Okay guys. Now I've spent over six non-stop hours on the 'net looking for
info about companies that insure ferrets. If we lived in the UK or Canada,
we'd be fine. We don't.
I have found four companies that insure pets in the U.S., plus a list of 58
others that were listed under a heading somewhere of Animal Health Plans.
Here's what I've gotten so far:
1. Universal Pet Health Network: Insures cats, dogs, and exotic BIRDS. I
wasn't really crazy about their web site, I don't know, didn't appeal
to me. http://edbo.com/unipet/index.html
2. AniPals (thanks, BIG) DOES insure ferrets, they aren't cheap, but hey,
they insure ferrets. Visit them at http://anipals.com/
3. American Pet Care Plan seems like they're promising; their logo says
"America's Premiere Pet Health Care Plan for All Pets." So, I e-mailed
them, we'll see what they say. I did have a little trouble understanding
their fees/what they pay for, but I am tired. Visit them at
http://www.calzona.com/americanpetcare/
4. Veterinary Pet Insurance is the company that I called a while back, and
apparently, according to past FML issues (thanks, BIG) several of you
called them too. They (at least the receptionists) seemed to not rule
out the possibility that in the future they will insure ferrets. I
think we should work on them. http://petinsurance.com
5. At http://www.animall.com/vets/healthplanlinks.html I found a list of
58 companies/vets that were listed under the heading of Animal Health
Plans. Some seem promising, some not. They were only phone numbers
and addresses. I don't have time to call 58 places.
SO, if any of you out there are interested in helping me out in this mission
I've decided to face as war :-) here's what I need. Take your pick of
projects.
1. I need people who are interested in making a call or two in their home
state to some of the numbers on that list of 58. I can use people from many
states, but especially from KY, AZ, MS, CA, VA, and NC. This is just to
call and ask if they insure ferrets and to request information. Nothing
else, no membership to buy, you can cancel at any time.... If you'd like to
help in this project, e-mail me with your state and the number of calls
you'd be willing to make, and if you're willing to call out of your state.
2. If you'd like to help convince Veterinary Pet Insurance to start
insuring ferrets (I think this would be excellent for a number of reasons,
first, they're the biggest and most reputable company, second, they're in
California and wouldn't it look good if we convinced VPI that ferrets are
pets too....) If you'd like to help in this project, all I really need is as
many people as possible that are willing to write a letter encouraging VPI
to insure ferrets. The reason I ask for you to do this in conjunction with
me is that if we all write similar letters, with similar statistics, in a
small time frame, we might be able to win this one simply by bombardment
(nicely, of course!!) So, all you need to do is write a letter. If you'd
like to do this in the name of ferretdom, e-mail me!
If anyone needs encouragement, I read on one of the pages that I came across
that the NUMBER ONE killer of pets, above disease, accident, or illness, is
FINANCIAL EUTHANASIA. The putting down of pets due to the inability to
afford vet treatment. Don't know where they got the statistic from, but I'd
believe it. So, just because none of us on the FML would ever do that to a
ferret doesn't mean others don't (and I know they do). If we can open the
doors to ferret insurance, we might save lives.
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
[Posted in FML issue 1899]
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