{"id":146,"date":"2015-06-18T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/?p=146"},"modified":"2022-07-08T14:49:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T18:49:37","slug":"can-you-afford-surgery-on-your-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/can-you-afford-surgery-on-your-pet\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you afford surgery on your pet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pets commonly get into things they shouldn\u2019t. When they swallow something, we call that a foreign body.<\/p>\n<p>Recent foreign bodies we have removed from cats and dogs include, from memory: pieces of a belt, of an electric cord, of floss, of a yoga matt, of a basketball; a chicken bone, a sock, a rubber toy, an acorn, a squeaky toy, a sewing needle, hair ties, a giant hairball and an ear plug.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-147\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Foreign-bodies-300x194.jpeg\" alt=\"Foreign bodies\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Foreign-bodies-300x194.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Foreign-bodies.jpeg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They were stuck in the esophagus (the tube between the mouth and the stomach), the stomach, the small intestine or the large intestine.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s just with one surgeon!<\/p>\n<p>Add the strange objects removed by other surgeons and family vets, and that\u2019s a whole lot of foreign bodies!<\/p>\n<p>Trupanion, the pet insurance company (which I don\u2019t endorse by the way), published an interesting picture that I thought I should share with you.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a good visual reminder that foreign bodies can get stuck anywhere along the GI tract. In addition, the company explains the financial consequences of our pets\u2019 craziness.<\/p>\n<p>Blocked foreign bodies are the second most common insurance claim among dog owners and the third most common from cat owners. The company refunded pet owners over $1.8 million in 2014.<\/p>\n<h4>In case you cannot see the picture above, here are the average amounts, by location:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Mouth: $ 370<\/li>\n<li>Esophagus: $ 920<\/li>\n<li>Stomach: $ 1,140<\/li>\n<li>Small intestine: $ 1,640<\/li>\n<li>Colon: $ 640<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>In addition, two specific surgeries mentioned are:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Linear foreign bodies (think floss or ribbon): $ 2,400<\/li>\n<li>Septic foreign bodies (i.e. there was leakage from the intestine): $4,210<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is only one little problem with these average amounts. It\u2019s good information, but averages can be very misleading. Combined in these numbers are quick and long surgeries, simple and complex surgeries, surgeries performed in Manhattan, KS and Manhattan, NY, and surgeries performed by family vets and board-certified surgeons. So what it means is that the $1,640 average cost of intestinal surgery may really be $1,000 for one pet owner and $3,000 for another pet owner.<\/p>\n<p>Which one could\u00a0you be?<\/p>\n<p>At least, those pet owners were lucky: they had pet insurance to help with the cost of surgery. Meanwhile, countless pets ended up euthanized because their owners couldn\u2019t afford surgery.<\/p>\n<p>So please take these numbers with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n<p>And more importantly, unless you can afford a $3,000 bill (for a foreign body or any other health problem), please seriously consider pet insurance. It could save your pet\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>Until next time,<\/p>\n<p>Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pets commonly get into things they shouldn\u2019t. When they swallow something, we call that a foreign body. Recent foreign bodies we have removed from cats and dogs include, from memory: pieces of a belt, of an electric cord, of floss, of a yoga matt, of a basketball; a chicken bone, a sock, a rubber toy, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can you afford surgery on your pet? | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pets commonly get into things they shouldn\u2019t. 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He performs specialized orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries on dogs, cats, and small exotics at your family vet\u2019s hospital. After graduating in 1993 from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liege in Belgium, Dr. Zeltzman simultaneously worked as a general practitioner, emergency vet, and journalist for three years in his native city of Paris, France. He completed a one-year internship at the University of Georgia, followed by a three-year surgery residency at Surgical Referral Service in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He then worked as a surgeon for four years at a surgical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an additional four years at a surgical practice in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. He is a board-certified surgeon and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a coveted professional achievement Dr. Zeltzman is also a certified surgeon for the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO), having performed thousands of these procedures in dogs from less than 30 pounds to more than 250 pounds! The results of his work have been very impressive. Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s interests include all aspects of soft tissue, orthopedic, cancer, reconstructive, and neuro surgery, as well as physical therapy and emergency cases. He also has a strong interest in the prevention and treatment of obesity. His newest endeavor is stem cell therapy for arthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). 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He performs specialized orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries on dogs, cats, and small exotics at your family vet\u2019s hospital. After graduating in 1993 from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liege in Belgium, Dr. Zeltzman simultaneously worked as a general practitioner, emergency vet, and journalist for three years in his native city of Paris, France. He completed a one-year internship at the University of Georgia, followed by a three-year surgery residency at Surgical Referral Service in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He then worked as a surgeon for four years at a surgical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an additional four years at a surgical practice in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. He is a board-certified surgeon and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a coveted professional achievement Dr. Zeltzman is also a certified surgeon for the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO), having performed thousands of these procedures in dogs from less than 30 pounds to more than 250 pounds! The results of his work have been very impressive. Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s interests include all aspects of soft tissue, orthopedic, cancer, reconstructive, and neuro surgery, as well as physical therapy and emergency cases. He also has a strong interest in the prevention and treatment of obesity. His newest endeavor is stem cell therapy for arthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). Dr. Zeltzman knew he wanted to be a veterinarian since the age of 5 when his favorite TV shows were Flipper, Daktari, and Lassie. \u201cBecoming a veterinary surgeon has been a dream come true, and I am as passionate about my profession as I was when I first started,\u201d he says. In practice, Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s goal is to offer the best surgical care, the safest anesthesia, and the utmost pain management to all of his patients. Actively involved in teaching, lecturing, and publishing, both locally and internationally, Dr. Zeltzman has published two books: Cocker Spaniels: A Practical Guide for People Owned by a Cocker and Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, a book on weight loss for both dogs and people, co-written with Rebecca Johnson. He also writes a monthly award-winning newsletter for true dog and cat lovers. It is read in all 50 States, as well as more than 40 foreign countries. This newsletter has evolved into his blog. As a Certified Veterinary Journalist (CVJ), blogger, columnist, and award-winning author, his goal is to write meaningful articles, newsletters, and books that will make a difference in the lives of pets and their owners. He has published numerous articles in national and international veterinary journals, and is currently working on several book projects. He is also a prolific speaker. Dr. Zeltzman is a member of the Cat Writers\u2019 Association, the Dog Writers\u2019 Association and the Authors\u2019 Guild. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Lehigh Valley Veterinary Medical Association (LVVMA), and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS). He is a monthly contributor to veterinarypracticenews.com and a regular contributor to Dog Fancy, PetsAdviser.com, and PetHealthNetwork.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman"],"url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/author\/phil\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2030,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/2030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}