Injury to puppy's leg, insurance and pre-existing condition

[mattb46]

Hi All

We have a german short-haired pointer puppy who is coming up for a year old. When he was about 3-4 months old and before we got the pet insurance sorted, he hurt one of his back legs whilst playing. At the time we took him to the vet and they x-rayed him, found no injury (that showed up anyway) prescribed an anti-inflammatory (meloxidyl) and rest. A week or so later he was back to his usual self.

3 weeks ago (6-7 months later) he injured the same leg playing with another dog. We think he twisted his leg in a rabbit hole. Now he carries it when running a bit. If we walk him for 45 mins he might carry it for 10-15 secs every 2-3 minutes. He walks normally on it. Its really upsetting to see him carry it and gutting as we got him partly as a high energy dog that would enjoy epic walks. He is currently limited to slow pavement walks whilst we wait to see the vets

We have an appointment with the vets tomorrow and will see what they say. We have the premium Petplan policy but dont know what the insurers attitude will be if the vet decides that it needs further tests eg an MRI etc. We could not afford a £5k+ vets bill if he needed surgery (assuming they could even find the problem if its ligament related).

Any advice etc would be gratefully received as we are all worried about him and his future.

[parakitaMol.]

Good that you are aware of how this works. Just make sure you are clear with your vet that this latest incident is specific to the rabbit hole and the date that happened. Make sure on your claim form that you say this as well. It should then not be an issue. It does seem like it is connected with the rabbit hole so you are not being fraudulent anyway.

I am not an insurance expert. However, my youngster has a very very complex leg and I have been concerned about him since he was a puppy and mentioned my concerns to my vet a year before we actually got our diagnosis..... then a years worth of surgery and ongoing rehab totalling £10k - I had the exact same concerns as you.

Good luck - please let us know how you get on at the vet - I hope your pup is ok

This is actually a very worthwhile subject to mention - everyone is very into insurance comparisons and are tempted to switch - however the implications regarding 'pre-existing' can be incredibly costly so it is really worth making sure you know exactly what you may or may not be covered for when switching (or delaying) insurance.

[scrw.]

Had a similar situation with our first Lab (twisted knee 1st time, snapped ligament in knee a few years later), we got a copy of the original vet report from the first injury and sent over to Petplan and they were fine over the claim for the second treatment and the Vet stated it was a new condition.

[parakitaMol.]

scrw. said:

Had a similar situation with our first Lab (twisted knee 1st time, snapped ligament in knee a few years later), we got a copy of the original vet report from the first injury and sent over to Petplan and they were fine over the claim for the second treatment and the Vet stated it was a new condition.

Yep that is how it works, the vet will be asked to send a full history to accompany every new claim.

[megamaniac]

parakitaMol. said:

scrw. said:

Had a similar situation with our first Lab (twisted knee 1st time, snapped ligament in knee a few years later), we got a copy of the original vet report from the first injury and sent over to Petplan and they were fine over the claim for the second treatment and the Vet stated it was a new condition.

Yep that is how it works, the vet will be asked to send a full history to accompany every new claim.

In my experience of Petplan a claim for repeated medication has required full history, even after 3 years.

[parakitaMol.]

megamaniac said:

parakitaMol. said:

scrw. said:

Had a similar situation with our first Lab (twisted knee 1st time, snapped ligament in knee a few years later), we got a copy of the original vet report from the first injury and sent over to Petplan and they were fine over the claim for the second treatment and the Vet stated it was a new condition.

Yep that is how it works, the vet will be asked to send a full history to accompany every new claim.

In my experience of Petplan a claim for repeated medication has required full history, even after 3 years.

Yeah they can request it any time (and often do).

I'm so thankful for having the full cover, all my 4 dogs have needed it at some point and 2 of them extensively. Yes it's expensive but if you're in an awful situation of complex surgery, lots of imaging, therapy and ongoing issues it is really worth it.

A few years ago I was thinking of cancelling my older cats, then one of my cats was horrifically mauled by a fox that dragged her backwards through a catflap, nearly tore her leg off and only just missed her bowel and stomach, she lost teeth and claws in the attempt to escape - she was in a dreadful state and got a horrible infection - one claim almost recovered her 15 years of Pet Plan insurance.

[mattb46]

scrw. said:

Had a similar situation with our first Lab (twisted knee 1st time, snapped ligament in knee a few years later), we got a copy of the original vet report from the first injury and sent over to Petplan and they were fine over the claim for the second treatment and the Vet stated it was a new condition.

Did your lab fully recover in the end?

Thanks for the comments all

[parakitaMol.]

mattb46 said:

Did your lab fully recover in the end?

Thanks for the comments all

Matt, just referring to your OP, if your vet sends you to a specialist for MRI/X-Rays etc, you can call Pet Plan and ask if it is likely to be covered. From what you have described and the type of policy it does sound like it should be. They won't give you a 100% guarantee on the phone but they will give you a pretty good idea. You could do that today so that you know for tomorrow. If your vet feels your dog is in pain and needs urgent investigations then you may want to know this. If your dog needs an MRI & X-ray and the imaging shows it needs surgery *most* surgeons would either get your permission before surgery or call you while the dog is anesthetised for permission to perform surgery. They don't like multiple GAs if they can be avoided.

Just bear in mind with a young active dog, even though cruciate and patella surgery is common, my personal preference is to seek a specialist referral. Legs can be really tricky and complexities not always apparent.

Wishing you and your dog the very best of luck, hopefully it will just be tissue and require rest and rehab

[mattb46]

Just by way of an update, we went to the vets yesterday. She could not feel any obvious issues with his lower joints so thinks he may have injured his hip. She was happy this is a new injury as some 8 months have elapsed since the last one with no issues. I have lodged the claim with the insurance company. He is booked in for an x-ray in the next couple of weeks, then she was talking about hydrotherapy. Im surprised she did not mention an MRI but when asked, she said that would be £2-3k.

The vet prescribed Meloxidil and no exercise for 2 weeks. He's such a high energy dog, its going to be a nightmare. Our lockdown household is already mad enough with our children doing online lessons all day, a unhappy dog with a very loud whine is definitely not going to help!!

[parakitaMol.]

Oh well it looks like it can be managed Conservatively which is way better than surgery (I have been there with my wildly insane puppy - 2 leg surgeries in 9m) - Gimme 10 minutes, I will put a link to a brilliant vet I know, who specialises in rehab and crate rest - she has heaps of great advice on her website for keeping dogs occupied.

My advice would be to really not cut corners on conservative treatment (or surgical recovery) that is advised, it is really hard and I totally appreciate that, but it can make a huge difference on outcomes.

If you are covered on PetPlan then don't be scared to get the MRI if there are unanswered questions as to the diagnosis. That's what it's there for, and seek a referral to a specialist if your 'owners hunch' feels unsure.

[mattb46]

Thanks very much, I look forward to that link as any advice re how to keep him occupied these next 2 weeks would be much appreciated.

I just wish we had taken him to the vets sooner now

[parakitaMol.]

Try not to worry, you're on the case now. The link is up - it is The Rehab Vet (Marianne Dorn). Her website is full of tips - if you need more ideas then let me know

- my top 2 tips would be a good fitting harness with a front clip as well as a top clip and learn to use it well, it takes a bit of mastering but it is so great for steadying recovering dogs

- the other is forraging for food and sniffing - so you can scatter feed your dogs meals on the lawn and give their meals spread out through the day so they have an activity to do or you can put their food in a snuffle mat and when you do have your gentle lead walks just let your dog sniff and sniff and sniff - the more the better - it really helps them relax and sleep

[MinionBob]

parakitaMol. said:

Good that you are aware of how this works. Just make sure you are clear with your vet that this latest incident is specific to the rabbit hole and the date that happened. Make sure on your claim form that you say this as well. It should then not be an issue. It does seem like it is connected with the rabbit hole so you are not being fraudulent anyway.

I am not an insurance expert. However, my youngster has a very very complex leg and I have been concerned about him since he was a puppy and mentioned my concerns to my vet a year before we actually got our diagnosis..... then a years worth of surgery and ongoing rehab totalling £10k - I had the exact same concerns as you.

Good luck - please let us know how you get on at the vet - I hope your pup is ok

This is actually a very worthwhile subject to mention - everyone is very into insurance comparisons and are tempted to switch - however the implications regarding 'pre-existing' can be incredibly costly so it is really worth making sure you know exactly what you may or may not be covered for when switching (or delaying) insurance.

I'm new to this bit of PH but not new to dogs or pet insurance and parakita.Mol's advice is well worth listening to, particularly around "pre-existing conditions" and switching.
I'm currently paying £178 per month to our pet insurance for 3 dogs. 2 are 9 years old ,one is 5.
They're all rescues with no pre-existing when we added them to the policy but have had some "issues" since and there's been no problem whatsoever with pay outs. I think after 15 years of premiums (we started with them quite a while ago) I'm still ahead of the game for what they've paid out!

Mine isn't PetPlan but I'm very happy with the Red Telephone people.

"Good luck - please let us know how you get on at the vet - I hope your pup is ok " Indeed, +1