Brea, Calif. (April 9, 2009) – Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat—sometimes it injures a dog and saves some fish.
“We went to a friend’s cabin for the weekend and several people were ice fishing,” said Sara Kelly of Montpelier, Vt. “They had a bucket full of minnows for bait and a fishing pole resting across the bucket. The moment we got inside the cabin, our dog Quincy rushed over to smell the minnows and ended up inhaling a treble hook. He immediately started thrashing like a fish on the end of a line. We took him right to the veterinarian and he had to be tranquilized so they could cut off two of the barbs and push the one embedded barb through and out of his nose.”
Kelly’s claim for Quincy was one of more than 70,000 medical claims received in the month of March by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Quincy’s uncommon accident was considered along with other out of the ordinary claims submitted in March and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.
“My advice for pet owners is to be extra alert when you haven’t had the time or opportunity to puppy-proof a new area,” said Kelly. “Fortunately, Quincy is pretty tough. He was a bit wheezy for a day, but he was right back to his old self in no time.”
As the most unusual claim submitted in March, Quincy’s claim will be placed in the running for VPI’s first Hambone Award. Each month, VPI employees will nominate a claim and in July 2009 ask the public to vote from among the selections 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 in March included a dog with a taste for staples and safety pins, a dog that ate two diamond stud earrings, a dog that was attacked by a rabbit, a cat that tried to eat a metal coat hanger, a dog that ingested glue, and a dog that swallowed a scouring pad. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.
Note to editors: Digital image of Quincy while recovering available upon request. Send requests to biannessa@petinsurance.com.
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 ProtectionSM 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.