Article: Dogged by the cost of pet health care?

Byline: Jenny Kincaid

Aug. 15--Colin Brown and his wife, Ruth, only paid $250 of a nearly $3,000 veterinary bill for a pacemaker for their cocker spaniel, Lady.

Veterinary Pet Insurance paid the rest.

The Roanoke couple has had the insurance since 1989.

"It's worth every penny," Colin Brown said.

But VPI didn't help Lynn Fitzpatrick of Roanoke County much before her poodle, Cosette, died in 2002. Cosette had a pre-existing heart problem.

"In the end, it was more costly than it was helpful," said Fitzpatrick, who does not have the insurance for her cocker spaniel, Zoe.

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