I got an e-mail from someone looking into our insurance policies last week. It seems they are a little confused about the words "usual and customary" pertaining to veterinary fees. We use this language to describe our rationale for reimbursement on claims filed by policy holders. Once you have met your deductible and 20% co-pay, we reimburse 80% of the eligible fees that are "usual and customary."

The H1N1 "swine" flu is a topic that makes the news daily, with new reports of outbreaks across the country. But, what about the H3N8 flu - the dog flu? We don't hear about that so much.

Recently, our own Dr. Bill reported on the dog flu or canine influenza, as vet's will say. His report shows that "Canine influenza is extremely contagious and while humans are not affected by this flu strain, they can unknowingly pass it from an infected dog to an unaffected dog." This flu can be spread via contaminated objects, and the dogs at risk may be those in kennels, boarding facilities, or animal shelters. In fact, the report notes that show dogs are also at risk - by being in close proximity to other dogs.

For those readers who are subscribed to Scratchings & Sniffings, you'll know this story, or at least some of it. Tom and I took the Wabby, resident Queen Kitty, on a cross-country move from Rochester, NY to Frederick, CO and arrived (all in one piece - I know, I checked us all for pieces and every toe and every finger was accounted for), the day before yesterday.

Getting here was half the battle, of course. We drove and drove and drove, and went through Ohio, and stopped at a fabulous B&B (White Rabbit Inn, in case you're interested), and then drove and drove, through Indiana and Nebraska, until we finally got to Colorado. Unfortunately, we did not stop to get bumper stickers...so, you'll have to take my word for it.

It's that time of year again. Time to clean up the house, get out the Joy of Cooking and prepare for the onslaught of family and friends. We're having sixteen people. I'm in charge of the booze. 

While you've been stressing about it for a couple of weeks now, your pets are blissfully ignorant about what's to come. Some of the more astute pets may be picking up on your stress level and staring at you moon-faced in anticipation, but most are unaware that they are in any danger at all. Yes, I did say danger.

How many times have you gone home from the veterinarian's office with a week or so worth of pills or capsules to give you pet? I know I dispensed quite a few in my day. If you have a dog it's usually not that big a deal. You can stuff the pill or capsule in a piece of cheese or lunch meat and woof, it's gone. 

I wanted to alert cat owners about a couple of really nice videos I've recently come across. The videos deal with two fairly common cat diseases; chronic renal failure and diabetes mellitus. Both of these conditions occur with surprising frequency in cats especially as they get older.

In this podcast, Dr. Bill and Dr. Larry discuss how PurinaCare® pet health insurance helped a pet owner with the serious issue of Mast Cell Cancer.

This is for anyone who has had to deal with cancer in their lives. Having insight into how it works in pets, and how pet health insurance coverage can be extremely helpful in defraying costs, is something worth knowing.

Oftentimes pet people wonder what the pet health insurance industry allows, and Dr. Larry talks openly about that on this blog, regularly. Read his posts and visit our podcast page to hear stories about claims and more on the issue of pet health insurance.

Just could not resist this video! Found it on the Friskies blog. One has to wonder what this cat is dreaming about? Thanksgiving, maybe? Just priceless! (and one wonders if cat's have deviated septums like people - I think I'll ask Dr. Bill and Dr. Larry)

p.s. they have some good polls on the Friskies blog, like one about pets celebrating holidays...do yours?

Cedar lost his battle with cancer over the weekend. Those of you that had read about him in the past know that he was a special dog. 

Okay, maybe doggie daycare isn't the cat's meow. I suspect cats would not like that much. Nor would dogs. However, I was having dinner with a friend recently and she revealed that her mother, who has two dogs, engages doggie daycare at least 2-3 times a week.

Not only that, but the dogs are picked up at the house by a van! Can't you just see all the dogs sitting at the windows of the van, looking out, barking at everything they see? Well, it doesn't work that way. The van picks the pups up in crates. Which means crate training is an important part of being a good pet owner. (link is to example of a company that uses a van, not indicative of the particular petcare business discussed here - primarily because my friend couldn't remember the name of it.)

Now, that's the cat's meow. Or, is it the dog's woof-woof?