Pet Vet Help: Halloween Fundraiser and Open Thread: A Scary Time of Year!

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 10:04am

Attack Garderners Gracie IMG_3352[1].jpg
Gracie by Attack Gardener: "Help! I'm being swallowed up by a black cat!"

Happy Almost Halloween!!! We have lots of fun pretending Halloween is scary, with its dark furbutts, things undead and evil, and unknown things that go bump in the night. But if you are proudly owned by loving pets, thinking about your pets getting sick and the prospect of high vet bills is the kind of scary that’s no fun!

Maps Hoovie DSC02937[1].JPG
Hoovie by Map: "You never know what's lurking around that corner!"

So we have formed our own nonprofit, Pet Vet Help. Our goal is to help as many people as possible pay unaffordable vet bills, so that pets can be healthy and happy in their furever homes. As we mentioned in our last fundraiser, the costs of veterinary care keep pace with the costs of medical care, so increase much faster than the rate of inflation, while wages stagnate.

Rosebuddears Marvin 003[1].jpg
Marvin by Rosebuddear: "You brings us hope we can handles it?"

Well, the way things are now, some who used to be able to afford vet care find themselves falling behind. Of course some lost good-paying jobs during the recession and have not recovered. Some are disabled or retired and so their COLA doesn’t cover the accelerated inflation of veterinary care.

Owktrees Puffin Sack_Nap_Cat[1].jpg
Puffin by Owktree: "Makes me want to hide."

I hate this unequal economy. I don’t want to have to ever face a decision for my pets based on not having money. And I don’t want any other pet-owned human to have to struggle with those decisions either.

Maps Hoovie (2)[1].JPG
Hoovie by Map: "Hoomins decide bestest for us."

So please donate to Pet Vet Help and help us help those who need vets; because sometimes, whether or not our pets are happy about it, it’s time for vet visits. We are holding fundraisers for each holiday to help as many pets as we can. We are applying for 501(c)(3) status so that your donations will be tax deductible.

Halloween_Cat[1].jpg
LC by Owktree: "Home is good, no vets unless I really really have to!"

Until we receive our 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, we cannot set up a discount nonprofit account at PayPal. So for now, please donate via PayPal to "Friends and Family" using my email address. I'll be sending the check or using the debit card to pay the IRS fees anyway. Pet Vet donations will be entered into my Pet Vet Help spreadsheet for tax deductible status on approval of the 501(c)(3). Donations can be made to:

Elena Email Big Bold Dark Beautiful.jpg

Attack Gardeners Gracie IMG_7271-001[1].jpg
Gracie by Attack Gardener: "Vet bills can be pugly!"

Yes, vet bills can be a burden. Even pugly, as you might say. But we have a plan. Right now, the IRS paperwork is complete, we just need the $400 fee. Just 20 donors of $20 each and we can submit. Please help us help others. We thank you and all pets thank you for your support!

Please comment below on these or any other topics that move you.

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Reminder: If you are also donating to support C99 and you like to donate in the middle of the month, now is that time if you haven't donated yet! Thank you for keeping C99 independent of corporate influence.

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Comments

Submitted by CS in AZ on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 10:36am

Good morning EC

One of our dogs just went through a serious health crisis, he is recovering now thankfully and we believe he is going to pull through, but it was all very expensive, with two vet ER visits, overnight stays in hospital, multiple tests, medications... more than $4K in expenses once we added it all together. We have pet health insurance, with a company called Trupanion, which we signed up for all 3 of the new rescue dogs when we took them in about 2 years ago. After almost 2 years of paying the premiums for them, now something happened that we actually need it, and so we didn't worry too much about the credit card bills piling up since they are supposed to pay 90% of all costs over the first $1000. A situation like this is why we bought the insurance! We didn't want to have to put a dog down just because we could not afford to pay for vet care.

Well, we filed our claim with Trupanion over two weeks ago now... and so far, crickets! We cannot get an answer out of them on if or when they might make good on their promise to reimburse us for these bills. I am so angry with them, but helpless to do anything. We call, get a "customer service" rep on the phone who gives us the runaround every time. I'm beyond frustrated. My husband is saying "give them some time" but I'm ready to cancel it, write off the losses, file a complaint with BBB about this scam "insurance" and hope and pray none of the dogs get sick again. grrrrrrr.

Vet bills are ridiculous these days, especially if you have to go to ER for an emergency or serious problem. It's incredibly frustrating.

Good luck with your venture, it's a very needed service!

Submitted by riverlover on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 12:20pm

Well, shit

I never bought pet health insurance. And I have had pets with complex health problems. Tens of thousands problems. I have a local Vet School (Cornell) and have opted to take my new pup to a hippy vet nearby. Mellow place. OTOH, my daughter has an elderly cat that she has taken to CU Vet School and a happy (mellow) story ensued. Garf has the usual kitteh renal failure but he concentrates his urine(!) and the student/Vet did no charge for the visit.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 12:56pm

Cornell is a fantastic school!

If they provide vet care for free or low cost, that's probably the very best option you could hope for. Others who have good vet schools nearby should look into that. Unfortunately, I think the closest around here is Auburn, which is not close at all but that seems to be where most of the local vets graduated from.

Is Garf on special diet and subq fluids? That's what I did with my renal kitties and they had comfortable lives years beyond diagnosis. It's been a while, though; I imagine things are even better now.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 10:59am

Assange manages a tweet

There is no US election. There is power consolidation. Rigged primary, rigged media and rigged 'pied piper' candidate drive consolidation.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 21, 2016

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 11:35am

Maybe they're not fully consolidated yet.

Their puppet media gave much more air time to the Outrageous Orange One than to Her Heinous. They still don't seem to realize that all publicity is good publicity.

And they're having quite the time with that 'pied piper' part. How many millions of supporters did Bernie have? We're not playing the good little mousies following to Her tune. She has been faced more with the impossibility of herding cats than the ease of herding Hamelin rats. Heh.

But maybe with much more practice and the ability to learn from their mistakes, they may yet consolidate. If they have that ability.

Anyway, good to know that Assange can still communicate.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 11:25am

Good morning, CS! Here's an interesting review

of Trupanion, https://www.valuepenguin.com/trupanion-pet-insurance

The review is good, but every single comment is bad! Make sure you don't say anything to them that could be twisted into a "pre-existing condition".

I agree that they might need longer than 2 weeks, but would also find it suspicious that they can't give you some answers over the phone, such as "it takes a month" or "we have asked for more information from your vet" or some such. You might try asking for a supervisor when you call and the first person can't help you. Keep going over their heads until they swear there is no one above them, then tell them they need to pay or they're in violation of the contract and you will spread word on social media and pursue legal remedies (if you think it's worth the time).

I realize they're not regulated by insurance regulators, but they still are bound by contract law. It might be worth considering suing them if they don't come through.

Yikes, check this out, https://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/insurance-compan...

Only 10 out of 71 complaints resolved satisfactorily even with BBB intervention, 18 out of 20 reviews negative, yet somehow BBB still gives them an A+ rating!

I had heard pet insurance doesn't cover everything and thought we might fill in some cracks, but this is ridiculous. I hope you are able to get some satisfaction out of them!

Obviously we're going to need a lot more donors than claimants. I'm hoping we'll have a lot of people willing to donate small amounts regularly, so we can afford to help a lot of people when things like this happen to them. We'll ask about recurring donors after we get the 501(c)(3) status. That's one thing PayPal will set up for us through their site at that point, as well. We'll also pursue corporate donors in hopes of deeper pockets. We just need help covering this initial $400 fee.

I'll probably be working on this fulltime and donate half my time. The board is fully volunteer. If the fund does get big, I'll try to find software to help me keep track of everything without a big investment of time. So hopefully we'll have the vast majority of the money we raise available to pay vet bills.

I'd sure like to see Trupanion's books. It sounds like they don't have to be nearly as transparent or responsible with their funds as we do ours. It's a crazy system.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 11:26am

I could have sworn I hit the right button for this to be a

reply to CS! Oh well. Thanks, Drupal!

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by CS in AZ on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 12:14pm

Thanks Elena

I have little to no hope of getting anything out of them, I'm expecting now to get screwed over. But I admit I'm also very skeptical of insurance companies as a rule. Trupanion does talk a good game when getting you signed up! But now that we need them, not so much.

My husband works in the collision repair industry and he deals with car insurance companies all day every day, so he's more patient than I am about this, and he's still somewhat optimistic that eventually they will come through. I've decided to let it go and just let him deal with them, because I know I will lose my cool, resort to threats, and get nowhere.

I do worry that you are going to be inundated with cries for help and it's going to be hard to bring in enough to help more than a fraction of your requests. The ER vet hospitals are always packed with people and animals in trouble, and a lot of tears flowing when the estimated bills are presented for people to sign - your life savings or a huge debt, or your beloved pet's life?? They don't care, you're just another pocket to pick for them. Compassion is not on the agenda. It's really sad.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 1:14pm

It does sound like letting hubby deal with it is the best option

in this case. Not only because he's cooler and more optimistic, but also because he deals with insurance companies and some of that skill will directly transfer to vet insurance.

Please keep me posted about what happens. With your permission, I may want to post your story as an anecdote on our Web site once I get that up (next on my to-do list after we submit the IRS application).

We'll require verification from the vet, and otherwise go first come, first served, and if we have several at the same time, those with the fewest resources will have priority. If we only help a fraction, then at least we've helped a fraction. Hopefully those who donate will refer people they know who are struggling. But we'll hold extra fundraisers if necessary for specific cases; have a list of options for people to try; I really think I can convince some of the big pet companies to pony up as part of their CSR; and I'm committed to keeping costs bare bones so that the money raised is put to productive use as close to 100% as possible. We'll also brainstorm about longer term options: Legislation to deduct vet bills from taxes like medical bills? Legislation to keep vet hospitals from price gouging? Some sort of cooperative for purchase of veterinary equipment and supplies so vets don't have to charge so much to cover their expenses? We'll see.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 11:52am

Hi, CS/AZ--understand your frustration, but hope you

don't follow through on cancelling your Trupanion policy. I have a vet bill for an emergency Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), and two other minor surgical procedures to file with Trupanion, which amount to a little less than $3500. So, I truly feel your pain--as WJC was wont to say.

Gotta run an errand, but will elaborate on our claims experience with them--with two dogs, one now deceased--when I return. It has mostly been quite positive, and the 'negative' didn't have to do with Trupanion failing to reimburse our claims as promised. (It's their new 'premium policy' which leaves a lot to be desired, when we renewed 'the B's' policy earlier this summer.) Anyhoo, I wholeheartedly agree that some customer service representatives are better than others.

Glad your little fellow is doing well. Hang in there!

Mollie

“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

The SOSD Fantastic Four

Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD

Taro
Taro, SOSD

—

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by CS in AZ on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 12:45pm

Thank you Molly. I look forward to hearing more

about your experiences with Trupanion. Especially if it gives me a reason to hope they will pay.

The dog who got sick is a yellow lab, about six years old. We got him from a rescue org almost 2 years ago, undernourished and nervous, but we've taken good care of him and he's been doing well.

Then one night he suddenly developed serious pain throughout his abdomen and also his neck and back. He couldn't lie down or reach his food and water bowls on the floor. He was just standing and whimpering, whining and occasionally yelping until his legs were shaking from exhaustion. It was horrible. He had blood work, X-rays, sonograms, they couldn't find anything! He was hospitalized for pain treatment and sedation, sent home the next day only for a repeat performance that day and into the night... another ER visit, more of the same. Finally in desperation they ran a valley fever titer on him, even though he didn't have typical symptoms, and a few days later it came back positive, with a high titer indicating severe disseminated infection that was in his organs and central nervous system. Now he's on fluconizole and pain meds and is doing much better. He will need the anti fungal medicine for life, but our vet says she believes he will do fine once he has some time to beat it back. We hope so, he's a super love bug of a dog.

Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 7:41pm

Whoah! Very sorry to hear about your Lab's

illness. Truthfully, had to Google, to see what 'Valley Fever' is. Awful. So happy that they believe that they can cure (or control) it, though.

We're heading out for a late dinner, but I intend to catch back up with you this weekend, about what we've experienced when we've dealt with Trupanion. (It may or may not be helpful, dunno. But, overall we are happy with them, and I believe that they'll treat you right. Hope so.)

One thing--how fast they process a claim does depend in part on how complete a veteranarian keeps his/her exam notes, lab records, etc. (Or, so it seems.) Good news-- the first claim is always the slowest to process, since that's when they gather the patient's overall medical history, in order to eliminate the possibility that there is a pre-existing condition. And, once a particular condition/claim has been processed and approved, future claims for that condition are quite simple and quick to process.

Later.

Mollie

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by CS in AZ on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 8:24pm

Thanks again Molly. I'm glad to hear that

you've had good experiences with Trupanion. It will be wonderful if they follow through and help us pay off these bills!

You are fortunate to not be familiar with valley fever! It has reached epidemic level here in Southern Arizona, among dogs especially but a lot of people come down with it too. There is a major research center at the U of A here in Tucson studying it and trying to develop a vaccine.

This Lab is the third dog we've had that got it, but both the others were more typical, they developed a cough, we got them tested and on medication right away, and they never got seriously ill from it, recovered without major issues.

This one is something else altogether. With him being a rescue we don't know his history, but he was extremely skinny and underfed when we got him, as well as a highly anxious and nervous dog, so it's possible his base immune system is weak still or compromised from whatever he's been through in his past, and so it just hit him harder and in a different way. We're just glad he's not suffering right now, after that week of hell. The meds seems to be working and he's feeling a lot better.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 1:30pm

Hi, UL. Thank you for the encouraging words.

Nothing beats the voice of experience.

Taro looks fabulous, at last a happy doggie! I hope he finds his furever home soon.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 7:48pm

Hi, EC! Thanks for the positive

feedback on Taro. Hope he finally finds a forever home, too.

Mollie

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Sat, 10/22/2016 - 10:55am

Thank you for sharing your experiences with Trupanion!

Have you tried any of the other pet insurance companies?

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by riverlover on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 12:28pm

ec, I need to check my incoming $$

but I have had several big hits this month. I, too, do not to see weeping families or hard-hearted mostly-males ordering death. I had to do that in March, a curse to me but a blessing for an older dog whose time was ending. I could not see the euthanasia, too hard for me and daughter with me. I have the cremains to deposit still. Time is getting good.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 1:35pm

I appreciate that, RL.

Sometimes euthanasia is kind, truly. But in an ideal world, the decision would be made only for the easing of pain, not for financial reasons.

How's your head injury? I haven't seen you write about it in a while, I'm hoping that means you feel substantially better?

I have a bunch of urns on the top of my dresser, with photos. I hope that doesn't look too odd! It represents decades of good pooties and woozles, mostly quite long lived.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by riverlover on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 4:29pm

My post-concussion symptoms continue

First neuro appointment Dec 1. lol.

I went all spiritual with pet's and husband's cremains. Back to earth in a sympathetic spot. Most of my husband's remains went into the St Laurence River, based on a casual comment of his years before. He had suggested the Middle channel (you would need a map to see) but I had no boat then and wanted a private ceremony so off the end of the dock for him. Magical, and no white sand there the next day. He went to the Atlantic Ocean.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 4:46pm

I'm sorry to hear that. They sure do make you wait,

don't they? But I suppose there's not much they can do at this point other than give you time to heal.

I want a regular coffin. And all my urns placed in there with me. So some future explorer can wonder, what strange ritual is this? Did I want my pets "serving" me in the afterlife (as if they ever served me instead of the other way around!)? Did we worship pets? Did pets worship us? Let them make up stories about our vanished culture.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by paradigmshift on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 1:55pm

like this cartoon

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"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 2:41pm

Ha ha, yup. Not falling for that old trick any more.

http://bus.miami.edu/docs/UMBFC-2012/sba-ecommerce-504117c499a31/Cash_Ri...

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Submitted by elenacarlena on Fri, 10/21/2016 - 2:54pm

Leave it to me to post a fundraiser on a day PayPal is attacked!

If you are able to donate, please leave a comment!! And I'll PM you when PayPal comes back up. Oy. Now Her Heinous is interfering in my attempts to do some good outside the political games.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.