Mar 08
Portuguese Man O’ War Spoils Game of Fetch for Westie/Poodle Mix
Veterinary Pet InsuranceMar. 8, 2010
Portuguese Man O’ War Spoils Game of Fetch for Westie/Poodle Mix
Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Selects Most Unusual February Claim
Brea, Calif. (March 8, 2010) — Pet owners visiting the beach for a day of fun and sun can anticipate the occasional safety hazard: holes in the sand, sharp pieces of driftwood or jagged shells, trash, etc. Unfortunately, after a recent experience with their 2-year-old Westie/poodle mix, Ranger, Brace and Janet Rohrer can add stinging Portuguese man o’ wars to their list.
“My wife had taken Ranger to the beach that day and was playing fetch with him,” recalled Brace Rohrer of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “Ranger ran out to get the ball, but a man o’ war” – a venomous invertebrate similar to a jellyfish – “was lying next to it. Ranger pounced on the man o’ war instead of the ball and got stung on his right front paw.”
At his veterinarian’s office, Ranger received a dose of anti-inflammatory medication, an antihistamine, and a shot of pain reliever. Ranger was also fitted with a soft Elizabethan collar to prevent him from licking the affected area. “Ranger was pretty sleepy and laid around at first when we brought him home and didn’t want to move,” Rohrer recalled. “But he was himself again after a few hours – and the soft cone was no obstacle.”
Ranger was lucky. Aside from being extremely painful, a Portuguese man o’ war’s sting can cause fever, shock, circulatory and respiratory distress.
“We’re going to have to take him farther up on the beach,” Rohrer said, “and keep him away from the water. He’d probably still jump on another one if he saw it.”
Rohrer’s claim for Ranger’s man o’ war incident was one of more than 80,000 claims received in the month of February by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Rohrer’s claim was considered along with other uncommon medical claims submitted in February and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.
As the most unusual claim submitted in February, Rohrer’s claim will be placed in the running for the 2010 VPI Hambone AwardSM. 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 February included a cat that got a fishing line tangled around the base of its tongue, a Portuguese water dog that swallowed an onion and several packages of gum, a miniature dachshund that ate a roach motel, an Italian greyhound that snacked on a wild iguana, a boxer that was attacked by a squirrel, and a golden retriever who ate a tent door. 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 http://www.VPIHamboneAward.com.
Note to editors: Digital images of Ranger are available upon request. Send requests to gbiniasz@petinsurance.com.
About Veterinary Pet Insurance
With more than 475,000 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 CareGuardSM 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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