Pet Insurance and Tick Prevention

Our scheduled speaker today was Dr. Karen Oros from Macedon Veterinary Care. Unfortunately, she had to perform surgery this morning and was unable to get here for our meeting. However, our own Maurina Schidt stepped up and ably filled in for Dr. Oros, telling us a little about pet insurance and tick prevention.

Maurina herself has 4 cats, and Dr. Oros is her veterinarian. Dr. Oros is the hospital manager and the veterinarian at Macedon Veterinary Care and Animal Hospital in the West Wayne Plaza. She takes an educational approach to animal care, explaining what’s going on with your animal and providing information about the breed.

Maurina passed out a folder containing informational brochures from several pet insurance companies. Different companies offer different coverage plans, but most offer reimbursement for expenses incurred in the care of your pet. Most cover unexpected expenses, such as if the pet is injured or becomes ill. Some also cover routine examinations, preventative care, and spaying or neutering. Most will cover chronic conditions, provided those conditions were not pre-existing. Also, most policies will begin coverage immediately. So if you get insurance today, it will cover today’s treatment.

Maurina also relayed some information about ticks. Ticks are a growing problem, even in our area. You do not have to live in a wooded are for your animal to have tick problems. Often, the animal is not aware it has a tick or ticks. This is because ticks inject a type of local anesthesia when they attach, so the pet will not feel the bite. For this reason, it is important to check your animals for ticks whenever they have been outside. Signs of tick-borne disease may not appear for 7-21 days or longer after a tick bite, so it is important to watch your pet closely for changes in behavior or appetite if you think it’s been bitten. If you remove a tick within the first 24 hours, chances are good your pet will not become infected with any tick-borne illness. You should also be aware that ticks are active in colder weather; their population peaks during the fall season, and they can survive through the winter.

Maurina did a great job, on short notice, providing us with much useful information. She will try to re-schedule Dr. Oros for a future meeting.