Your pet's illnesses can be predicted
By Emmet Pierce, Insure.com
As one of only a handful of full-time pet insurance
actuaries in the United States, Laura Bennett's job is to determine what
ailments or injuries are most likely to drive medical costs for your cat or
dog.
Her goal is to use medical data to establish
accurate policy risks for Ohio-based Embrace Pet Insurance, where she is CEO.
Pet insurance rates, just like rates for humans, are determined by the
mathematics of risk. Insurance companies must keep their rates low enough to
remain competitive but high enough to cover claims and be profitable.
If insurance actuaries know your pet's breed, age
and place of residence, they can estimate the cost of medical treatment during
the animal's lifetime. They base predictions on medical data, but location also
is important, since treatment is more expensive if you live in a large urban
center.
One of the keys to saving money on pet insurance is
to buy it while your pet is young and free of disease, Bennett says.
"People should buy this when their dog is healthy."
With growing databases of information to work from,
actuaries have become very important to pet insurance companies, says Carol
McConnell vice president and chief veterinary medical officer at Veterinary Pet
Insurance (VPI), the largest and oldest pet health insurance provider in the
U.S. "It definitely is a niche," she says of
pet actuary work. "We have a woman who came from auto [insurance] and has
been doing it with us full time for five or six years. We work very closely
with her."
Anticipating illness and injuries
Bennett, whose company insures only cats and dogs,
uses breeds to determine the likelihood of certain illnesses and injuries,
particularly among dogs. "Purebred dogs have a lot of breed-specific
conditions," explains Bennett. "A Golden Retriever is prone to hip
dysplasia. It is more common in a Golden Retriever than a Labrador. German
shepherds are even more prone than Golden Retrievers."
If you were to count raw numbers of insurance claims
for cats and dogs, "ear infections would be very high on the list,"
as would diarrhea, gastrointestinal issues and skin allergies, Bennett says.
VPI found that the most claims for dogs in 2010 were
ear infections, followed by skin allergies, skin infections, gastritis and
diarrhea. For cats, the top illnesses were lower urinary tract disease,
gastritis, chronic renal failure, hyperthyroidism and diabetes. Among exotic pets, the most frequent ailments were
bowel obstructions, followed by gastritis, bladder infections, upper
respiratory infections and eye infections.
Medical advances drive the demand for pet insurance
You might expect that recent advances in the
treatment of animal illnesses would reduce medical costs, but the opposite is
true. Pet insurance is becoming increasingly important for pet owners, says
Bennett. As treatments once available only to humans are extended to pets,
costs are rising.
Kristen Lynch, spokesperson for the North American
Pet Health Insurance Association, agrees.
"Pets are living longer, healthier lives," she says.
"They can do almost anything for a pet [that doctors] can do for a human.
They can treat them for cancer. They can replace their hips and knees. Things
that would have caused a pet to pass away at one time can be treated."
Medical doctors and animal care professionals are
sharing knowledge, says McConnell. "Our medicine is much more
sophisticated than it was even 10 years ago."
Before deciding that a pet insurance quote is too
high, consider what your costs could be without pet insurance. Despite the
financial risks that go along with having uninsured pets, "We estimate
that less than 1 percent of pet owners [in the U.S] have their pets
protected." says Curtis Steinhoff, a spokesperson for VPI.
The human factor
Although insurance actuaries are skilled at
predicting veterinary costs, one thing they can't work into their calculations
is the human factor, says Bennett.
For example, one of the most important things you
can do to prevent pet injury is to secure your pets with harnesses when you
drive with them in your car, she explains. How well you care for your pet plays
a big role in its health.
"The ideal pet parent is someone who pays
attention, feeds the pet well, keeps an eye on the pet's weight . . . and knows
their pet well," she says.
Top 10 pet medical conditions
Dogs
1. Ear
Infection
2. Skin
Allergy
3. Skin
Infection/Hot Spots
4. Gastritis/Vomiting
5. Enteritis/Diarrhea
6. Arthritis
7. Bladder
Infection
8. Soft
Tissue Trauma
9. Non-cancerous
Tumor
10. Hypothyroidism
Cats
1. Lower Urinary Tract Disease
2.
Gastritis/Vomiting
3.
Chronic Renal Failure
4.
Hyperthyroidism
5.
Diabetes
6.
Enteritis/Diarrhea
7.
Skin Allergy
8.
Periodontitis/Dental Disease
9.
Ear Infection
10. Upper
Respiratory Infection
Exotics
1. Bowel
Obstruction
2. Gastritis/Vomiting
3. Bladder
Infection
4. Upper
Respiratory Infection
5. Eye
Infection
6. Cancerous
Tumor Requiring Surgery
7. Arthritis
8. Skin
Inflammation
9. Skin
Abscess or Pressure Ulcer
10. Inflammation
of Hair Follicles
Source: Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., 2010 data
Adapted from: http://www.insure.com/articles/petinsurance/pet-illnesses-can-be-predicted.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-33668110
~~The goal of this blog is to
provide general information and advice to help you be a better pet owner and to
have a more rewarding relationship with your pet. This blog does not intend to
replace the professional one-on-one care your pet receives from a practicing
veterinarian. When in doubt about your pet's health, always visit a
veterinarian.~~
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