Our Pet Insurance Community

Napoleon

Meet Napoleon the Chihuahua, this week’s Pet of the Week!

Napoleon hides his age well….not looking anywhere near his 9 1/2 years.

Unique is an understatement, most would admit.  Aside from being the Emperor & fierce protector of my Domain, he is a sly “cougar chaser” – having a fondness for women in their golden years.

While other unique qualities abound – this distinguishable trait keeps Golden Girls smiling and loving and savoring his love and irresistible charm.

Submit your pet by e-mailing a photo and bio to socialmedia@trupanion.com!

Sammy Diva

The following post comes to you from guest blogger Ming Chee-Brown of Reiki Fur Babies.

I have a yellow lab named Sammy Diva. She is the Mama of the seeing eye dogs. When she was two, they didn’t need her anymore. That is when I rescued her. She got canine hip dysplasia and couldn’t even walk up the stairs. My heart was broken. But then I learned Reiki. I did treatments on her every day. She now runs up and down the stairs.  So now with my best friend and business partner, Candy, Reiki Fur Babies was born. We both have our different gifts and love animals. We have clients all over the world. The healing energy can travel thru distance just like radio waves. We have hundreds of testimonials that it does indeed work! Reiki is becoming mainstream as even Dr. Oz talked about Reiki at the beginning of this year! 

Reiki (pronounced Ray-key) comes from the Japanese Rei and Ki meaning spiritually guided life energy. Reiki for pets is a form of spiritual healing that helps harmonize the mind, body and soul of your pet. It can be used as a treatment for relaxation as well as a tool for releasing negative emotions and limitations. Reiki is a healing practice that promotes balance in mind, body, and spirit. Reiki is a safe, painless, and non-invasive practice that doesn’t interfere with any medical treatment. Reiki addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual imbalances. This healing art is an effective delivery system. The Reiki practitioner serves as a vessel that supplies healing energies where they are most needed.

Reiki is ideal for animals because it is gentle and non invasive. It doesn’t cause stress, discomfort or pain yet yields powerful results. For healthy animals, Reiki maintains health, provides peace and contentment. Reiki for animals can treat ailments that may be currently inhibiting your pet whether you notice it or not. It can reduce stress, relieve pain, headaches, stomach upsets, asthma, back problems, sinus, respiratory, canine hip dysplasia, anxiety and more. It can help with abused animals and neglected animals. Animals respond faster than people and positive results are often seen in a shorter period of time.

A little bit more about Reiki Fur Babies:

• You are getting two Reiki practitioners performing the session, instead of just one! This means about 4x the benefit than a Reiki session with just one practitioner.
• They are open to only your fur baby (or you!) during the Reiki session, so they can be fully in tune and completely focused on them.
• You will get a detailed, written report about the session after the session is complete.
• Both Candy and Ming have their own gifts…
• Candy has the ability to hear what your animal is saying, such as last words before they cross over, what is really bothering them…they even sing or talk in different languages to her!
• Ming has the gift of being able to pinpoint the disease/pain and send healing & angels where needed. Animals have named it Warrior Reiki! Ming also forms a very strong bond to everyone she gives Reiki to. Ming can intuitively hear and see your pets as well.

Sooner than you know, it will be the 2nd annual National Pet Health Insurance Month! It’s coming up in September, but we wanted to tell you about it now so that you can prepare yourself because there are prizes involved!

To celebrate pet insurance and spread awareness, North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) is collecting stories from pet insurance policyholders about their positive experiences with pet insurance. The winner will receive $1,000 and $500 to donate to a local shelter.

During September, NAPHIA will also be collecting nominations for favorite veterinarians in which you can honor your vet’s hard work and great services!

We hope that a bunch of Trupanion policyholders will share their pet insurance stories!

To learn more about Pet Insurance Month and the giveaways, visit the National Pet Health Insurance Month page on NAPHIA’s website.

Gordon and his monkey toy

Our Pet of the Week this week is a spunky little Chihuahua!

“My name is Gordon.  I like to sniff flowers, chase crows, and play tug-of-war.  My favorite game is tug-of-war and I never met a carrot I didn’t like.”

What do you like best about Gordon? Let him know in the comments!

Want your pet to be Pet of the Week? Send us an e-mail to nominate your pet!

Gordon playing

I am new to the Trupanion team and look forward to working with this pet insurance company. I just moved myself, my fiancé, and my two dogs from Connecticut to Washington State. What an adventure! For seven days all four of us (plus luggage) were packed into a Toyota Corolla, on the road up to ten hours a day. We saw a lot of amazing countryside, including the famed Yellowstone National Park, but it was definitely a lot of work to make it all happen as seamlessly as possible.

My Italian Greyhound, Ava, and my Spaniel mix, Jackson, couldn’t be more different. Ava is always cold, sleeps most of the day, hates going for walks or being outside in general, and always likes to be buried under ten layers of blankets. Jackson is always hot, follows us from room to room so he doesn’t miss anything, loves running, and will seek out the coolest part of our hardwood floors to lay on to rest.

But one thing they have in common – they are great travelers. From the moment my fiancé and I adopted these two, they have been put in the car for road trips. While on the East Coast, they traveled everywhere with us – from Washington D.C. to northern Virginia to Portland, Maine. And here on the West Coast, they have already traveled from Central Washington to Puget Sound.

Some things I have found that make these road trips easier:

• Create a comfy environment. The backseat is Ava and Jack’s oasis. Huge overstuffed dog beds and pillows create a cozy and secure place for them to sprawl out and relax.
• Stop often. Even though we want to make good time, we systematically stop every few hours to get out and walk the dogs. It really keeps the dogs sane (and us as well!)
• Keep plenty of water on hand. We moved cross-country in the middle of the summer. It got HOT. But every hour or so, even if we weren’t stopped, I poured some water into a portable water dish for them to lap up and cool down.
• Have fun! The dogs were the most calm when we were happy and content. As soon as we started stressing about a certain aspect of the trip, the dogs would become anxious. So play games, relax, and have fun on your road trip.

Jackson during a pit stop in Chicago.

Ava relaxing in the car.

I am happy to be on the West Coast and look forward to exploring all it has to offer! Any suggestions for great weekend road trips to take with the dogs?

As we hope you all know, Trupanion is giving away an iPad!

Yesterday, I read an awesome article on Helium about the best apps for pet owners, and I thought you all might enjoy this since one of you is about to win an iPad. Best to prepare and decide which apps you’ll purchase, or at least keep this article on hand in case you win!

The article by Angela Pollock:

Do you know of more pet apps? Share them with us!

Hi, my name is Lexi and I am a 9 month old Chocolate Lab.

One of my favorite things to do is rollerblade with my “Dad”. I can run for hours! My favorite treats are carrots, I will sit, shake a paw or roll over for a carrot.

I also enjoy playing tug of war with my best friend Kokanee, the Boston Terrier, and sometimes I even let him win.

I have a habit of chewing anything I can find, much to my “mom’s” dismay, but she says I am slowly growing out of it. I am so spoiled I even get to sleep on the bed, I love sleeping on my back, if I’m lucky, I get a good belly rub.

And a note from Lexi’s owner: We love having Lexi in our life and can’t imagine it without her now. She is an energetic, fun, friendly and loving dog. She loves everyone she meets and has no problem giving them a lick to prove it.

Leave a note for Lexi in the comments below!

Want to see your pet featured as Pet of the Week? Click here for details.

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.
4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.
5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.
9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.
10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

Meet this week’s Pet of the Week: a cutie named Tinkerbelle!

Hi, my name is Tinkerbelle and I’m 2 1/2 years old. I’m a small dog and I weigh only 6 pounds!

As you can see by my picture I’m very curious and full of spunk!  I love to run after any of my millions of squeaky toys that my mom continues to buy for me.

Want to learn more about Tinkerbelle? Ask her a question in the comments!

Do you have a spunky little pup like this one that should be featured as Pet of the Week? Click here to nominate a pet.

Animal lovers: today is the day to support animals in need and Trupanion encourages you to start with baby steps!

There are millions of animals out there without a loving home. It’s time to make a change, and each one of us can do something.

Baby Steps:

We’re not asking you to commit to a lot, just one simple thing.

• Purchase a can of pet food and bring it to your local shelter
• Purchase a couple toys or other supplies (leashes, poo bags, food bowls, towels, etc.) to donate
• Decide one day or a couple of hours to devote to volunteering
• Go online and donate a few dollars to a rescue organization

Every little bit counts.

(I (Stacy) just now hopped on the website of my favorite local pet shelter and donated $5 through a form that they have right on their website and it took less than 3 minutes!)

Leave a comment and tell us what you did or are planning to do to make your small change!