Insurers Reveal Top 10 Reasons For Canine Surgery
Policyholders of Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI) who own dogs spent approximately $15 million in 2009 on the 10 most common health conditions requiring surgery. In fact, 1 in 20 VPI-insured dogs required surgical treatment for one of these conditions. The company examined it’s database of more than 485,000 pets to determine the top 10 dog surgery claims submitted to the company last year.
Surgical claims are typically some of the most expensive received at pet insurance companies, with the average claim routinely costing thousands of dollars. The most common surgical claim for dogs on the list, benign skin mass, cost policyholders an average of $999 per claim. The least common, auricular hematoma, cost an average of $296 per claim.
Top 10 Reasons For Surgery in Dogs:
- Benign Skin Mass
- Skin Abscess, Inflammation, or Pressure Ulcer
- Tooth Extraction
- Torn ACL or Cartilage
- Malignant Skin Mass
- Cancer of the Spleen
- Cancer of the Eyelid
- Bladder Stones
- Cancer of the Liver
- Auricular Hematoma (swollen, fluid-filled ear)
"Veterinary medicine has made considerable advancements in recent years, providing pet owners surgical options that weren’t available to them even five years ago," said Dr. Carol McConnell, vice president and chief veterinary medical officer for VPI. "While this is certainly good news, pet owners are often unaware of the cost of these surgeries."
