AussieBorn&Bred

Dog insurance, how times have changed !!! Had my first dog (Ted,short for Shithead) in 1987.Blue Cattle dog and was 19 at the time and insurance was the furthest thing from my mind. Then again the world was a different place also, but this can be discussed at another time. Ted had his yearly vaccinations,a few bumps and bruises and all was O.K. Fast forward to 2010 and a lot had happened in between. Ted had long gone. Trying to live up to the worlds best ever dog that had lived ( in my mind ) was Digger and Honey. Digger = a Red Cattle dog with what we suspect a Labrador had enjoyed his time as well. He had no Papers + Honey = Purebred Ridgeback. Both beautiful dogs/mates. Digger was relatively problem free apart from a few episodes of 'Hotspots' which since have settled down. Honey only seemed to have a problem when we went away camping and she would would get a U.T.I. from what we suspect of not going to the toilet often enough.Minor problems. To cut a long story short, Digger ruptured his Cruciate Ligament in right leg, our vet recommended Sash at North Ryde, Sydney. After arrival first thing they ask do you have insurance = answer no, never thought of it. Approx $5000 and a week later there goes the other Cruciate = $5000 and then complications plus follow ups,a few sessions of physio which we thought after surgery would only help in recovery and in hindsight would do again. Total approx woe estimate $15,000. Advance time and we come to taking on a third dog/mate Lucky. He was insured in the first couple of days and '"she who must be obeyed " chose RSPCA. He is approx 6 months. So far a claim of $116 and we get back 80%. Cheque should be here by Tuesday at the latest. That is 1 experience and would recommend pet insurance but it is an individual decision. Best of luck. :) :) :)

We had issues with our dog Digger over a period of time a while ago and No1 = only suffered in summer. No 2 = our vet said it only took 1 flea to trigger No 3= it flared after contact with wandering jew. This was only worked out after several months, in summer taking to work with me mowing lawns. We also had a very humid summer which did not help. No 4 = if it was bad enough our vet would give a cortisone injection + tablets/antibiotics. The area would be shaved and he recommended applying Betadine a couple of times a day. Hope this helps. :)

Ridgeback or Labrador would be great additions to the family. :)