Ok, well Max came in from the outside the other day with a rear leg in
the air. He was just out for a little potty break (maybe 10 - 15
minutes). I checked his pad for any foreign objects and found none.
I figure he will shake it off and maybe he just sprained it.

The next day he was still limping and I thought - nuts! Turns out he
has a partial tear in his cruciate ligament. He screamed in pain when
the vet streched his knee and had to be muzzled for the rest of the
exam. I got some Rimadyl supply for 2 weeks and told to start giving
him glucosaminel / chrondroritin daily. And after two weeks decide if
I wanted the surgery, I was told this will only get worse and surgery
is necessary. Well, my heart sunk. This is a VERY active dog like my
last one, and he blew out both legs during his adult life. I cannot
see Max inmobile for weeks after the surgery, and then afraid it will
happen again! Right now he is miserable as I am taking him out on a
leash everyday - it is like he is at a kennel or apartment not being
able to use the yard, it will be worse after the surgery! Well, one
week later he is somewhat better, he asks normal outside like nothing
is wrong, but you can tell he doesnt put too much weight on it indoors.
If he continues to take the Rimadyl he will need consistant blood work
for liver complications and it will not fix the condition - according
to the vet.

So I have to do "something".

Well, it is benefit enrollment time at work, and we get a discount on
VPI petinsurance through Metlife. My girlfriend's daughter works at
the vet and has Max registered as her pet and gets good discounts on
routine exams and such. She would get the surgery at about 1/2 price,
instead of the charge of $1200 - $1300, she would (I mean me) pay $600
to $700. Which is cool. But it seems this pet insurance would be
better - but I have read plenty of stories of denied claims based on
pre-existing conditions, genetics, etc.

For about $24 a month (superior plan), they would pay up to 90% of the
claim (up to $1200) and for the $12 a month (standard plan) they would
pay up to 90% of the claim (up to $725), if the cruciate ligament was
covered (it is on their benefit chart) - after a $50 deductiable. Of
course, I would have to take Max to a new vet so this would be a "new"
incident and no pre exisiting condition. I just wonder if this would
work? And should I do the insurance in case this happens again so it
would not be pre-existing. Or just take the daughter's discount and
take my chances?!?

This is a tough call that I have to make quickly - a) max needs help,
b) insurance wouldn't kick in until first of the year if I registered
today, c) I dont know how long max can go in this current "state".

Only thing Max has on his record is a broken fibual which he got when
at leader dog for the blind (which is the other leg and should have
nothing to do with Cruciate ligament even if it was the same leg I am
guessing). He is up to date on all this shots.

Any advice on the surgery and non-surgical options / opinions would be
appreciate as well as advice and experience with pet insurance
(specifically VPI) when it comes to this dog !

on Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:51:35 GMT, "buzzsaw" wrote:

For about $24 a month (superior plan), they would pay up to 90% of the
claim (up to $1200) and for the $12 a month (standard plan) they would
pay up to 90% of the claim (up to $725), if the cruciate ligament was
covered (it is on their benefit chart) - after a $50 deductiable. Of
course, I would have to take Max to a new vet so this would be a "new"
incident and no pre exisiting condition. I just wonder if this would
work?

it's called "insurance fraud" and it's illegal. If that doesn't bother
you, consider this: you're very likely to get caught since a new vet will
need records from your old vet (shots, etc) before any treatment.

--
Lynne

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:02:23 -0600, Lynne
, clicked their heels and said:


it's called "insurance fraud" and it's illegal. If that doesn't bother
you, consider this: you're very likely to get caught since a new vet will
need records from your old vet (shots, etc) before any treatment.

keep in mind also, that this is a public, archive forum.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Go with the option of having it fixed for the 1/2 price. The pet insurance
usually will not insure you after major surgery anyway. Also the fraud is a
big issue and you could end up with a whole lot more problems than how to
pay for this surgery.

My suggestion is get his done and start putting money back for when the
other one blows. You already know from past experience what to expect.
Most dogs who blow out one knee end up doing it to the other at some future
date. Also even withthe repair you could be looking at some long term pain
management depending upon arthritic he gets. Some dog's don't get much and
others do.

Celeste


"buzzsaw" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, well Max came in from the outside the other day with a rear leg in
the air. He was just out for a little potty break (maybe 10 - 15
minutes). I checked his pad for any foreign objects and found none.
I figure he will shake it off and maybe he just sprained it.

The next day he was still limping and I thought - nuts! Turns out he
has a partial tear in his cruciate ligament. He screamed in pain when
the vet streched his knee and had to be muzzled for the rest of the
exam. I got some Rimadyl supply for 2 weeks and told to start giving
him glucosaminel / chrondroritin daily. And after two weeks decide if
I wanted the surgery, I was told this will only get worse and surgery
is necessary. Well, my heart sunk. This is a VERY active dog like my
last one, and he blew out both legs during his adult life. I cannot
see Max inmobile for weeks after the surgery, and then afraid it will
happen again! Right now he is miserable as I am taking him out on a
leash everyday - it is like he is at a kennel or apartment not being
able to use the yard, it will be worse after the surgery! Well, one
week later he is somewhat better, he asks normal outside like nothing
is wrong, but you can tell he doesnt put too much weight on it indoors.
If he continues to take the Rimadyl he will need consistant blood work
for liver complications and it will not fix the condition - according
to the vet.

So I have to do "something".

Well, it is benefit enrollment time at work, and we get a discount on
VPI petinsurance through Metlife. My girlfriend's daughter works at
the vet and has Max registered as her pet and gets good discounts on
routine exams and such. She would get the surgery at about 1/2 price,
instead of the charge of $1200 - $1300, she would (I mean me) pay $600
to $700. Which is cool. But it seems this pet insurance would be
better - but I have read plenty of stories of denied claims based on
pre-existing conditions, genetics, etc.

For about $24 a month (superior plan), they would pay up to 90% of the
claim (up to $1200) and for the $12 a month (standard plan) they would
pay up to 90% of the claim (up to $725), if the cruciate ligament was
covered (it is on their benefit chart) - after a $50 deductiable. Of
course, I would have to take Max to a new vet so this would be a "new"
incident and no pre exisiting condition. I just wonder if this would
work? And should I do the insurance in case this happens again so it
would not be pre-existing. Or just take the daughter's discount and
take my chances?!?

This is a tough call that I have to make quickly - a) max needs help,
b) insurance wouldn't kick in until first of the year if I registered
today, c) I dont know how long max can go in this current "state".

Only thing Max has on his record is a broken fibual which he got when
at leader dog for the blind (which is the other leg and should have
nothing to do with Cruciate ligament even if it was the same leg I am
guessing). He is up to date on all this shots.

Any advice on the surgery and non-surgical options / opinions would be
appreciate as well as advice and experience with pet insurance
(specifically VPI) when it comes to this dog !

Janet B wrote in
:

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:02:23 -0600, Lynne
, clicked their heels and said:


it's called "insurance fraud" and it's illegal. If that doesn't
bother you, consider this: you're very likely to get caught since a
new vet will need records from your old vet (shots, etc) before any
treatment.

keep in mind also, that this is a public, archive forum.


And that his dog is suffering while he's busy trying to figure out how to
cheat an insurance company out of less than $500 by the time the fees have
been paid and the deductible covered.

If it was my dog, he be getting the discounted surgery *NOW* and I'd be
grateful as hell for the benefit of half price relief for my dog.

Tara

snip

Any advice on the surgery and non-surgical options / opinions would be
appreciate as well as advice and experience with pet insurance
(specifically VPI) when it comes to this dog !

=============
I am sorry about what happened to your dog. This is exactly the reason I
carry VPI pet insurance for my dog. Tears to the cruciate ligament are
common among rotties, so even though I have never had that problem with
either one of my rotties, I want to be prepared if it does happen. I do
have the superior plan for more coverage. VPI will not cover your dog's
pre-existing condition, and no matter what vet you take your dog to, VPI
requests all paperwork for all of your dog's vet care since you first got
the dog. The paperwork has to be signed by each vet that performed each
procedure. The discounted vet sounds good to me; I would take advantage of
that plan.

Thanks for the positive and the other comments.

BY NO MEANS was I trying to create "insurance fraud" - I DONT EVEN HAVE
INSURANCE. I would get it (the insurance) in case for the fact that this
may be a "on going" problem. After one week of rest - Max is doing good,
who ACTUALLY knows that this ACL is "parital torn". I dont know that ...
that is why I considered the insurance.

This is not the tone I was trying to set and I was attacked with legalliaty
issues after my own comments.

That kind of hurt me, thinking that some of you thought I would do this. I
understand my wording my have been off or misinteruppted. But the point
is - I dont know what is wrong yet. This is one vets diagnosis and
recommendation, yet I didnt want it to affect my opportunity to get
insurance if it would help me - not screw them.

I am not sure of all of this. So I thought I would post.

On Mon, 27 Nov 2006 23:13:53 -0500, "buzzsaw"
wrote:


That kind of hurt me, thinking that some of you thought I would do this. I
understand my wording my have been off or misinteruppted. But the point
is - I dont know what is wrong yet. This is one vets diagnosis and
recommendation, yet I didnt want it to affect my opportunity to get
insurance if it would help me - not screw them.

The bottom line is that whatever the injury is, it already happened
before you signed up for the insurance. It is not a preexisting
diagnosis that matters, it is the preexisting condition of the dog, in
this case having to do with whatever condition he is in after an
injury. So if you signed up for the insurance and then tried to get
this injury covered when they don't cover pre-existing conditions, you
would have to commit fraud to do so. So if you would not commit
fraud, the insurance option is out. Get the half price surgery as
soon as possible and know that is the best you can do.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

And I forgot - was it the big guy or the little fella that got hurt?
I'm sorry to hear about it and hope you can get him fixed up soon.

You must have me mistaken for someone else. I only have one large dog.