dogs who ingest chips of bone occasionally experience severe constipation. The chips can also become wedged between teeth or stuck in the dog’s throat or intestinal tract, making for a very painful situation which may need medical treatment. The good news is that, if your dog has a Pets Best policy in force, the treatments will be covered, but that doesn’t mean the process will be enjoyable for your pet.

So what’s the answer? Are bones a nutritious necessity or a deadly menace? I guess what I discovered is that bones can be part of a healthy diet, but aren’t necessary for my dog’s health. And while they might be mildly dangerous, they aren’t deadly.

This is a lot to chew on, but ultimately the choice is up to you. Here at my house, we’ll keep feeding our dog a high-quality, meat-based diet. When he wants something to gnaw on, we’ll just throw him a rawhide bone. It’s safer, and he’ll be just as healthy. No bones about it.