Bulldog takes a bite out of a gator

Meet Maddie, a beloved bulldog pup from Virginia.

“My mom one day asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I just said I wanted a dog,” says pet parent Oscar A. His mom, Nationwide member Gina, already had a breed in mind for her son's gift: an Olde English Bulldogge.

The connection with the new pup, Maddie, was instant—both with Oscar and the whole family. Maddie, it turns out, quickly became everyone's best friend.

Gina says, “Maddie is very loving. I love to cuddle with her. She's always making sure that the day is over so we can lay on the couch, watch TV and hang out.”

“Maddie means the world to me,” Oscar continues. “She’s probably the best thing that has happened to me in the past five years. I would put everything away just to stay with her 24/7.”

When Oscar started getting ready to go to college, there was no question if Maddie would come, too. The two packed up and got ready for the education of a lifetime. Fittingly enough, his school’s mascot is a bulldog.

“Being able to take her to college has been the best experience of my life,” he says.

Throughout the day, Maddie is Oscar’s partner in crime as he studies and hangs out with friends. However, one day at the family home, she learned a lesson the hard way when she snuck away for a mummified bayou bite that led to this bizarre Hambone Award nomination.

What happened?

Our story starts with an unusual souvenir. “My dad had this preserved alligator that he loved,” Oscar says. “He got it from Florida. Then, one day, he tells us that it went missing.”

This strange disappearance coincided with a change in Maddie’s health. Seemingly out of nowhere, she started vomiting strange objects. “It looked like bones, and I said ‘Huh, that's really weird,’” Oscar remembers.

Oscar started poking around the usual and unusual locations for a clue until he located what looked like a crime scene—shredded bits of something next to two black marbles. “I showed my dad and my mom what I found, and they started putting the pieces together. It was the preserved alligator—or what was left of it.”

The strangeness of the situation quickly shifted into worry. Gina says, “The chemicals they use to preserve those kinds of alligators can be toxic.” To make matters worse, it was Sunday and their regular veterinarian was closed. Gina logged into Nationwide VetHelpline seeking advice on what to do. She quickly got a hold of a veterinary expert, who advised her to take Maddie to an emergency vet as soon as possible.

“I'm glad that we were able to take her to the vet right away, and they did everything that they needed to do,” Oscar says. Fortunately, Maddie was unharmed by her exotic snack, and her eligible veterinary expenses were covered by Nationwide.

How Nationwide helped

This wasn’t the family’s first experience filing a pet insurance claim. Early on, Maddie was also diagnosed with an immune system issue that required numerous tests and checkups. “I had to take multiple trips to the vet, about 3-4 times a month, to get blood work done for her,” Gina says. “Also to do X-rays, to make sure that she was processing the pills well, that her stomach was fine.”

She continues, “It was a roller coaster of about four or five months. And those trips to the vet, all those labs, most of them were covered by Nationwide.”

From chronic conditions to surprising situations, the family appreciates the peace of mind they get from Nationwide pet insurance.

“When you have a pet, anything can happen,” Gina says. “Knowing that I have insurance, it relieves the worry about not just her, but also the monetary part of having a pet.”