Friend's Puppy May Have Eaten Something? At Vets

[Bonnie Pup]

My friend's puppy may have eaten something and got a blockage. We don't know. It's not eating or drinking. It's at the vets now but they haven't diagnosed it yet because the x-rays were clear (but they said it might still be in the bowel even though they can't see it there.)

Is it too late to get pet insurance for this?

It hasn't been properly diagnosed yet, they will monitor the puppy and check it again in the morning. But I assume it's too late for insurance?

Would it be accident or illness?

Any advice?

She doesn't want to do anything dodgy with regards to insurance of course, she just wants to know if it's too late to legitimately get insurance?

Edited March 30, 2010 by Bonnie Pup

[poodlefan]

No insurance company is going to issue a policy for an incident that's already occured I'm afraid.

[Red Fox]

Too late sorry

You can still get pet insurance for the pup but if your friend tries to claim they will ask for a full history from the vet. They will also ask the vet to sign a form stating what the claim is for and when the animal first showed signs of illness. There normally a 30 day waiting period between signing up and making your first claim too.

Hope the puppy pulls through.

[teekay]

Most also have a 21 day period, from taking out the insurance, before you can claim.

[Bonnie Pup]

Ok thank you anyway.

I thought it was worth asking for her. She doesn't have a lot of money but will find the money somehow.

[teekay]

Secret Kei beat me to it

Edited March 30, 2010 by teekay

[Dogsfevr]

The vet should be doing a barium meal & then x raying,blockages often go undiagnosed till at the worst stage because normal x rays wont show a problem.

The barium meal also needs to have added something( i cant remember ) for it to work really well compared to the one most vets use.

[Staff'n'Toller]

We tend to use BIPS these days or ultrasound.

BIPS, or Barium Impregnated Polyethylene Spheres, now provide a range of diagnostic options which reduce the need to undertake exploratory surgery on cats and dogs. Combined with x-rays, spheres of two sizes are used to detect blockages and motility problems in the stomach and intestines. The spheres are administered in food (or by mouth) avoiding the problem of giving liquid barium by stomach tube and syringe. Unlike liquid barium the small sized BIPS behave in a similar way to food in the gut. As they can be counted and gut transit times compared with an average speed for healthy animals, the potential for more accurate diagnosis is greatly improved.

The question about whether to do surgery on the dog is entirely up to the subjective signs of the dog and up to the Vet. It's one of the riskiest and more expensive surgeries in terms of post-surgery complications so we often wait just to see for 24 hrs. Puppy may have eaten something that is moving through slowly, or may just have a stomach upset so the decision to go in should not be made on a whim.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Staff'n'Toller

[Siralee]

How old is the puppy? If they have only had them for a week or two then maybe the breeder had insurance and it is still valid? A long shot I know

[PuddleDuck]

I think it would be sort of like driving a car with no comprehensive insurance, having a crash and calling the insurance company to take out a policy before getting out of the car to see how bad the damage is. I dont think there are any insurance policies that would cover it.

Hope things have improved overnight

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

She may be able to negotiate a payment plan with her vet, most vets can organise for people who just don't have the money.

[Guest Willow]

My insurance company wouldn't pay out when Jarrah ended up at the emergency vet after eating something....they said it came under neither illness nor injury since it was something that had been ingested.

[italmum]

My insurance company wouldn't pay out when Jarrah ended up at the emergency vet after eating something....they said it came under neither illness nor injury since it was something that had been ingested.

There is always a way for them to get out of paying!! disgracful!!

I hope the puppy pulls through whatever it is thats making it not eat etc x

[mokhahouse]

My insurance company wouldn't pay out when Jarrah ended up at the emergency vet after eating something....they said it came under neither illness nor injury since it was something that had been ingested.

Interesting to see if my insurance pays up. I was at the E vet last night as Mokha got into where the Easter eggs that were hidden and ate approx 600grams minimum. I realised about 1 1/2 hours later when I went in my room. Luckily they only needed to induce vomiting and he just needs to take it easy. I have prepared my claim, we will see I suppose. Last time they wouldnt pay for the barium xrays saying they were diagnostic. I think the way my vet completed the form may have had an effect too as she did not note that he did infact pass the blockage (hair tie)2 days later.I hope the pup is ok. I would still recommend they take out insurance though. Mine has come in handy for ortho surgery.

[cavNrott]

My insurance company wouldn't pay out when Jarrah ended up at the emergency vet after eating something....they said it came under neither illness nor injury since it was something that had been ingested.

Shouldn't that be classed as an accident? You didn't deliberately feed him something that would harm him. Surely insurance should cover accident and illness if we take out cover for both.

I fought the insurance company for 3 months to have my claim paid for a ruptured disk my Cavalier suffered that resulted in him needing a laminectomy if he was ever going to walk again. If I'd not put up a big fight and mentioned contacting the ombudsman I doubt they would have paid it.

When we had that wild storm in Melbourne 3+ weeks ago a throw pack of Ratsak ended up in my yard. It must have blown in with the wind because I don't have Ratsak here. The pack looked very old and was open with a few pellets left in it. I suspected my Cav boy had eaten some of it so I poked around in his poop with a stick the next day and saw a small amount of green.

Off to the vet and he had a slightly below normal ACT test. He had a Vit K injection and tablets for 3 weeks. He has another blood test tomorrow. I guess insurance will refuse to pay the claim because it's something he ingested. I had my Cav girl tested too but her coagulation test was normal so no claim there.

After reading Willow's post I'm not sure whether to claim for my boy's treatment. I'll ask the vet tomorrow if other clients have had similar claims refused.