VPI Hambone Award

Lab eats 23 packages of instant breakfast, finds instant trouble

 Labrador Retriever Eats 23 Packages of Instant Breakfast, Finds Instant Trouble
Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Selects Most Unusual March Claim

Brea, Calif. (April 5, 2010) — Michelle and Don Juen of Maplewood, Minn., know from experience to keep edibles out of reach of their 4-year-old Labrador retrieverRock. When he was a puppy, Rock devoured a chicken carcass he had found in the trash. Then there was the time he gobbled up Don’s one-a-day vitamins. This past Christmas Rock had his stomach pumped after he managed to find where the Juens had hidden homemade cashew brittle, peppermint bark, and a pound of packaged whole bean coffee. So it didn’t come as a surprise last month when Rock ate 23 packages of instant breakfast powder.

“We had bought one of those bulk size boxes of instant breakfast shake mix at the store,” Michelle Juen explained. “We put it way back on the counter before we left the house again that evening thinking, ‘Oh, Rock can’t get to it back there.’”

Upon returning home that night, Michelle and Don discovered that not only hadRock reached the box on the counter, he had broken into it and eaten much of its contents. “There was brown, sticky powder all over the floor,” Michelle said. “It was a mess.” As Michelle was cleaning up, she realized that not all of the packages were accounted for. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute… There are a lot of packages missing.”

With Rock’s regular veterinary office closed for the day, the Juens took their very full dog to an emergency hospital. Vomiting was induced, and the missing 23 packages of instant breakfast were found. “The veterinarian told us that that was the biggest pile of packaging he had seen come out of a dog in his life!”

Fortunately for the Juens, Rock suffered no long-term ill effects from the incident. Within minutes of bringing Rock back to their home, the retriever was “bouncing around like a mental case,” Michelle said with a mix of laughter and exasperation.

The Juens are thankful that Rock recovered so quickly and that pet insurance covered much of the costs. “It was after eating the chicken carcass when he was younger that we first asked our veterinarian about pet insurance,” Michelle remembered. “He said, ‘Rock’s only nine months old, and he’s already gotten a staph infection from swimming in a polluted lake and eaten this chicken. I’d say he’s a good candidate for insurance.”

What advice does Michelle have for owners with similarly ravenous pets? “Don’t leave anything on the counter!”

Juen’s claim for Rock’s instant breakfast incident was one of more than 80,000 claims received in the month of March by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Juen’s claim was considered along with other uncommon medical claims submitted in March and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.

As the most unusual claim submitted in March, Juen’s claim will be placed in the running for the 2010 VPI Hambone Award^SM. Each month, VPI employees nominate the most interesting claim submitted and in August 2010 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 March included a Yorkshire terrier that swallowed a penny and a basset hound that ate a pencil. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.

Note to editors: Digital images of Rock are available upon request. Send requests todshannon@petinsurance.com.

About Veterinary Pet Insurance

With more than 480,000 pets insured nationwide, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency is the nation’s oldest and largest 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. 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 CareGuard^SM for routine care is also available.

Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 2,000 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. Pet owners can find VPI Pet Insurance on Facebook or follow @VPI on Twitter. For more information about VPI Pet Insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com. 

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