MIA - $4,507 Total Claims for G.I. Issues + Cancer

We adopted Mia (formerly Angelina) from the Burlington Humane Society. When we took her on, we knew that Mia had had some health issues, mostly G.I. related, stemming from a very serious roundworm infestation. Knowing that we were taking on a cat who'd started out life at a disadvantage, we thought we'd be wise and invest in pet insurance from the start. Both our fantastic vet and the shelter recommended Pets Plus Us, so we went with them. And honestly, this decision was a life saver, or at least a life extender, for our cat.

For the first year she was with us, Mia had continuing G.I. problems stemming not from roundworm, but other parasites picked up while she was out there on her own before being rescued. We were nearly at the one year mark when we finally solved this issue. Throughout this, Pets Plus Us was with us every step of the way, covering 80% of our bills as per our agreement.

But the rubber really hit the road about a week later (Only a week of health? Really?) when Mia was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the time, our oncologist gave her 4 weeks to live without a nearly $5,000 chemotherapy treatment that wouldn't cure her but only extend her life a little bit. Only the fact that we were with Pets Plus Us gave us the opportunity to try to fight for our cat. My husband has been out of work for over a year and a half and as the only breadwinner in a family of 4, this is the kind of extra expense that I couldn't manage on my own. But with Pets Plus Us taking on 80% of that bill, we had the freedom to agree to treatment and started right away.

We're now over 4 weeks into treatment and things have gone amazingly well. The huge tumour in her neck disappeared in literally 48 hours and all the secondary discomfort and symptoms have gone away. We take her into the Oakville/Mississauga Animal Hospital once a week for her treatment, but through it all, we're very aware that we wouldn't have our girl with us anymore if it wasn't for Pets Plus Us.

What will her prognosis be? Hopefully we'll get through the 6 months of chemo. Past that, we may have only bought her 3 months or it might be up to 2 years. We know it's a fatal diagnosis, but it allows us more time with her for now.

Pets Plus Us has been nothing short of amazing. They make their reimbursements to us in only about a week (and that includes mailing time for the cheque). But they really show what a special company they are by the little messages they send with their cheques. You wouldn't think an insurance company would be happy handing out a $2,000 cheque for chemo but, at the bottom of the receipt, they included a personal message: 'We are wishing Mia all the very best and are here for support if you need us.' On top of that, they actually called one evening to check in and see how she was doing, an unheard of customer service in this day and age.

No doubt about it, this is a special kind of company.