Pet Insurance - Anyone have this?

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Clarean....you are a piece of work.

Both of my cats I rescued because somebody decided to throw them into a ditch and let them die. I didn't go out and pay $10,000 for a hypoalergenic cat as you are trying to make pet ownership out to be.

There is only so much each person can do to contribute to society. Short of moving to Africa to help people personally.....there is only so much money that can be given.....money doesn't solve everything as you most certainly seem aware of. Some things are out of our hands.....get use to it.

Oh.....go rescue a pet.....it appears that you need som eloving attention.

The only reason there are so many pets (and therefore abondoned pets) is because there is such demand for those pets.

You are rescuing animals that are only in existence because of the personal lifestyle choices of the most disparately rich group of people ever on the face of the planet.


I am saying you are free to do so. I am just adding that those that chose to do so are in doing so making a value choice that IF they have a faith system must be reconciled. I just don't see some god-force like that represented in the bible being cool with chosing domestic animal life (especially since the decision to do so reinforces the choice to breed that life, which in turn creates an ever larger pool of problem cases) relative to actually trying to make a difference with those same resources for REAL LIVING HUMANS! Who would Christ try to feed with ALL of his extra dollars? Humans or pet cats?

The pet industry is considerably larger then our total foreign aid commitments.



Claeren.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Claeren

No, that is not at all what i said. You just can't read.

I said that IF you are Christian AND you waste thousands (and maintaining multipule pets over a lifetime especially in this scenario of doing so through serious sickness is probably into the tens of thousands+ over a lifetime) of dollars on maintaining the life of a bunch of silly animals then you are likely not living up to what i see as the ROOT of that faith. You are saying you are christian while you are acting like a typical faithless consumer. Actions speak louder the words, and in this case those actions are certainly not very christ-like. (Although how many behaviors of the first world citizen really are?)

I am not worried about being judged for my actions so my own spending is meaningless in the debate.


Claeren.

Ah, the typical shifting of position, all the while blaming others for not reading what you REALLY said. First of all, this quote is different than what you said earlier, but not matter, both are ... again in your word, ######ed.

So spending money on Cat while others are hungary is anti - christian, and is clearly disgusting to you?

Is spending money on flames tickets while others are hungary any less chritian or disgusting to you? If so why? At they very least spending money on the dogs is helping a life (albeit not a very important one to you)

I guess all flames ... well really sports fans and anyone else that has an extra dollar in their pocket is going to hell right?

You know most people on here who post and I disagree with I at least respect their position as a 'possible'. I think Lanny and Looger are nuts with their 9/11 beliefs but at the very least their views are at some level plausable and require rational thought.

Your little string of insight here is the first that I can remember where someone is just off their rocker. You are are discriminating against views towards anaimals, which although heartless is fine as a view, but to say that this type of discretionary spending is somehow worse than other kinds of discretionary spending is just rediculous.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Claeren

No, that is not at all what i said. You just can't read.

I said that IF you are Christian AND you waste thousands (and maintaining multipule pets over a lifetime especially in this scenario of doing so through serious sickness is probably into the tens of thousands+ over a lifetime) of dollars on maintaining the life of a bunch of silly animals then you are likely not living up to what i see as the ROOT of that faith. You are saying you are christian while you are acting like a typical faithless consumer. Actions speak louder the words, and in this case those actions are certainly not very christ-like. (Although how many behaviors of the first world citizen really are?)

I am not worried about being judged for my actions so my own spending is meaningless in the debate.


Claeren.

Claeren, this is a thread discussing the how-tos and the specifics of the purchase of pet insurance, not a "my beliefs are better than your own (no offense) so you are a stupid moron (no offense)" type debate.

[nfotiu]

I bought pet insurance for our lab, who ended up having liver failure. Vet bills were about $5000, when all was done. They kind of creep up on you. Not sure I would have spent that had I known how much it would cost when we were done.

Anyway, the pet insurance only pays what they think the vet should charge, didn't cover some of the things, and they gave us about $1000. I guess it was kind of worth the money, since the premiums over his 2 year life were just over a couple hundred. There was a tonne of paperwork involved in the claim, and they took several months to pay, so it was barely worth the effort.

I hoped it would insulate us from any huge vet bills, and it didn't really do that, so we didn't get it for our next dog.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

So it's okay to own pets and spend money on them if I'm NOT a Christian? Phew, that's a relief. I'm more of a pagan than anything, so I guess it's okay for me to have a pet. Your arguement is then more of an anti-Christian thing than an ant-pet ownership thing.

Exactly!!


I am not sayign it is bad to have pets. I am questioning how it can possibly (along with most of our cushy first world lives) be reconciled reasonably with a 'good christian life'.

Seems a lot of christian pet owner talk the talk but only walk the walk in very small increments.


Claeren.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Claeren

No, that is not at all what i said. You just can't read.

I said that IF you are Christian AND you waste thousands (and maintaining multipule pets over a lifetime especially in this scenario of doing so through serious sickness is probably into the tens of thousands+ over a lifetime) of dollars on maintaining the life of a bunch of silly animals then you are likely not living up to what i see as the ROOT of that faith. You are saying you are christian while you are acting like a typical faithless consumer. Actions speak louder the words, and in this case those actions are certainly not very christ-like. (Although how many behaviors of the first world citizen really are?)

I am not worried about being judged for my actions so my own spending is meaningless in the debate.


Claeren.

Your own spending is not meanless, it's just an easy way to demonstrate that you are a hypocrite.

And I'm glad that you aren't worried about being judged, because someone who is so free to share their own harsh judgements and have such obvious conflicts in they way they process information just screams for people to judge you poorly.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Your own spending is not meanless, it's just an easy way to demonstrate that you are a hypocrite.

And I'm glad that you aren't worried about being judged, because someone who is so free to share their own harsh judgements and have such obvious conflicts in they way they process information just screams for people to judge you poorly.

No, no, his own spending is meaningless because it is not what HE is attacking therefore has no meaning. Duh. (No offense)

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Exactly!!


I am not sayign it is bad to have pets. I am questioning how it can possibly (along with most of our cushy first world lives) be reconciled reasonably with a 'good christian life'.

Seems a lot of christian pet owner talk the talk but only walk the walk in very small increments.


Claeren.

And the shift continues. How do you know anyone on here is Christian in the first place?

If nobody here is Christian then why post your insights in the first place.

You are shifting your own personal disgusting views to that of "observing Christian behavior and their misallignment with their views"

[Kybosh]

I wouldn't both with pet insurance if I was you. Like another poster said, the chances of it being worthwhile (like most insurance I guess) is pretty slim. For me personally, I couldn't justify an extra $30 every month for something that probably won't come up.

As an aside, Claeren seems to be trying to answer a question that nobody asked.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Myself, or my gf, or my mother, or father, or boss would EVER buy a PSP, but we all own iPods.

I don't understand how you get off attacking people's discretionary spending being somehow morally reprehensible when you own an iPod. How is the purchase of an iPod morally superior to purchasing pet insurance?

My math:
Buying an iPod saves exactly 0 lives
Purchasing pet insuance, or taking care of your pets shows compassion and thought for a fellow living thing, while not human

Originally Posted by Claeren

I thought the total cost was like 12M?

How do you justify supporting a team, in your line of 'reasoning' who would spend 12 million dollars on a new scoreboard when they could have sent that money to support starving families in third world countries? Given your outrage to something that costs maybe $20 a month, that must REALLY **** you off.

Originally Posted by Claeren

I always use Ed Williams in the far NW, Crowfoot Centre, but that is too far for you and they are a full service retailer with tailor, not just a basic alterations place...

How on Earth can you justify needing your clothes altered when there are MILLIONS OF STARVING CHILDREN IN THE WORLD1?!?!?!111!?!!?! My God, man, get your moral compass looked at (no offense)! You should be glad you even HAVE clothes!

Oh, right, I understand, this isn't your point, its not about you, you're not a Christian so it doesn't count, you can spend your discretionary income no matter how you see fit. Make sense!

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Ah, the typical shifting of position, all the while blaming others for not reading what you REALLY said. First of all, this quote is different than what you said earlier, but not matter, both are ... again in your word, ######ed.

So spending money on Cat while others are hungary is anti - christian, and is clearly disgusting to you?

Is spending money on flames tickets while others are hungary any less chritian or disgusting to you? If so why? At they very least spending money on the dogs is helping a life (albeit not a very important one to you)

I guess all flames ... well really sports fans and anyone else that has an extra dollar in their pocket is going to hell right?

You know most people on here who post and I disagree with I at least respect their position as a 'possible'. I think Lanny and Looger are nuts with their 9/11 beliefs but at the very least their views are at some level plausable and require rational thought.

Your little string of insight here is the first that I can remember where someone is just off their rocker. You are are discriminating against views towards anaimals, which although heartless is fine as a view, but to say that this type of discretionary spending is somehow worse than other kinds of discretionary spending is just rediculous.

1) I would be interested how excessive interest or spending in/on Flames/sports is reconcilable with a good christian life. I have no idea how it could be. I don't think god would be impressed when you got to heaven and told him you spent ~$30,000 and thousands of hours of your life on a silly game while millions were dying around the world largely as a result of your cushy lifestyle.

2) Therefore all discretionary spending is, i agree, questionable. I am sure there must be some reasonable cut off some place. Like a warm home and decently good food. But such luxury as pet surgical services for senior citizen cats and Flames season tickets? I don't know....

3) I am mostly curious how you can reconcile one with the other. To just say that one is not a very dedicated or good christian is cool (i mean, what do i care?!) but to think that both are compatible seems pretty silly to me.



Claeren.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Your own spending is not meanless, it's just an easy way to demonstrate that you are a hypocrite.

And I'm glad that you aren't worried about being judged, because someone who is so free to share their own harsh judgements and have such obvious conflicts in they way they process information just screams for people to judge you poorly.

haha....

Of course it is meaningless to this debate. I have nothing to reconcile. It seems like it is you guys that are not at peace with your beliefs. If you do not like my opinion of your spending ignore me. It is a feature of this forum for a reason!!

Put it this way, i am a pretty heartless guy and have no particular creed that i follow, and even i would not spend $4000 on pet care and would instead try to do something more meaningful for humanity with that money.

And this past year i spent my vacation, which is still a moral grey area but one i do not need to worry about, in remote Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos spaying, nuetering, caring for and sometimes even euthanizing the wild packs of dogs and cats that plague those nations 100% at my own cost. SO i do to an extent do my own thing with my extra dollars. But again, i am not trying to get into heaven so there is no test for me....



Claeren.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Claeren

1) I would be interested how excessive interest or spending in/on Flames/sports is reconcilable with a good christian life. I have no idea how it could be. I don't think god would be impressed when you got heaven and told him you spent ~$30,000 and thousands of hours of your life on a silly game while millions were dying around the world largely as a result of your cushy lifestyle.

2) Therefore all discretionary spending is, i agree, questionable. I am sure there must be some reasonable cut off some place. Like a warm home and decently good food. But such luxury as pet surgical services for senior citizen cats and Flames season tickets? I don't know....

3) I am mostly curious how you can reconcile one with the other. To just say that one is not a very dedicated or good christian is cool (i mean, what do i care?!) but to think that both are compatible seems pretty silly to me.



Claeren.

For #3 you were the one judging types of discretionary income, but for what it's worth, spending money on a living thing is more admirable than hockey tickets, but I'm easy, whatever people want to do with their own money is not my business.

And for #1 and #2, I don't really know, I'm not Christian. I do wonder though that if there is the god and he asks me about why I spent money on flames tickets I'd probably ask that since his resources are far greater than mine, why doesn't he fix world hunger?

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

I don't understand how you get off attacking people's discretionary spending being somehow morally reprehensible when you own an iPod. How is the purchase of an iPod morally superior to purchasing pet insurance?

My math:
Buying an iPod saves exactly 0 lives
Purchasing pet insuance, or taking care of your pets shows compassion and thought for a fellow living thing, while not human



How do you justify supporting a team, in your line of 'reasoning' who would spend 12 million dollars on a new scoreboard when they could have sent that money to support starving families in third world countries? Given your outrage to something that costs maybe $20 a month, that must REALLY **** you off.



How on Earth can you justify needing your clothes altered when there are MILLIONS OF STARVING CHILDREN IN THE WORLD1?!?!?!111!?!!?! My God, man, get your moral compass looked at (no offense)! You should be glad you even HAVE clothes!

Oh, right, I understand, this isn't your point, its not about you, you're not a Christian so it doesn't count, you can spend your discretionary income no matter how you see fit. Make sense!

You are right.


I will admit 100% that if there is a Christian God i WILL go to hell.

I have certainly not followed the teaching of christ and/or the bible.


This is the problem though. I live essentially the same life as most first world people, and assuming that the ONLY criteria for getting into heaven is not merely belief that there is a heaven, that would mean that most people are likely going to hell then, no?



And lets be honest, we are on the frikkin internet. I am far more interested in my own argument and the logical journey then impressing you. And likewise for you, i am sure. What is said here is not concrete - it is fleeting and meaningless...


Claeren.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

I'm not Christian. I do wonder though that if there is the god and he asks me about why I spent money on flames tickets I'd probably ask that since his resources are far greater than mine, why doesn't he fix world hunger?

ghahahahahahaha....




That is frikkin hilarious! Brilliant!! Love it...




Claeren.

[SpitFire40]

Originally Posted by Claeren

^ And THAT is why i think owning pets is ######ed!! (no offence)

PET INSURANCE?!?!?!? There are hundreds of millions, if not billions, of starving PEOPLE around the world and people actually buy insurance to offset the potential cost of expensive surgury?! It is a frikkin cat/dag - why not put it down when it is that sick? Putting it down has to be less of a crime against your humanity/god then spending that much on a pet instead of a starving child?!



Claeren.

Pet's to people are no different than family members, It may sound bizzare but I probably care about my two cats more than strangers on the street or around the world.

I will agree that having to put down a family pet of 13 years that they do reach a point where you have to make that decision, and even that is nearly $200.

I don't know where you can go off and say some nonsense like this...

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Exactly!!


I am not sayign it is bad to have pets. I am questioning how it can possibly (along with most of our cushy first world lives) be reconciled reasonably with a 'good christian life'.

Seems a lot of christian pet owner talk the talk but only walk the walk in very small increments.


Claeren.

I can not see how owning a pet, how owning a SUV, how owning a cell phone, how owning an IPod, anything over and above the basic needs of necessity has anything whatsoever to do with reconciling that with a good "Christian" life or good "non Christian" life. And I dont even see this as having anything whatsoever to do with Christianity. I see this as more of a humanity issue.

One does not have to preclude the other. Just like having 2 children compared to having one child. Does having 2 children, frivolous in some parts of the world, make you less moral, less caring as an individual? By the way, do you have children? If you do, why didn't you adopt instead?

I see no relationship whatsoever here with pet ownership and morality. As far as I am concerned, one can enrich the other.

We do what we can, maybe we dont measure up in your world, maybe you think you do more, but we do what we can. You say you go to the far east to hunt down the packs of wild dogs and cats that are a problem to mankind there. I choose to let the large international organizations like the Red Cross etc handle problems overseas.

I choose to concentrate my efforts locally and support organizations making a difference in my back yard. I also am a big supporter of the Grow a Row program for the Food Bank and grow and contribute around 2500 lbs of potatoes and 2000 lbs of carrots yearly. Does that make me inferior to you?

We all set our own standards and instead of grumbling about our standards if they dont meet your guidelines, be happy that we care at all. Like I said before, you have so much anger and that uses up a lot of energy that could be used positively.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by redforever

I can not see how owning a pet, how owning a SUV, how owning a cell phone, how owning an IPod, anything over and above the basic needs of necessity has anything whatsoever to do with reconciling that with a good "Christian" life or good "non Christian" life. And I dont even see this as having anything whatsoever to do with Christianity. I see this as more of a humanity issue.

One does not have to preclude the other. Just like having 2 children compared to having one child. Does having 2 children, frivolous in some parts of the world, make you less moral, less caring as an individual? By the way, do you have children? If you do, why didn't you adopt instead?

I see no relationship whatsoever here with pet ownership and morality. As far as I am concerned, one can enrich the other.

We do what we can, maybe we dont measure up in your world, maybe you think you do more, but we do what we can. You say you go to the far east to hunt down the packs of wild dogs and cats that are a problem to mankind there. I choose to let the large international organizations like the Red Cross etc handle problems overseas.

I choose to concentrate my efforts locally and support organizations making a difference in my back yard. I also am a big supporter of the Grow a Row program for the Food Bank and grow and contribute around 2500 lbs of potatoes and 2000 lbs of carrots yearly. Does that make me inferior to you?

We all set our own standards and instead of grumbling about our standards if they dont meet your guidelines, be happy that we care at all. Like I said before, you have so much anger and that uses up a lot of energy that could be used positively.

What you originally said and i took issue with in regards to religion is that pets and the sadness you would feel in their passing is equal to that you would feel for your immediate family members.

Are you a vegetarian? (Just curious)


But assuming it is just 'your pets' whose death would make you so sad, it seems you are obsessed with the personalized ownership aspect of pet ownership. That means that the sense of ownership over a living object and the loss of that control is as emotionally tramatizing as losing a loved family member. While this type of thinking seems pretty normal these days it seems to be pretty far removed from any sense of a moral compass. It is a perversion of humanity away from what i can see as Jesus' teaching. Lifestyle products like pets should never ever equal the value to you of living people.

Would Jesus prefer you feel ownership over what essentially amounts to a consumer product over human life? Maybe, but i personally doubt it.



Claeren.

[Antithesis]

I suppose I still don't understand why you seem to have this belief that being a Christian precludes the ability to spend your own money as you see fit. You seem to be making the argument that its OK for you to spend you money in a fleeting sense because you are not a Christian while it is not OK for the Christian to do so. I was born and raised a Catholic, and I do not recall anything or any one saying being a Christian meant an obligation to a life free of any possessions or to a life purely of service to others less fortunate.

I'm also confused as to why you consider it to be religiously reprehensible to feel equal sadness and pain toward the passing of a pet to the passing of a "people" family member. It seems kind of bizarre on two points.

1. I would suggest you don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to speaking about the religious validity of anything seeing as you are an atheist ... to me that would be the same as a tribesman from Africa discussing North American pop culture (regardless of if you were religious at any point in your life or no)

2. Just because you disagree with something doesn't make it absurd. It just makes it something different than you agree with.

I'd be glad to read your thoughts on this ...

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Claeren

What you originally said and i took issue with in regards to religion is that pets and the sadness you would feel in their passing is equal to that you would feel for your immediate family members.

Are you a vegetarian? (Just curious)


But assuming it is just 'your pets' whose death would make you so sad, it seems you are obsessed with the personalized ownership aspect of pet ownership. That means that the sense of ownership over a living object and the loss of that control is as emotionally tramatizing as losing a loved family member. While this type of thinking seems pretty normal these days it seems to be pretty far removed from any sense of a moral compass. It is a perversion of humanity away from what i can see as Jesus' teaching. Lifestyle products like pets should never ever equal the value to you of living people.

Would Jesus prefer you feel ownership over what essentially amounts to a consumer product over human life? Maybe, but i personally doubt it.



Claeren.

You don't get it....it is about the human emotion of attachment not the object.

Hell.....look how shook up Tom Hanks was when he booted WILSON out the cave window.