Adverse Vaccine Reaction – How Much We’ve Spent So Far
Since Lilly doesn’t need another neurology exam for a couple of months, we thought it was a good time to recap of how much all this has cost us so far.
After Lilly’s first neurology recheck exam a few days after her discharge from the veterinary hospital topped $500, Tom and I worried the ongoing costs for Lilly’s care would snowball into truly devastating territory.
But, her second recheck appointment was only $85 because she didn’t need any special blood work.
Her third recheck appointment came in just over $200.
So, fans and friends, we’re just under $8,000 right now. That’s by far our all-time high veterinary costs for a single incident, single year, single dog.
Lilly’s medicines will be at least $100 a month, maybe more, depending on when refills are due. And, her future neurology appointments will be anywhere between $85 and $500, I guess.
I’m glad, though, to have a bit of a reprieve so that I can catch up financially (or try to, at least).
Pet Insurance News
I’ve waited to say something about our pet insurance situation,until I had a check in hand.
I received an automated voicemail message March 3, 2012, saying that a check would be mailed in 48 hours.
I received an automated voicemail message March 12, 2012, saying that “policy documents” would arrive in 15 days.
Tired of waiting, I called Lilly’s pet insurance company last week to find out what’s going on. Don’t ask me why a company based in New York sends checks from a Canadian office, but they blame the 2-3 weeks it takes for a check to arrive on the international mail.
The check finally arrived Friday, March 16. It’s for $3,000, which is the maximum allowed on our policy per bodily system (for life).
And, those policy documents? Well, I’m also told that they will reflect that Lilly has maxed out / used up her lifetime limit of neurological coverage.
The pet insurance representative said that our premiums “should not go up” and that the policy documents would simply reflect that neurological coverage is no longer available to us. She said that we were “not being cancelled.”
So, we’ll see. I’m thinking seriously about making a move.
I talked to our neurologist about this delay and these low limits. He recommended that I look at moving to Trupanion Pet Insurance. I had the chance to meet with some folks from Trupanion, including the rep who serves my region, at last week’s American Animal Hospital Association conference in Denver. I’ll be talking to him more about what they would cover for a girl like Lilly (and maybe even a boy like Ginko), how much it would cost, etc.
I need to get my sea legs back and try to catch up on the rest of my life in the coming weeks, but I will take his recommendation to heart — either for Lilly now or (definitely) in the future with future dogs.
Share Your Money Tales
So, do tell, dear readers? What’s your most expensive single veterinary adventure?
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If you are new to our scary story of a rabies vaccine gone horribly wrong, feel free to use the blog post category pull-down menu in the sidebar or this Adverse Vaccine Reaction category link to access all the posts we’ve published since Lilly got very, very sick with meningoencephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord) after an adverse reaction to a rabies vaccine given January 23, 2012.