Brea, Calif. (August 24, 2010) – Pauline Rupp of Saint Petersburg, Fla., had only seen one other river otter in her area in the 14 years she’s lived there.
But Pauline and her 3-year-old Golden retriever, Sadie, got an up close and personal look at another otter last month during a late night walk through the neighborhood.
“Sadie’s always investigating other people’s gardens,” Pauline said, “but that night she started barking at a neighbor’s bush along our route.” As Sadie went to investigate what was causing the bush to rustle, her barks changed to yelps. “She took her head out of the bush, and she had this… thing, hanging off her face,” Pauline said. “It was so dark that I didn’t know what it was.”
Once Sadie had backed far enough out into the street light, Pauline saw that a 20 to 25-pound otter had clamped onto Sadie’s nose and wasn’t letting go. “I didn’t have anything with me but a retractable leash,” Pauline said, “so I didn’t really have anything to get the otter off Sadie’s nose, and I didn’t want to be bitten myself.” Eventually, Pauline swung the handle end of the leash at the otter’s head, and the resulting jolt was enough to make it let go.
The otter scurried back into the bush, and Pauline took a shaken Sadie back home where Pauline cleaned the injuries to the retriever’s nose.
Sadie’s veterinarian prescribed antibiotics to prevent a bacterial infection and gave Sadie a rabies booster. “Oh, she hasn’t learned her lesson,” Pauline said with a laugh. “She’s still poking her head in bushes, and she recently got her head stuck in a gopher hole – that the gopher was still in.”
Pauline’s claim for Sadie’s otter incident was one of more than 80,000 claims received in the month of July by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Pauline’s claim was considered along with other uncommon medical claims submitted in July and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.
As the most unusual claim submitted in July, Pauline’s claim will be placed in the running for the 2011 VPI Hambone AwardSM. Each month, VPI employees nominate the most interesting claim submitted, and in August 2011, the company will ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year.
The VPI 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 hambone and a mild case of hypothermia.
Honorable mentions in July included a mixed-breed dog that survived a bobcat attack, a Yorkie that was bitten by a squirrel, a Labrador retriever that ate a 1-pound bag of rice, an Italian greyhound with a case of poison ivy, a beagle that took a scorpion sting to the mouth, and a poodle that snacked on a pile of gasoline and oil-soaked dirt. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses. Stories and pictures of the Hambone Award nominees are at www.VPIHamboneAward.com.
Note to editors: Digital images of the VPI Hambone Award and Hambone Award nominees available. Send requests to:dshannon@petinsurance.com.
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With more than 485,000 pets insured nationwide, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency is the No. 1 veterinarian-recommended pet health insurance company and is a member of the Nationwide Insurance family of companies. 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.
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