I decided to work from home on Monday so I could spend the day hanging out with the Theo. He's been doing really well, getting lots of good quality sleep. He spent most of the day asleep in my lap, which was lovely! It's really good to see him sleep so comfortably - such a big change from before. Theo seemed more steady on his feet today, that was awesome to see. I think the sleep is doing him a lot of good, he's looking better and better.
It's been a long time since Theo has been a lap cat. He used to like spending a lot of time in a lap, but then he would get so antsy, he would only stay for a short time. Today, he slept very soundly in my arms and lap.
I'm grateful to have the option to work from home so I can keep close eye on him.
It benefited us both to spend the day together! So much so, that I decided to do the same on Tuesday! Yah!!!
I love seeing him sleep so comfortably!
Nahum has been missing his best friend. We've continued to keep them separate for now. Maybe over the holiday break we can offer them some supervised visitation. I'm sure both would enjoy that. Nahum is enjoying having the cat tree in the hallway where he can look out a different window and keep an eye on all the comings and goings in the house.
Sunshine asked about the cat insurance we use. Most of our cats are insured through Pet Plan. It's not cheap, especially as the cats get older, but it does give me peace of mind regarding situations like this with Theo. Coverage includes dental work and most stuff, so long as a vet recommends it. It doesn't cover annual wellness exams, vaccinations, or prescription food. Medications are covered and all of Nahum's diabetes supplies have been covered, including his expensive continuous glucose monitors and fancy readers. Pre-existing conditions are not covered. Theo was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism before we started insurance coverage, so any treatment related to that condition is not covered.
Pet Plan allows you to select the coverage you desire, you get option to select the annual amount covered, the reimbursement rate, and the deductible (which is per condition). For example, Theo's coverage has a yearly maximum of $15,000 (which means total benefit for the policy year won't pay out more than this amount), a $200 deductible per condition, and his medical expenses are reimbursed at 90%. His annual premium is a little over $1,000. I believe the cat's age, medical history and of course the coverage options you select are factors that go into premium determination, so it increases every year. For example, Rose has comparable coverage as Theo, however, her annual premium is only $424, but we rarely have used her insurance coverage because she's never been sick.
We've had this insurance now for nearly as long as we've had our cats and overall I've been pretty happy with it. For me it provide peace of mind, that when it comes to diagnostics and treatment for big, scary conditions, cost doesn't have to be a consideration. People tend to prioritize getting insurance coverage for their human children, for me the cats are my children, my family, so this peace of mind is worth a lot to me. I view it like the insurance premiums act as payment plans spread out over years rather than be saddled with one huge bill at once. It makes it easier to budget for the expenses. Every so often I wonder if I should just be socking away the premium amounts into a savings account that I would use to cover treatment costs, but that wouldn't provide the peace of mind if several cats got ill at once, like we are experiencing right now with Theo and Nahum, thus depleting the savings. Some day, when I don't have much else to do (ha!), I will run the calculations to see how much we pay in insurance premiums versus how much we get reimbursed. Looking back, with Willow's brain tumor, Nahum's diabetes, Buddy's kidney failure and congestive heart failure, and now Theo's brain tumor, I'm guessing we come out ahead with the insurance. I certainly come out ahead with sleeping at night.
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