Claim Example: diabetes in a 7 year old mixed breed female cat

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Diabetes can strike fast and is always unexpected.

Here's an interesting example of Tey-Tey, a 7 year old mixed breed female spayed cat from Silver Spring MD, who had no pre-existing conditions when she was insured at age 7 but who suddenly starts drinking water like crazy and losing weight rapidly. She was quickly diagnosed with Feline Diabetes Mellitus and put on a standard course of treatment.

Tey-Tey went through a series of ups and downs with her treatment but has finally stabilized so that she now only needs 1 unit per day of insulin, down from 6 units per day, which is great news!

From her pet parent when I asked him how Tey-Tey is doing:

She's doing well. Tey-Tey and I have adjusted to the routine, and I now know what 'normal' looks like for a diabetic kitty. I learned from my experiences, though, how having an animal with a chronic condition that affects so many things complicates any potential visit to the vet, so the insurance is a good thing to continue.

Here's a summary of Tey-Tey's treatment over a course of 3 years. The key to her coverage was for Tey-Tey's policy to include take home drugs, which covers all the insulin, needles and syringes needed for the insulin shots every day.

Claim Status	Description	Claim Amount	Paid Amount	Deductible Remaining	Date of Service
First Policy Period Started 4/12/2008
Applied to Deductible	diabetes	282.75	0.00	67.50	6/23/2008
Paid	diabetes	246.88	161.44	0.00	6/26/2008
Paid	diabetes complications	177.00	159.30	0.00	6/29/2008
Paid	diabetes mellitus-bg curve	142.83	128.55	0.00	7/2/2008
Paid	diabetes meds and diarrhea while boarding	606.20	295.38	0.00	7/6/2008
Paid	diabetes	527.99	475.19	0.00	8/25/2008
Paid	diabetes	293.58	63.45	0.00	7/6/2008
Paid	hypoglycemia, nausea, inappetance	770.09	693.08	0.00	9/10/2008
Paid	Insulin & syringes	160.73	144.66	0.00	11/6/2008
Paid	Diabetes Mellitus & T-4 Test	458.86	412.97	0.00	2/17/2009
Paid	Diabetes Mellitus	170.00	166.50	0.00	2/24/2009
Paid	Diabetes - Glucose Curve & Glucose Level	125.00	112.50	0.00	3/10/2009
Paid	Diabetes, Glucose Curve & Urinalysis	154.00	138.60	0.00	3/25/2009
Total		4,115.91	2,951.62
Second Policy Period 4/12/2009
Applied to Deductible	diabetic feline, T4	74.50	0.00	125.50	4/18/2009
Paid	Diabetes, bloodwork and urine testing & Ear Infection	511.40	270.81	0.00	9/23/2009
Paid	Diabetes Mellitus	423.67	334.50	0.00	3/10/2010
Paid	Diabetes	116.00	104.40	0.00	3/22/2010
Total		1,125.57	709.71
Third Policy Period 4/12/2010
Paid	Diabetes Mellitus	218.50	16.65	0.00	5/14/2010
Total		218.50	16.65

Tey-Tey's policy looks like this:

$200 deductible; 20% copay percentage; $5,000 annual maximum; drugs and dental illness coverage included. Total monthly cost for the policy (Tey-Tey is now 9 years old) is $59.87 a month.