by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Last week after the earthquake and before the hurricane there was a pet conference taking place in Vienna, Virginia called BlogPaws – the 3^rd annual and all for the pet blogging community!  We, a few Long Island Pet Professional members, and many New York pet bloggers and from all across the country were fortunate enough to be in attendance at a furtastic conference.  One of the organizers, Caroline Golon is also a local Long Islander and of the Romeothecat.com blog fame – and she along with her BlogPaws partners, Yvonne DiVita and Tom Collins of Scratchings and Sniffings did an amazing job – dispite mother nature’s wrath!  BlogPaws 2011 was a great way for all of us in the pet blogging world to meet face to face – since so many of us follow each other on Twitter or are friends on Facebook, but nothing beats meeting in person.  The conference ran so smoothly and everyone was so excited to be there and meet each other – even all the pets!

The breakout sessions that I attended on Friday were fabulous and even if you think you know a lot – you can always learn so much at a conference like BlogPaws or even at a networking event.  I have pages and pages of notes to go over, and hundreds of business cards – many of which I already reached out too, and even found more pet people and media to follow on Twitter.  This was my first BlogPaws conference and I really hope to make the next one in Salt Lake City, Utah.   I mean seriously there were even people from Disney – this was the conference if you are a blogger not to miss.

And where else are you at a conference where you can bring your pet to sit in the breakout sessions with you?  Many times during a session a dog would bark in agreement with what the expert speaker was saying – it was quite funny – and made the conference just all that much more refreshing.  Some people even brought their cats, yes their cats, and their ferrets too.  All the pets seemed to be getting along and having just as much fun as the attendees themselves.

The only unfortunate thing about it was that we had to head back to Long Island because of rude Hurricane Irene, so many of us missed the 2^nd day.  Very disappointing, but we had to head back ahead of the storm.  But still attending the day & ½ that we did – it was pawsome!  And did I mention the ridiculously filled to the brim swag bag? Holy crap – we got so much amazing free stuff in the swag bag Max’s, my pit bull was too very excited when I got back!  In addition to the swag, the BlogPaws event raised over $12,500 and donated it to five different charities.  The next event is scheduled for next June in Salt Lake City – so who’s going?

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Breath of Fresh Air

While many of our volunteer fire companies on Long Island have been struggling to keep our animal friends safe, they are unable to purchase pet oxygen masks and as a result animals from dogs to cats are being put in serious danger, with many dying from the effects of smoke asphyxiation.  Pets in Suffolk County will now be breathing easier, and so will some of our local fire departments all because of the efforts of two teenage boys in Dix Hills and their partnership with Canine Fence.    Matthew and Marc Klinger, 15 and 13, co-founders of the Paws4Air foundation wanted to change that.  They started Paws4Air when they found out that their fire department did not carry pet oxygen masks on any of their fire trucks. Fire departments cannot use their money to buy these masks, because they can only purchase equipment that is used to help humans. They quickly used their birthday money to purchase the sets needed for their fire department. “Our goal is to equip every first response truck in Suffolk County with the much needed pet oxygen masks.” said Matthew and Marc.

Paws4Air created pet oxygen awareness bands that they sell to raise funds and awareness. Bands can be purchased from their website www.paws4air.org . They have had great help in selling the bands to students in their school district, Half Hollow Hills from the Animal Friends and Advocates Clubs at both the high schools, East and West, and the Leaders Club at West Hollow Middle School.

With their good fortune to partner up with Canine Fence, Paws4Air will be able to obtain their goal much faster!  Canine Fence have generously pledged to donate 50 Project Breathe O2 pet masks to help in the effort to equip every first response fire truck in Suffolk County, Long Island. As well as match one set for every one set purchased through fundraising by Paws 4Air. With the donations from Canine Fence and the sales of awareness bands, Paws4Air were able to give the fire companies in Commack, East Northport, and Elwood pet oxygen masks. In the next few weeks, many more fire departments in the Suffolk county area will be getting their sets!

Thanks to the efforts of two young men, and their charitable organization Paws4Air along with the contributions of Canine Fence® steps are being taken in the right direction.

Photo (left to right) Maryflorence Brennan (Canine Fence), Kieran Keane (Commack Fire Department), Marc Klinger (Paws4Air), Matthew Klinger (Paws4Air)

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Mina’s Story

Margaret Norris was so excited last summer to bring home a new member of the family, Mina.  Adopted as a small kitten from Last Hope Animal Rescue last summer, Mina, a jet black cat who is now almost a year old cat had a very scary health problem just this past March.  After a visit to the vet for her rabies shot, Mina have such a very rare and uncommon reaction to the vaccination, it had doctor’s baffled.

“We adopted our kitty, Mina, from a shelter when she was two months old and she has been just the sweetest little girl – very affectionate, loves to be held and carried. Mina had been given vaccinations by the shelter vet before we got her, and got some additional vaccinations from our vet when she was four months old, with no problems.

A couple of weeks ago I took her in for her final vaccine, for rabies. She seemed fine for a day or so, and then gradually began to become very lethargic and stopped eating and drinking. Four days after the vaccine I took her back to the vet because she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for more than 24 hours. She had begun hiding behind furniture and wouldn’t come out. When I took her in to the vet she could barely pick her head up off the examining table, and when the vet palpitated her abdomen she practically snarled at him.

He kept her at his clinic for four days and she seemed slightly better after she got some IV fluids and an antibiotic. Unfortunately, her blood tests came back showing that she was extremely anemic, and she would need blood transfusions. At this point he was stymied as to what was causing the symptoms because apparently it is highly unusual to have this kind of a reaction to the rabies vaccine. (There are some other very rare reactions, but anemia isn’t one of them.)

He sent her to a veterinary internal medicine specialist, who was also baffled. The specialist vet gave her two kitty blood transfusions, did ultrasound and discovered her spleen was enlarged, and did a whole bunch of other tests which ruled out feline leukemia and blood parasites. His final diagnosis was that the rabies vaccine somehow caused her immune system to attack her red blood cells, so he put her on steroids to suppress the immune response.

Fortunately, all of this treatment saved the kitty’s life, but it came at a cost of almost $4000. Luckily for us, we decided to buy Trupanion Pet Health Insurance a few months ago, so we will only end up paying $400 instead. When we signed up for the policy I kind of thought it was a waste of money, but not any more. While the insurance is relatively inexpensive- $20 a month for Mina – for young animals, I’ve decided to add our two older animals to the policy too. Pet health insurance – $20 a month – not having to watch our beloved kitty die because the treatment is too expensive – priceless.”

Margaret initially knew a friend that had pet health insurance and heard about Trupanion through her veterinarian’s office.  She said they are very happy with Trupanion, the plan, policies and customer service.  For Mina her future prognosis is good, she does have to go for follow up blood count at the vet soon – but Margaret said she is back to her old happy, sweet, playful self.  Margaret also said, although Mina had this ordeal, she will still always vaccinate her other pets with the rabies vaccination – as this was such a rare thing to happen – that the doctor’s never heard of this before.  The rabies vaccination is also required by New York State Law – and since we have had outbreaks in raccoons over the last few years in our area – it would be irresponsible and unlawful not to vaccinate.

By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

National Pet Health Insurance Month

Did you know that September is National Pet Health Insurance Month?
It seems we have a month, day or week for nearly everything these days, but pet health insurance is more important now than ever. Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) was formed and works collaboratively with its members to establish and maintain universal and professional standards for terminology, best practices, quality, and ethics in the pet health industry.

One company, Trupanion who is a member of NAPHIA recently announced a “No Dollar Limit” provision for their policy, which is really breaking the mold when it comes to pet health insurance companies.  Trupanion announced that they will no longer have a dollar limit on policies, per year incidents, year or lifetime.  Thomas Russo, Territory Partner of Long Island and Queens said, “This is an industry first.  I am thrilled to be part of a company that focuses more on the actual pet’s health care, than restrictions and stringent polices.”  This change will make other pet insurance companies wake up and take notice.

Limits are one way that pet insurance companies protect themselves from large benefit payouts and the potential of an expanding cost of claims. Many times, caps in benefit payments are not thoroughly understood and can place a company in an adversarial position with the policyholder. By removing the cap, Trupanion streamlines their policy and can focus more on resources on service.

Trupanion is also an industry leader in more ways than their no limit policy, they also cover 90% of claims, and pet owners can select any deductible from 0 to 1,000 dollars and find the premium that best suits them.  The company also offers a 30-day free trial certificate for new pet owners of pets under a year old.  So if you are looking for a company for your new pet, or old pet’s health insurance, do your research and check out Trupanion (www.trupanion.com).

Contact Thomas Russo: thomas.russo@trupanion.com
NAPHIA: www.naphia.org