Sock-Snatching Labrador Throws Up and Chows Down

Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Selects Unsavory Claim as Most Unusual in October

Brea, Calif. (Nov. 10, 2008)—There’s an old saying of “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” Well, in both cases the shame belongs to Becca the Labrador retriever, who ate the same sock twice.

“My dad noticed that Becca threw up a sock in the backyard, but he didn’t pick it up at the time because he was up on a ladder painting the house,” said Becca’s owner Kevin Koritza of Greenwood Village, Colo. “When I got home less than an hour later the sock was gone. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but when Becca started acting lethargic and vomiting I had a feeling she may have eaten the sock again. The veterinarian did an ultrasound and confirmed that Becca had an intestinal blockage. Sure enough, after a $2,500 surgery I had my sock back.”

Koritza’s claim for Becca’s twice-ingested sock was one of more than 87,000 claims received in the month of October by Veterinary Pet Insurance, the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Becca’s uncommon accident was considered along with other out of the ordinary claims submitted in October and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.

“The veterinarian had never seen anything like it,” said Koritza. “We couldn’t figure out why she would eat the sock a second time after it made her so sick the first time. Of course, I felt horrible because the whole ordeal could have been avoided if I had just picked up after myself. I consider the experience one very expensive lesson in good housekeeping.”

As the most unusual claim submitted in October, Koritza’s claim will be placed in the running for VPI’s first Hambone Award. Each month, VPI employees will nominate the most interesting claim and in July 2009 ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year. The Hambone Award is named in honor of a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting for someone to find him. The dog was eventually found, with a licked-clean ham bone and a mild case of hypothermia.

Honorable mentions for most unusual claim in October included a chinchilla with bad breath from an abscessed tooth, a dog that was bitten by a skunk, a dog that had trouble swallowing a starfish, and a dog that ingested several DVDs. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.

About Veterinary Pet Insurance

Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency is the nation’s oldest and largest pet health insurance company. Providing pet owners with peace of mind since 1982, the company is committed to being the trusted choice of America’s pet lovers and an advocate of pet health education. VPI Pet Insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for multiple medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Optional Pet WellCare Protection^SM for routine care is also available.

Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 1,600 companies nationwide offer VPI Pet Insurance as an employee benefit. Policies are underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company in California and in all other states by National Casualty Company, an A+15 rated company in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information about VPI Pet Insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com.