Most Expensive Pet Health Conditions Revealed
A US based pet insurer has revealed a table of the most costly conditions affecting pets todays.
Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) recently analyzed medical claims submitted in 2007 to find the most expensive insured conditions commonly suffered by dogs and cats. VPI ranked conditions based on the average fees attached to common claims from among its more than 460,000 pets insured nationwide.
The data revealed that the costliest conditions affected pets of all ages and breeds and often required diagnostic tests and emergency surgery. Average claimed fees for the priciest conditions ranged from $500 to nearly $3,000. Following are VPI’s Top 10 most expensive common conditions for dogs and cats, with the average claimed fee amounts submitted in 2007:
Dogs* Cats*
Condition Average Condition Average
Fee Fee
1. Intervertebral 1. Foreign Body Ingestion
Disc Disease $2,844 (Small Intestine) $1,629
2. Lung Cancer $2,032 2. Urinary Tract
Reconstruction $1,399
3. Gastric Torsion (Bloat) $1,955 3. Foreign Body Ingestion
(Stomach) $1,391
4. Foreign Body Ingestion 4. Rectal Cancer $1,011
(Small Intestine) $1,629
5. Cruciate Rupture $1,517 5. Bladder Stones $989
6. Foreign Body Ingestion 6. Intestinal Cancer $942
(Stomach) $1,398
7. Cataract (Senior) $1,244 7. Hyperthyroidism (Radiation) $920
8. Bone Cancer $1,059 8. Fibrosarcoma (Skin Cancer) $780
9. Pin in Broken Limb $1,000 9. Acute Renal Failure $565
10. Brain Cancer $916 10. Mast Cell Tumors $497
* Treatment costs vary on a case by case basis. Dollar amounts reflect
average initial claim fees submitted to VPI and are not intended to
suggest typical reimbursements, reflect average national veterinary
fees, or account for ongoing fees associated with a particular condition
While treatments for many conditions not listed are routinely even more expensive than those ranked, VPI only considered commonly claimed conditions. Low frequency claims, no matter how expensive, were not included. For example, in 2007 VPI processed about two claims a day for intervertebral disc disease, about five claims a day for surgical removal of an ingested foreign body and about 15 claims a day for cruciate rupture.
VPI reimbursed policyholders millions of dollars last year for treatment of these conditions, giving many pet owners the financial freedom to make life-saving treatment decisions. Nancy Ryan, of Clarkston, Mich., found substantial value in her VPI Pet Insurance medical plan when her 4-year-old Bernese mountain dog, Winston, needed emergency surgery for gastric torsion. Diagnostics, surgery, and treatment cost $4,965.60, of which VPI reimbursed $2,735.10.
“I cried a lot when we found out Winston had bloat and had to rush him into surgery, but I cried tears of joy when we received the reimbursement check,” said Ryan. “We knew we had to do what was necessary to save his life and we have always felt confident, assured and protected with the VPI policies for all of our dogs.”
Lisa Choate, of Montgomery, Texas, was one of hundreds of VPI policyholders in 2007 whose dog needed surgery after eating something he shouldn’t have eaten. The veterinarian’s X-ray revealed 42 pieces of a toy metal race car in her Labrador Retriever Beau’s stomach. Only after surgery did Choate know that Beau had also swallowed a dish towel. In the end, Beau’s curiosity cost Choate $1,865.82. Within a few days she received a $1,138.64 reimbursement check from VPI.
“My husband wasn’t too happy with the bill for surgery, so we were both relieved when we got the reimbursement from VPI,” said Choate. “This reminded us why we have insurance. We never would have expected something like this from an 11-year-old dog like Beau. It was very uncharacteristic of him.”
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