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Article: Many owners consider pet health insurance
- Article from:
- Sunday Gazette-Mail
- Article date:
- November 23, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Sunday Gazette-Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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SAN FRANCISCO - When Rufus, a 2-year-old Great Pyrenees mix,
tested positive for Lyme disease recently, his owner nearly had a
coronary when faced with the treatment bill.
"I was expecting 100 bucks, 150 at most," said Daniel Tideman, 29,
of Tulsa, Okla. "But when they said $253, I almost choked."
For small creatures, pets can take a big bite out of their owners'
budgets.
Like humans, man's best friends are living longer thanks to
prescription drugs, less-invasive surgeries and sophisticated
diagnostic techniques.
More than 46 percent of dogs lived past age 6 in 2001, up from