Miaow (was Re: The best...)
Rachael Munns
>In article <slrn6se9k6....@manx.misty.com>,
>Hillary Gorman <hil...@hillary.net> wrote:
>>I've seen plenty of chocolate in pet stores being sold for consumption by
>>dogs inappropriately.
>And I'd naively assumed that pet stores would actually care about animal
>welfare enough to make sure they weren't selling poison. *sigh*
Does this actually apply in the UK? I've seen more pet chocolate on
sale than I can count, but I was under the impression that our pet
food regulations are stricter than those over in the US.
While we're diverging from the topic, what about cats and fish? I
always understood that feeding fish to cats was likely to cause
urinary problems, but my vet recently advised me to try using tinned
herring to trick my cat into taking medicine.
I've also heard that you can't get health insurance for pets in the US?
Is this true? It seems surprising, if it is.
Followups set (net.pets, anyone?).
--
Rachael
Jim Kingdon
> Is this true? It seems surprising, if it is.
Uh, I didn't know you could anywhere. Not that I've had a pet in a
long time.
I mean, whether this makes sense probably depends on whether you think
there might be some big expenses.
Kate Wrightson
Rachael Munns <vas...@dream.org.uk> wrote:
>I've also heard that you can't get health insurance for pets in the US?
There is apparently some pet health insurance, but it's costly and hard to
find. Our vet doesn't participate.
Pet medical care is pretty much out-of-pocket on this side of the water.
--
___________________________________________________________________________
ka...@eyrie.org Kate Wrightson www.eyrie.org/~kate
Mark Atwood
>
> While we're diverging from the topic, what about cats and fish? I
> always understood that feeding fish to cats was likely to cause
> urinary problems, but my vet recently advised me to try using tinned
> herring to trick my cat into taking medicine.
My impressions is that too much fish is bad, but occational treats
are no worse than giving them a kibble or two of Pounce each day.
> I've also heard that you can't get health insurance for pets in the US?
> Is this true? It seems surprising, if it is.
You can, but it's not really very cheap. It works out to be a bit
more than the annual cost of shots and checkup (gee, I wonder why).
I love my cats dearly, and this summer spent US $3000 !!!on vet bills. I
was getting ready to pay for a kidney transplant for the little
monster[1], but the LAST thing I want to have happen in the world of
pet care is the spiralling costs that non-catastrophic medical
insurance did for human health care.[2]
Typical med insurance causes a positive feedback loop, as follows.
It makes people act like health care is free, and so they consume a
lot more of it, while the providers can hike their prices because they
are not longer causing sticker-shock in the patients, and the the
whole thing spirals out of control as the premiums go through the
roof, until it reaches the point where only the wealthy can afforded
even basic health care out of pocket.
It may not be "compassionate". It may not be "politically correct". It
isn't even "just". But it *IS* the truth.
[1] She recovered without one. Yay!
[2] I would have paid US$30,000 for the exact same treatment for a
human. There is no good reason why there is a ten-to-one cost
differential.
--
Mark Atwood |He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already
m...@pobox.com|earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake,
|since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. -- Einstein
Rachael Munns
>> I've also heard that you can't get health insurance for pets in the US?
>Uh, I didn't know you could anywhere. Not that I've had a pet in a
>long time.
Over here, I pay about 7ukp/month on an insurance policy for my cat.
It doesn't cover preventative care like immunisations, but it does
cover illness or accident, which is what costs the money.
>I mean, whether this makes sense probably depends on whether you think
>there might be some big expenses.
Well, a few months after we took out the policy, the cat dislocated her
kneecap. It was surgically replaced, and the insurance company paid
170ukp out of 200ukp total cost.
--
Rachael
Rachael Munns
In net.medicine.veterinary.general, Mark Atwood wrote:
>You can, but it's not really very cheap. It works out to be a bit
>more than the annual cost of shots and checkup (gee, I wonder why).
I suspect that most animals are generally healthy, and that the
healthy insured animals subsidise the unlucky ones.
I took out the policy primarily for peace of mind; too many of my
childhood pets were put down with treatable problems like a broken
leg, because my mother couldn't afford the vet bills. :(
>I love my cats dearly, and this summer spent US $3000 !!!on vet bills. I
>was getting ready to pay for a kidney transplant for the little
>monster[1],
>[1] She recovered without one. Yay!
Owch. I'm glad she recovered.
>but the LAST thing I want to have happen in the world of
>pet care is the spiralling costs that non-catastrophic medical
>insurance did for human health care.[2]
>Typical med insurance causes a positive feedback loop, as follows.
>It makes people act like health care is free, and so they consume a
>lot more of it, while the providers can hike their prices because they
>are not longer causing sticker-shock in the patients, and the the
>whole thing spirals out of control as the premiums go through the
>roof, until it reaches the point where only the wealthy can afforded
>even basic health care out of pocket.
Coming from the UK, this is something I find hard to understand.
I've recently been comparing what I know about the US system with
the UK system, and found it hard to decide which is least worst.
Over here, if you can't afford private care, you get *some*
medical treatment, but it may not be very good.
My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
--
Rachael
Hillary Gorman
Jim Kingdon <kin...@panix7.panix.com> wrote:
*> I've also heard that you can't get health insurance for pets in the US?
*> Is this true? It seems surprising, if it is.
*
*Uh, I didn't know you could anywhere. Not that I've had a pet in a
*long time.
You can, but it's very uncommon for people to do so. There are only two or
three companies offering it, and I've only heard good things about one of
them (but I don't know the name of it.)
--
hillary gorman http://www.hillary.net in...@hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
upenn school of vet med class of 2000
Ryan Tucker
spewed:
>My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
>for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
>we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
>like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
Depends on your employer. For example, at my last job, I had very
excellent coverage for $1/wk. However, now, I have absolutely no
insurance... unless I wait a year and then pay $200-$300/mo.
So, basically, I'm hoping I don't get hit by a bus :-) -rt
--
Ryan Tucker <rtuck...@ttgcitn.com> http://www.ttgcitn.com/~rtucker/
GSM/VM/Fax: +15157712865 Box 57083, Pleasant Hill IA 50317-0002
This is where the regulary scheduled newsgroup posting runs off the rails.
-- A. Taylor Stanford, netins.soc
Jim Kingdon
> I've recently been comparing what I know about the US system with
> the UK system, and found it hard to decide which is least worst.
Roughly my own reaction. I haven't seen a system which I _really_
liked.... Which might just mean the problem is intractable or
something, I have no idea. I guess my latest pet idea is doctor-owned
HMO's. But I'm sure that if they become widespread people will figure
out a way to screw that up too :-). People being people, that is (am
I as cynical as rone yet?).
> My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
> for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
> we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
> like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
Well, find out what the employer in question offers. Things vary a
fair bit from plan to plan in the US.