Pet Insurance; Discount Card For Pets; A Lower Carbon Footprint

WELCOME  2011!

               THE REAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY CONSISTS NOT IN SEEKING
                                        LANDSCAPES, BUT IN HAVING NEW EYES.

                                                               MARCEL PROUST




               PET INSURANCE: THE MAPFRE POLICY


A pet by any other name is just as sweet.
Pets offer company, help keep us healthy, and forge a link between humans and the animal world. But when a beloved pooch or cat gets sick, or is injured in an accident, veterinary care sure can cost a pretty penny. Humans can lower health expenditures somewhat through health insurance but that is not the case with animals.
And as any pet owner will tell you at the drop of a dime, just about any unexpected, or expected, veterinary service can burn a big hole in a person's finances -- unless one happens to be financially well-heeled, or is lucky enough to know a veterinarian who does not charge an arm and a leg for his, or her services.

Photograph by Denise Blasor

While pet medical care is not available in Puerto Rico, there is a policy available locally through Mapfre that pet owners might want to consider. There's more than one catch, though. One, the policy covers only unexpected expenses incurred in the event of theft, accidental death, or disease. And two, you can only get it as part of a Personal Multiplan policy that may include home, property, car, boat, and public responsibility under one coverage.
How expensive is a multi-personal policy? According to information provided by Mapfre's Wilma Garcia, a basic Multiplan policy providing $30,000 worth of personal property insurance and $100,000 worth of public responsibility coverage can cost around $178. Additionally, you get a choice of three pet policies: basic, expanded and high value coverage, priced respectively at $40, $60, and $75. This cost is on top of what you pay for the Multiplan policy. So, if you add the basic pet policy to the basic Multiplan policy mentioned above, your total yearly cost would be $218.
Each pet coverage offers different levels of reimbursements. For example, both the expanded and high value policies will pay you up to $600 in case of the accidental death of a pet compared to $200 you get under the basic policy. Other expenses covered include veterinary services incurred to treat a pet in case of accident; pet boarding if the pet owner is hospitalized; pet search related to a theft; and euthanasia in the event of accident, old age, or incurable illness.  
To obtain pet coverage certain conditions must be met, according to Garcia. The pet must be healthy, have all its vaccinations in order, and be the property of the insurance holder. It cannot be older than nine (9) years nor younger than three (3) months. And some breeds are excluded, including Doberman Pinscher, Pit Bull, Rottweiler, Boxer, Siberian Husky, German Shepherd, Bull Terrier, Bullmastiff, Brazilian Fila, and the Alaskan Malamute.
Because people lead such hectic lives, Mapfre makes it easy for people to obtain a Multiplan policy. In fact you can do it by phone and as long as you have all the information on hand, you can usually get the policy the same day you apply for it. For more information, call 787.250.5214 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your call will be answered by an automated answering service listing different choices; choose #3, which connects you to the property and contingency section.
DISCOUNT CARD FOR PET OWNERS 
Just in time for the new year and to cap its 25th anniversary in business, Hospital Veterinario Paraná in Rio Piedras Heights is offering a special deal for its clients. "Our purpose is to enable our clients to get some economic relief in their effort to satisfy the individual needs of each of their pets," says the brochure that outlines the three-pronged offering.
The offer does not come cheap, but for pet owners who regularly take their charges to the vet, have multiple pets, and want to reduce their expenses it might be well-worth considering.
Here's the deal. The BASIC card costs $433 and gets you seven different vaccinations, ear cleaning, various tests, annual deworming, one weekly medical consultation, one monthly medical emergency, weight assessment, comprehensive test and 25 percent off on sterilization and 15 percent on surgery plus other discounts. The GOLD card gives you 50 percent off on sterilization and 20 percent off on surgery plus a dental cleaning and several other discounts. Finally the PLATINUM card gives you free sterilization service, 25 percent off on surgery, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram twice a year plus other discounts. 
Additionally, a membership fee of $89 is tacked on to each of these three choices. Hospital Veterinario Paraná is located at 1707 Rio Piedras Heights and is run by Doctor in Veterinary Medicine Ettore D. Toro. For more information, call 787.751.0013.

GOING ORGANIC

EVEN if you would like to go organic, local supermarkets may not carry all of the fruits and vegetables you are looking for. Experts advise going organic when eating any of these 12 foods: peaches, apples, celery, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes. That's because of the high pesticide content these foods have when grown conventionally.

Photograph by Denise Blasor

If you shop at Supermax supermarkets, you will be able to find some organic versions of the 12 foods listed above: apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, strawberries, and potatoes. They are not available all the time and the organic apples the supermarket carries are uneven in quality. According to the experts, conventionally grown foods lowest in pesticides are: onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, cabbage, kiwi, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomato, sweet potato.

STEP LIGHTLY UPON THE EARTH
YOU won't get a reward or an award for reducing your carbon imprint, but it will increase your level of satisfaction to know that you are doing something to help reduce global warming -- even if it's in a small way.  
Here are some ideas to get you started: 
-- Use less plastic
-- Turn lights off & unplug all gadgets & appliances when not in use 
-- Support companies that are reducing their carbon imprint 
-- Use public transportation whenever you can
-- Buy local produce and fruits 
-- If you are a meat eater, set aside one day a week to go vegan (you might like it)
-- Reduce consumption of bottled water. Best, get a glass bottle and fill it with filtered water. 

Photograph by Denise Blasor

It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be 
understood backward. But they forget the other proposition, 
that it must be lived forward.

Søren Kierkegaard

 
Copyright ©2010 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved