What a HAMBONE!

Think your pet has gotten into some hairy situations? At VPI Pet Insurance, we receive thousands of veterinary claims each month—and there’s no shortage of unusual stories. That’s why we’ve created the VPI Hambone Award. Each month, VPI employees will nominate an unusual claim; in September, you’ll be able to vote from among the selections to name the most unusual claim of the year!

The Hambone Award is named in honor of a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting for someone to find him. The dog was eventually found, with a licked-clean hambone and a mild case of hypothermia.

Here’s one of the interesting misadventures in the running for the 2009 Hambone Award. Read more unusual claim stories at VPIHamboneAward.com.

One Bulldog’s Appetite for … Pacifiers?

For six months, Jennifer Zwart believed her daughter’s missing pacifiers had simply been misplaced—kicked under couches or dropped from a moving stroller—but Lulu, her English bulldog, knew better.

“One day I saw Lulu licking a dropped pacifier and scolded her for it. I didn’t pick it up right away, because I never thought she would eat it, but I turned around and the pacifier was gone,” said Zwart of Warson Woods, Mo. “I took Lulu to the veterinarian and expected that an X-ray would reveal the pacifier. The X-ray was unclear, so the veterinarians decided to perform surgery. Midway through the surgery, they started a ‘binky count,’ as they pulled out pacifier after pacifier. They had never seen anything like it. Over the course of six months, Lulu had swallowed 15 pacifiers, a bottle cap and a piece of a basketball.”

Like all VPI Hambone Award nominees, Lulu made a full recovery and Zwart received reimbursement for eligible expenses, thanks to coverage from VPI.

Have you referred a friend and their “Hambone” pet?

Tell us about it! E-mail mediainfo@petinsurance.com, or mail to VPI, Attn: Grant Biniasz, PO Box 2488, Brea, CA 92822. You and your friend could see your story featured in the next issue of The Companion. By submitting a photo, you give VPI permission to use it—along with your name—for any advertising, promotion, publicity, or any other lawful purpose. All photos become property of VPI.