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08-06-2004, 08:19 AM | #1 |
YT 6000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 6,238
| [News] Pets are Big Money Wow, I bet that Malaysian Princess' Yorkie is quite spoiled. --- NEW YORK - People love their pets. Americans alone own 143 million dogs and cats and will spend about $34 billion caring for them this year. Yet, according to the Census Bureau, there are just 72 million children under the age of 18 in America. It's no wonder, then, that Her Highness Princess Zarina Zainal of Malaysia travels halfway around the world so her Yorkshire terrier can see a renowned holistic veterinarian. It may not even be surprising to note that luxury hotels, including some owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts (nyse: HOT - news - people ), cater to pets or that a small business wants to take flight as an airline that specializes in pets traveling with their families. Worth noting: 83% of pet owners refer to themselves as "Mommy" or "Daddy," and 66 million dog and cat owners buy Christmas gifts for their pets at stores like Petco (nyse: PETC - news - people ) and Petsmart (nasdaq: PETM - news - people ). What's startling is that some people will spend six figures to buy a specific pet. And just 70,000 of the 70 million U.S. households owning a pet, or 1%, opened their wallets to purchase pet health insurance last year. http://www.forbes.com/business/comme...ntslander.html |
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08-06-2004, 09:12 AM | #2 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Florida
Posts: 852
| Eddie, did you post an article....no, wait....I read it in Consumer Reports: Pet health insurance can often mean that you pay MORE in the long run for vet's fees!!! They reported that veterinarian's often hike fees for people who have insurance, and that they often will do more procedures on pets who are insured, thereby raising the bill. Consumer Reports didn't recommend the current pet insurance policies available. Hmmmmm.... It is very hard for people like us, on a fixed income, to afford today's high vet fees, but still cheaper than paying for the insurance and then the co-pays. If we run into a situation where extremely costly care is needed, it will be a tough evaluation, but we will face it as best we can. In the meantime, I try to sneak in a new toy for Higgy every chance I get! |
08-06-2004, 10:37 AM | #3 |
Donating YT 7000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama, etc.
Posts: 9,031
| WOW!!! Here I thought Toto was spoiled ... and find out that the poor little rag-a-muffin is underpriviliged??!! Poor baby! I'll bet you one thing ... THAT Yorkie doesn't have as much real love and devotion as The Toto!!
__________________ Toto's Mom - http://www.dogster.com/?206581 Yorkie Rescue Colorado - http://www.yorkierescuecolorado.com/ "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits." -- Albert Einstein |
08-06-2004, 10:53 AM | #4 |
YT 6000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 6,238
| I'll bet bettyeanne! Each Yorkie is spoiled and loved in their own special way... Yes, I was afraid of something like that Higgin's Mom. The only real time we would need the insurance is if Yoda needed some kind of major surgery. The vet bills really aren't too bad on a yearly basis... |
08-06-2004, 03:42 PM | #5 |
Donating YT 7000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama, etc.
Posts: 9,031
| Mary Ellen & FastEddie ... I agree with you both! Pay-as-you go is much cheaper per year in the long run! At least that has been the case so far with Toto! For instance, last month when Toto had that thing going on with the allergy ... $77.59 covered a complete exam including "poop" check, the bottle of antihistimine tabs, the itch relief rinse for her coat [24 oz.] and another 4 month supply of Advantage! The Advantage was the most expensive part of the visit! We have paid more than that for a meal!! There have been times that we have taken Toto to Dr. Lucy because we were just "concerned" and she won't let us pay anything!! Compared to the health plan I looked at [through AKC] ... full coverage is about $780 per year and is $100 deductible and only pays 80%. ...and ... pays a limit of $13,000 per year and $5,000 for any one incident!! I would think that unless you have a very "sickly" Yorkie or a very expensive vet, that it would be way more expensive for the insurance! Opinions ... ?? Toto may get injured or come down with some gosh-awful illness tomorrow and I may have to eat my words ... but ... we could always "sell one of the kids" to pay for her care!!
__________________ Toto's Mom - http://www.dogster.com/?206581 Yorkie Rescue Colorado - http://www.yorkierescuecolorado.com/ "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits." -- Albert Einstein |
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