Ask Sid: When Your Ferret Has an Ulcer; Exotic Pet Health Insurance Po... Pets

When Your Ferret Has an Ulcer

About 85 percent of pet insurance policies are written for dogs and 14 percent for cats. And the remaining 1 percent? Birds and rabbits for the most part, joined by a variety of critters that would have made Noah proud: hedgehogs, potbellied pigs, iguanas, anacondas, guinea pigs, and even a uromastyx (a spiny-tailed lizard). Veterinary Pet Insurance, the largest U.S. company in the field, has issued policies for these animals and more. Among what "avian and exotic" plans cover: Birds: feather picking, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems, obesity

Rabbits: skin and respiratory problems, gastroenteritis, fractures, eye and ear infections, hairballs

Snakes: mouth rot, respiratory disease, injuries caused by prey, pneumonia, spinal fractures

Ferrets: skin tumors, ulcers, hepatitis

Sid Kirchheimer writes about health and consumer issues.
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