Our wackiest pet insurance claims

Our annual Hambone Awards® celebration brings awareness to surprising situations pets can get into. Some nominees have fur-raising tails of survival. Some go above and beyond the unexpected. And some are just a little, well, wacky. Of course, wackiness is the raison d’pet-re of our annual Wacky Pet Names celebration, which honors our members’ creativity by highlighting the wild and wonderful things they name their pets. To honor that inspiration, we’re looking back at some of our favorite wacky pet claims.

Surprisingly wacky stories from our members

While many of our Wacky Pet Names nominees lean into wordplay, some do a deep dive on the wonderfully weird side of wacky (take for example last year’s feline contender, Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator). Others tie in a tasty treat, like nominees Moo Moo Mozarella and Frosted Mini Wheats. However, very few of our members can say they have a claim related to snoot snacking, like when a cattle dog named Rue got a treat stuck up her nose. Pet parent Alexis R. says, “She was patting at her nose and sneezing and just doing weird things, and then an hour later there was a very loud sneeze … and the treat came loose.” Alexis took Rue to the emergency veterinarian to make sure she didn’t sustain any injury to her snoot (luckily, she didn't, and Nationwide helped cover the costs).

Or like in one claim when Stella, a Labrador retriever and natural companion to Wacky Pet Names nominee Green Bean Catserole, plucked a green bean can out of the trash—and it got stuck on her snout. “The can easily slipped onto Stella’s lower jaw, but its partially detached lid had been pushed down into the can and restricted movement in the opposite direction,” says Stella’s pet parent, Cathy T. “I was more panicked than she was,” says Cathy. “I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to breathe, but she was staring back at me like nothing was wrong.” Once at the veterinarian, Stella was freed from her tin muzzle—and her eligible veterinary expenses were reimbursed by Nationwide.

Other Wacky Pet Names nominees take inspiration from hip hop culture, notably Piggy Smalls and his West Coast counterpart, Snoop Hoggy Hogg. While many pets seem to breakdance in their own special way, to meet a real bee boy—or girl, in this case—it’s hard to beat Ellie, a Lab pup who munched down on a beehive left behind by an exterminator. “My wife saw Ellie throw up several times,” says pet parent Robert C. “There were hundreds of dead bees in each pile.” Frightened by the volume of dead bees Ellie was vomiting, they took Ellie to the veterinary hospital, where she was checked out (luckily, she wasn’t stung, and the pesticide didn’t pose a significant risk for toxicity). Nationwide helped take the sting out of her veterinary bills, too.

Vote for the wackiest pet names

See more pet wackiness with our annual Wacky Pet Names celebration. Voting to determine the wackiest canine, feline and exotic pet names is scheduled for April 15-19, 2025. Vote daily at petinsurance.com/wackypetnames to help us determine who will be crowned.

Be ready for any wackiness that happens. Nationwide pet insurance offers reimbursement for eligible veterinary expenses related to accidents, illnesses, injuries and more. Customize a coverage plan for your pet at petinsurance.com.

*These are actual pet names chosen by actual owners, reflecting their pets’ unique personalities and the owners’ interests and passions. No connection or relationship to the inspirations is implied.