Northern California Pet Owners Receive A Record $9,000 Reimbursement From Pets Best

As pet parents Ann Stringer and Doug Dominc can testify, we usually dont realize the value of insurance for pets until we really need it. In August, the couple experienced a horrifying ordeal that, sadly, cost the life of their beloved twelve-and-a half-year-old dog, Sarah. The only good thing about this situation was Pets Best, Doug says now.
When Malignant Histiocytosis, a shockingly vicious form of cancer, attacked Sarah, stealing her life away in less than a week, the couple was left with medical bills totaling more than $12,000. Thankfully, their pet insurance policy reimbursed them for $9,000 of these expenses.
Sarah was the couples first dog. They adopted her early in 1997 from NORCAL Golden Retriever Rescue, though the very spunky dog was clearly not a full-bred Golden Retriever. But she just seemed so smart, and so together. She seemed like a great dog, remembers Ann.
Full of personality, Sarah became a true member of the family. She really thought of herself as a person, says Ann. She loved to go to the park or the beach. She loved to travel. Incredibly, she was a fan of 60s pop music. She would get very excited in the car, Ann recalls, but if youd play the Beatles she would sit down.
She had a fascination with glass hotel elevators. On family vacations, says Doug, When Sarah got out of the elevator on the ground floor, she would drag us back to the elevator, paw at the doors, and bark until we let her back in for another ride to the top and back down. It was like her own amusement-park ride.
Suddenly, though, after years of good health, Sarah began to show signs of illness. She began throwing up regularly, and after a couple of days the couple decided she needed to see a doctor. On the initial exam, vets could not find anything wrong with her. Other than the vomiting, she looked fine.
Unfortunately, Sarahs blood test showed a very different picture. Her white cell count was off the charts and she had almost no platelets. During the next two days she declined sharply. Soon she could walk only a short distance before having to sit down.
The doctors began to suspect cancer. We were rooting for lymphoma, says Ann, which sounds kind of sad, but we were. Because the other possibility was something really awful. That other possibility, she explains, was Malignant Histiocytosis, a devastating diagnosis, because theres nothing they can do and it happens really, really quick.
As Sarah continued to decline, doctors ruled out all other possible illnesses. Several experts weighed in. And while they could not offer definitive answers, says Doug, they told the couple that This is a firestorm. We dont think we can hold this off.
Just four days after Doug and Ann had admitted her, Sarah was gasping for breath. And she was really starting to suffer, says Ann, She was hot to the touch. Really hot. In the face of overwhelming odds, the couple made the agonizing decision to have Sarah euthanized.
In spite of the horrible situation, Ann remarks, I cant tell you how thankful we were to have insurance, because we loved this dog. If she had had something that was treatable, we would have treated it. We didnt have to give up on her early because of financial reasons, adds Doug.
I can sleep at night knowing that we did everything we could, says Ann.

Now, the topic of pet insurance has become a major point of conversation with other pet owners. Weve turned into evangelists for Pets Best, says Doug. I wish it was possible to reach more people and tell them in advance of why its a really smart, smart thing to become policyholders with you folks.
Everybody at Pets Best was on our team, he concludes.