VPI Hambone Award

Lab eats beehive and lives to tell the tale

 Inquisitive Labrador Gets Bees-ness End of Hive
Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Selects Most Unusual April Claim 

             Brea, Calif. (May 12, 2010) — Robert Coe and his wife Sandra of Santee, Calif., thought they had seen the last of the bees buzzing around their home after exterminators sprayed a hive in their yard. That is until later that night when Sandra noticed the family’s 1-year-old Labrador retriever wasn’t acting like herself.

“My wife saw Ellie throw up several times,” said Robert. “There were hundreds of dead bees in each pile.”

Unbeknownst to the Coes, Ellie had discovered and eaten the beehive after the exterminators had left. Frightened by the volume of dead bees Ellie was vomiting, Sandra decided the dog needed to go to the veterinary hospital  

The emergency veterinarian on duty examined Ellie and determined she had most likely only ingested dead bees and hadn’t been stung. Additionally, Poison Control indicated the pesticide did not pose a significant risk of toxicity. After a dose of anti-nausea medication and a few hours of observation, Ellie was on her way back home.

For the next week, the Coes administered over-the-counter antacid tablets and put Ellie on a diet of plain white rice and chicken. “She was eating better than we were,” joked Robert. “She acted just fine that week, really, but every time she went to the bathroom, she pooped bees. Thousands of bees. I don’t know where they all came from – the hive wasn’t that large.”

The Coe’s claim for Ellie’s beehive incident was one of more than 80,000 claims received in the month of April by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest pet health insurance company. The Coe’s claim was considered along with other uncommon medical claims submitted in April and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.

As the most unusual claim submitted in April, the Coe’s claim will be placed in the running for the 2010 VPI Hambone Award^SM. Each month, VPI employees nominate the most interesting claim submitted and in August 2010 the company will ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year. The VPI 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.

Honorable mentions in April included not one but two dogs that ate light bulbs, a bulldog that ran into and dented a car, a dachshund that swallowed a hearing aid, a bull mastiff that was attacked by a woodchuck, and a skateboarding golden retriever that skinned its front paws. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible expenses.

Note to editors: Digital images of Ellie are available upon request. Send requests todshannon@petinsurance.com.

About Veterinary Pet Insurance

With more than 480,000 pets insured nationwide, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency is the No. 1 veterinarian-recommended pet health insurance company and is a member of the Nationwide Insurance family of companies. Providing pet owners with peace of mind since 1982, the company is committed to being the trusted choice of America’s pet lovers and an advocate of pet health education. VPI Pet Insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for multiple medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Optional Pet CareGuard^SM for routine care is also available.

Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 2,000 companies nationwide offer VPI Pet Insurance as an employee benefit. Policies are underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company in California and in all other states by National Casualty Company, an A+15 rated company in Madison, Wisconsin. Pet owners can find VPI Pet Insurance on Facebook or follow @VPI on Twitter. For more information about VPI Pet Insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com.

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