At a quick glance, a lone hot cross bun sitting unattended on the kitchen counter is hardly a threat to your pet. But for young Scooter the Labradoodle, a moment alone meant an expensive vet visit thanks to the tasty treat.

Easter time in the Richards household was the usual fun fair, with the two young kids running about and indulging in easter eggs and hot cross buns. But when their 8-year-old left a hot cross bun alone on the counter, Scooter seized the moment. As soon as the youngster noticed his missing treat, he immediately ran and got mum.

At 7:30am in the morning, on a public holiday, Susanne knew that the only vet clinic open would be an emergency vet. With a distraught 8-year-old, Susanne wasn’t going to risk waiting to see if her dog would get sick from eating raisins. She bundled Scooter and the boys into the car for a trip to the nearest emergency clinic, all within half an hour of the hot cross bun disappearing.

Decision time

As soon as they arrived, the vet rushed them in to induce vomiting and administer charcoal.

The vet explained that when it comes to the toxicity of raisins, you never know how your dog will react. Some dogs are totally fine, but for those who react to them, they tend to react severely with the raisins causing major kidney damage.

At this point, the vet visit had already cost them $650, and they were given two options on how to proceed.

Option 1 – Take Scooter home and monitor him for any changes in his condition themselves, saving thousands of dollars by doing so.

Option 2 – Keep him in the clinic for observation, costing roughly $2000 a day to do so.

Susanne knew that if she took the dog home and it got sick, her young son would blame himself and be incredibly upset.

However, knowing she was backed by Vets Choice insurance for pets, she knew she could do what was best for not only Scooter, but for the mental health of her son. This made it an easy decision to opt to keep Scooter in the clinic under professional care.

As soon as she advised Scooter was covered by pet insurance, the vet relaxed and agreed that her choice was the best one, even if precautionary due to the idiosyncratic effect of raisins.

Susanne then left Scooter in their care and returned home to the Easter festivities. Susanne also admitted that by choosing this option, it was also much easier to reassure her young son that none of this was his fault, something that was worth more than any monetary figure to her.

Protected every step of the way

After 3 days, Scooter was given the all clear and came bounding home. The kids were relieved, and Susanne was confident that she had done everything right.

She paid the $4,500 bill, took a photo of the invoice and emailed the photo to the Vets Choice claims team – it was as simple as that.

Within 4 days, the money was back in her account.

Pet insurance isn’t always about insuring pets for big accidents and illnesses. Sometimes, it’s about protecting the mental health of everyone involved and enabling precautionary treatment of your beloved pet. And to us, that’s priceless.

For information about how Vets Choice insurance for pets can protect your pet and family, visit our dog and cat insurance pages, or get a quote. We look forward to having your back, just like we had Scooter’s.