VetCareComplete: Pet Insurance Designed By Veterinarians

Thank you to all our friends at the ACVIM Foundation

June 28, 2009 – 2:39 pm

Greetings All!!

Dr. AJ and I had the good fortune of attending the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in Montreal, Canada during the first week of June. This continuing education conference is a venue at which leading edge medical research is presented and where the brightest minds in veterinary internal medicine come together to enlighten each other. It was a great opportunity for us to interact with a large group of veterinary specialists and hang out with our friends at the ACVIM Foundation (more about them later). Perhaps one of the most important points that was repeatedly brought up to Dr. AJ and myself while chatting up the internal medicine specialists, neurologists, and cardiologists was this: specialty medicine needs veterinary pet insurance as much as pet owners.

The reality of specialty medicine is that it is expensive. Technology is expensive. Expertise is expensive. When I recommend referral to a client, it is based upon the necessity for expertise and technology required to diagnose and treat a problem that is beyond the scope of what we can offer at our general practice. This is the standard of care that both Dr. AJ and I were trained to provide. Our generation (and subsequent generations) of veterinarians were trained to understand the importance of specialty medicine in order to provide the highest standard of care. Our four-legged family members deserve to have access to this level of care.

One of the questions we posed to the specialists was, “How are your practices doing in this economy?” The answer was consistent. Clients are still going to the specialist when referral was recommended by their veterinarian, however, owners tended to halt diagnostic and treatment efforts sooner due to financial constraints. Be assured that Dr. AJ and I are working very hard to make sure VetCareComplete gives pet owners the ability to take advantage of the benefits of veterinary specialists without the financial worry!

I mentioned earlier that while at the conference, we spent time at the ACVIM Foundation booth. The ACVIM Foundation creates awareness of specialty medicine and funds vital research and residency programs across the country. Through programs such as Paws for Cures, the ACVIM Foundation helps to provide grants for the research that pioneers tomorrow’s cures. Dr. AJ and I would like to thank our good friends Paula, Heather, Lauren, and Gregg for allowing us to hang out with them at the booth and help out where we could. You can make a difference too, by visiting http://pawsforcures.org/ or http://www.acvimfoundation.org/ and make a donation that will benefit all of our beloved family members!!

Love to all!!

Dr. Keith

A tribute to Kaya

April 2, 2009 – 12:22 pm

Kaya

Most people would say that I had to say goodbye to my 17 year old cat, Kaya. But, I think that she’s still with me, just not like she has been for the last 15 years.

Kaya was literally my first spay cat – in vet school. As students, we learn basic and advanced surgical techniques by performing spays and neuters for a local animal shelter. The cats and dogs are available for adoption after the surgery, just in case you fall in love with your patient, as I did. I think animal rescue people know more about the basic driving forces of human nature than they let on. Of course I fell in love with this cute, little brown tabby cat with extra toes – how could I not?

I knew in my heart, for some reason, that the first cat I would ever own (on my own) would be polydactyl – have extra toes. I think I had a dream that told me this. I believed the dream. Kaya had so many toes, Dr. Keith used to call her, “Thumbs.” I knew the very first time I saw her (before the surgery) that this was my cat – so I had to do a great job. The surgery was a success – obvious proof that my professors had taught me well despite all my resistance and procrastinations -and Kaya moved into my room within the week.

Kaya has been with me since then, through all my moves and life changes (including the addition of a girlfriend turned fiancé turned wife, then kids). Kaya steadfastly nestled into the crook of my arm every night for these last 15 years.

I had cats growing up, but Kaya was different. She was my first cat – the very first animal I owned as an adult. I think that’s an unspoken right of passage in human experience. The day that you can stand up and be responsible for something or someone other than yourself is a big deal. At least it was to me.

Unfortunately, Kaya told me it was her time to move on. Not in so many words, but plainly enough for me to understand. About 3 months ago I noticed her starting to lose weight. Her bloodwork confirmed a fear of mine – her kidneys were failing. I think this is the point that was most difficult for me and what I think is difficult for all my clients. This was the time that I had to decide how much treatment she needed and weigh that against how much treatment she would want me to do. A true quality of life decision.

Kaya was the type of cat that while in her prime would not let a soul medicate her or manipulate her in anyway not to her liking. Not at least, if you wanted to keep that hand or arm or whatever was close when you messed with her. I once actually told her that if she ever got sick, she was going to have to figure out a way to take her own medications. I knew I couldn’t do it. I like my hands.

So, this was when I made the decision to give her supportive care for as long as she had left – make her as comfortable as I could, and allow her to have a great quality of life until it was time for her to move on. It wasn’t a money decision at all. I would have maxed the credit card and taken a third mortgage on the house if something would have helped her. In this case, nothing would and anything I could do would make her miserable.

Now, something you don’t know about me, but I have a deep-seated faith in the interconnectedness of all things. Whether it’s on a spiritual level – as most of the world religions claim – or something having to do with the “Zero Point Field” that quantum physics explains concerning the basis of all matter and antimatter in the universe. I don’t know. I can make no guess as to what it is, but I know it. I feel it. She’s still here, just a memory or thought away.

So, every time I think of her, or turn around and think I see her, I remind myself that it could be her telling me that she’s still near. That she’s still with me. And that warms my heart and puts a smile on my face.

Next time I think of her, I’ll tell her you said,”Hi.”

Dr. AJ

For the love of a daughter and her dog

March 6, 2009 – 11:42 pm

I had to put to sleep an old dog today. He was 17 and ready to go.

It was sad and difficult as it always is – to say goodbye to an old friend. What made today a little different than normal was the despair and feeling of helplessness that the owner was feeling.

Vets as a rule tend to act as pseudo-therapists in these situations. The dog usually, as it was in this case, was ready to move on. The owner, however, was not ready. I was there to help him with that letting go process.

Now, most owners have already come to conclusions and have made their peace with what has to be done. Today, not so much. You see, the dog was not only 17 years old, but was in the end stages of heart failure. He probably wouldn’t make it for the next few hours. There was nothing I could do short of send him on emergency to the cardiologist – and maybe say a little prayer – it couldn’t hurt. It was very clearly out of my hands to save this pet.

The main point of this story is the owner. He was distraught about the dog, yes. But, even more, he was worried about his daughter. “You see, today is my daughter’s birthday and she’s coming home from college today. Is there anyway he’ll last until tomorrow?” He was crying. “Unfortunately, I can’t promise that,” I replied. He cried more. What I saw was a man that so loved his daughter he would do anything, spend anything to keep her from the pain of a memory of her dog dying on her birthday. You could almost feel his inner conflict of doing the right thing for the pet and sheltering his daughter from pain. His grief was palpable.

Wow. Now that’s a father. My heart went out to him, the dog, and his family.

We talked a little about the need to end this dog’s suffering above all else, that his daughter would hurt, but would also understand because she loved the dog so much. A sense of peace fell over him as the realization of this truth became clear. He made the decision to put the dog to sleep. It was quick and painless for his old pal.

I’m not sure what all this has to do with pet insurance, if anything. I do know that the bond we have with our pets and our kids is close and real and special. Maybe that’s what we’ll need to always remember as we build this company.

Truth and love … sometimes that’s all you have to help you when making some of life’s toughest decisions.

Love to you, your kids, and your pets,

Dr. AJ

I couldn’t find the ax.

February 26, 2009 – 12:47 am

Well, it’s been a while in between blogs. “How could that be?” you ask. While I would love to be able to make a nice sounding and relatively justified reason, like, “It’s just so busy right now at the clinic,” or “The economy is in the dumper so I’ve slacked off,” I really can’t take refuge in any such lame excuse. In fact, I stopped making excuses for my shortcomings a while back.

You see, when I was in college (undergrad… when I could skip some classes and not worry that some future patient may have desperately needed me to take that particular class on that particular Friday), I took off one Friday to drive out into the country to see my friend’s aunt on her farm. Now, don’t get me wrong, like all college students I had an ulterior motive to go – food. My friend’s aunt, let’s call her Aunt Bea, makes the most mouth-watering, flakey, ungodly-scrumptious southern buttermilk biscuits that you have ever tasted. So, we had a hankering and with a simple,”We’re coming to visit,” phone call, my friend and I set off on our 4 hour biscuits-or-bust roadtrip.

Her aunt, of course, was so happy to see us that when we finally got there she promised to make us a down-home-country breakfast the next morning, the likes of which we would not soon forget. She did exactly that. This breakfast was enormous. We had hotcakes and sausage, fruit galore, fresh squeezed orange juice, hot coffee, scrambled eggs and grits. But no biscuits to be seen. When you live on ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches, you don’t let food like this get cold. So we ate and ate.

About midway through the meal, my friend and I looked at each other as if at the same time we both thought,”Wait a minute, something’s missing.” Through the haze of an impending food coma washing over me, I realized – No Biscuits! As if by telepathy, my friend read my very thoughts when she asked her aunt,”Not to be rude, Auntie, but where’s the biscuits?”

She simply said,”Oh, I dunno, I couldn’t find the ax.”

Huh? I’m sitting there thinking, “Well, she lives on a farm, maybe she cuts the big chunks of butter with an ax.” Now, before you think that I’m a chucklehead, give me a break, this kind of thing makes sense when you’re young and in college. So, not to sound stupid I asked,”Huh?”

Aunt Bea got a little gleam in her eye and actually winked at me and said,”Well, when you don’t want to do something, one excuse is just as good as another.”

I was floored, and humbled, and didn’t get any biscuits on that trip.*

So, that day, we both got a whole plate of something other than what we were hoping for… wisdom.

So, no excuses for me. Ever. And I really want to keep up with blogging. And I’m gonna do my very best. This blog is important to me… to us. But I know that sometimes you have to go away from something to appreciate it more. I appreciate you reading this and hope you got a plate of something for yourself here today.

Stop making excuses and stop believing others when they give them to you.

So, the next time a coworker blames the traffic for their tardiness, just smile and wink and say,”Oh, I see… you couldn’t find the ax.”

Yours with love and humility,
Dr. A.J.

*By the way, I have since gotten a copy of that biscuit recipe and will gladly share it with all the VetCareComplete policy holders who want a copy… just as soon as our policies are available!

Happy New Year from all of us!

January 9, 2009 – 4:13 pm

Happy New Year from everyone at VetCareComplete!
The air is fresh, the sun is shining and we are full of unprecedented amounts of optimism about the year ahead. We are the people who believe that the glass is completely full (half water and half air = full glass). We are so excited about this new year because of all the great changes that are coming for all of us – and most importantly, your little four legged friend.

The great thing about a new year – the whole concept of a “new year” – is that we get to put the past behind us and start fresh. Not that the past is in any way bad – everything that happened brought you to where you are today – and we wouldn’t change a thing. But to think about the future and what we want to bring about – now that’s awesome. A New Year opens up the possibilities and intentions for a better future and ultimately, a better present. Now, I know I’m waxing philosophically here, but, of all the times of the year, this is when the majority of the world sits back and takes time to think of what is to be – what they want. How great is that?

I think that the main point for today – and the rest of the year is that the team here at VetCareComplete is working daily to bring about the best in veterinary pet insurance. When I say daily, I mean that every single day, we sit down and imagine and create a better future for all our pets and their owners (read that as “you”). We want a service that brings you a sense of security for the life of your pet. We want a service that caters to your needs. We want a service that ensures that you’ll never have to second-guess your own finances when trying to make your sick pet better. We want a service that addresses your concerns (we’re so into this that we call them “challenges”) before you even realize that you had concerns. We want a service that (for once in the history of all pet insurance) works for everyone to create a better world.

That may seem like a grand idea, a tall order, a pipe dream – but it’s absolutely not. It’s reality. Start expecting it. We are.

Thanks for your patience, thanks for your support, and know that this year will be bringing the pet insurance solution that you’ve been waiting for.

Love to all,

Dr. AJ

Halloween is upon us!!

October 26, 2008 – 10:28 pm

In the spirit of the painted cats, I am happy to bring you some of my favorite dog Halloween costumes. I believe the email from which most of these pictures were taken was entitled “Why dogs bite people.”

Let’s face it. Our dogs are our kids. Everyone working at this company feels the same way. However, I have to admit that I’m a little on the fence about putting clothes on dogs. Dog boutiques have started popping up all over the place providing designer attire. I have clients whose dogs have more expensive wardrobes than I do. Pampering your pet has certainly been taken to new extremes beyond traditional grooming services. As toy breeds have become popular as a celebrity’s accessory, so has our culture taken to the idea that our four legged kids deserve more than just a hair cut and nail trim.

From a veterinary perspective, there are certainly situations that call for some sort of couture. For instance, a sweater for short coated dogs in cold climates may be an appropriate choice (socks can make great toy breed sweaters when you take a pair of scissors to them). However, I have yet to come up with a good medical argument for these outfits. I am so glad that they indulge us!!

Have a safe Halloween and most importantly remember: CHOCOLATE CAN BE EXTREMELY TOXIC TO DOGS!! You should always contact your veterinarian or a local veterinary emergency clinic if your dog eats chocolate of any kind.

Dr. Keith

Kitty Litter Poop Soup

October 11, 2008 – 4:18 pm

The story you are about to read is true and has brought my children endless laughs at my expense.

I have two cats, Bocephus and Dallas (pictured above), that produce about 30 lbs. of used clumping kitty litter in about a month’s time. Before the glorious day that my wife and I shelled out $120 for the Scoop Free automatic kitty litter box (which is absolutely awesome in our opinion!!), we just had 2 side-by-side litter boxes with your average “multiple-cat-super-deodorizing” clumping litter. I am embarrassed to say that both litter boxes were in our walk-in closet. Gross as it sounds, when you wear a t-shirt under scrubs everyday of your working life, nice clothes are generally not a necessity. The primary reason for this locale was the fact we could baby gate the closet off. This was to prevent our Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Sara, from partaking of the “buffet”. Any chance she got, Sara would make a bee-line for the closet and had about a 50% chance that one of us left the gate open. The tell-tale cat litter on the end of her nose and chewing-gum like lip smacking pretty much let us know that the tootsie roll bandit had struck again. Ah, but I digress. When Sara didn’t beat us to it, we would scoop the cat box out and place the contents into the plastic container that it originally came in. (Those 30 lbs plastic buckets made nice air tight poop receptacles).

At the end of the month, I would purchase another 30 lbs. of litter and switch out the full bucket with the now empty new bucket. Then there was that time I forgot to buy more litter and the poop bucket was overflowing. Something had to be done. Normally, I would have just carried it out to the trash and replaced it with the bucket from the new litter, but…

To set the stage appropriately, I had just finished cleaning our bathroom top to bottom, my two girls were upstairs finishing getting in their pajamas after a bath, and dinner was about 15 minutes away. MISTAKE ONE: I decided to recycle the old plastic bucket by dumping the used litter into a tall kitchen garbage bag. The bag was adequate in size and while it weighed probably 40 lbs. with saturated litter and cat crap, seemed sturdy enough. What I didn’t know was that (just like the old Folger’s commercial) someone had secretly replaced our Hefty tall kitchen garbage bags with eco-friendly-made-from-recycled-material-but-totally-suck garbage bags. (Let’s see if he notices). MISTAKE TWO: My 6 year old is sitting on the tub edge, drinking a glass of water, and watching the process as if to say “You poor, poor, silly, daddy. Even I know that this is bad idea.” She offers to help and I say, “Nope, this is a daddy job.” I lift the bag up and shocker: the bag tears and cat crap and litter spill everywhere (including the water fountain style water dish for my cats that is next to me at the time).

Fortunately, my daddy filters kick in and I say out-loud in a nice even tone, “Wow, that’s interesting.” In my head it was more like, “Mother-f#$%^&!” Again, my daughter offered to help. I was a little more stern in my dismissal this time. I could hear my 3 year old in the background playing outside the room in one of the closets. I got up and went to get a broom. When I got back, my agitation began to grow when I noticed all the kitty litter in the cats’ water dish. MISTAKE THREE: I thought it would be prudent to empty the water dish and sanitize it immediately. When I picked up the fountain, the cord caught the leg of our bathroom vanity, jerking the water dish out of my hand, and spilling about a gallon and a half of water onto the floor creating what could only be described as ”Kitty Litter Poop Soup”. At this point, my eldest daughter once again asked if I needed assistance with a “that is totally gross” screwed up look on her face. I was becoming slightly unhinged and mustered a “DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING.”

MISTAKE FOUR: I left the disaster scene to try and gather up some old towels and a mop. That’s when I heard the crash and unmistakable screaming of my 3 year girl. I ran back into bathroom to see her sitting in the middle of the toxic mess, covered from head to toe in poop soup hysterically yelling “YUCKY KITTY!! YUCKY KITTY!!” over and over. At that point, I realized that we had reached defcon 4 and I had to call in reinforcements. Mommy came running in and immediately rushed the 3 year old up to a tub for decontamination. My older daughter vanished, obviously concerned that I might actually recruit her to assist, leaving behind only her glass of water perched on the tub’s edge…

MISTAKE FIVE: The madness consumed me and I may have actually developed a twitch at that point (pretty much like Clark Griswald at the point of any Vacation movie when he snaps). The final chapter to this story begins with me knocking over the glass of water with the broom handle. As it shattered on the tile floor and created “New and Improved Kitty Litter Poop Soup – Now With Broken Glass!!” the absurdity of the situation smacked me back into the present. On my knees, I closed my eyes and took my first deep breath in about 10 minutes. This was the perfect example of manifesting one bad event after another to create the ultimate toxic disaster. I laughed out-loud as I locked myself in the bathroom and scrubbed until there was not a grain of evidence left of the nightmare that had transpired. The girls were sitting at the dinner table waiting for me with a questioning look that said ”is daddy going to be OK?” I sat down and with a smile said, “Who would like to hear the story of Kitty Litter Poop Soup?” All hands shot up. The story was also a bedtime favorite for about a week.

This is the link to the website for the automatic litter box that forever changed my life.

http://www.scoopfree.com/WorksGreat/ScoopFree_in_Action.html

Results may vary, but my cats love it!

Wishing all a soup free litter box change,

Dr. Keith

My new hobby – or – Move over Betty Crocker!

October 4, 2008 – 9:48 pm

So, along with an insane exercise program I have just begun, I have decided to start my hobby of baking. Now, I’m only talking about making a Bundt cake every so often or a coffee cake to take to work or such. I’m not talking about changing professions or starting the next Nabisco, because I actually love this pet insurance schtick.

Baking? Everybody I tell seems surprised. What can I say? I just like it. Maybe it’s a stress release like my mother-in-law thinks (she actually phrased it as,”a sign of something” and I’m thinking she meant stress), or the result of a deep seated passion for the perfect chocolate glaze, I don’t know. But I can tell you one thing, I like it.

The great thing about it is that I currently also work at a veterinary clinic that is very accepting of my new hobby – or at least the results of it. Literally – think of a pack of piranha but the cow is a pumpkin spice cake. This is great for me (my wife had this panicked look in her eyes as if I was expecting her to eat all this stuff I’m making), but it all comes with a price…the nick-names. In the last 3 days since I announced my new culinary pursuit, I have been called Julia Childs, Betty Crocker, and even June Cleaver. My response was that there are plenty of male chefs in the world… Chef Boyardee, Duncan Hines, Chef Tell… even Ron Popeil had a Chop-o-Matic and a Pasta Maker. I also just bought a T-shirt that says,”This recipe doesn’t call for your opinion.”

“Now,” you ask me, “what does baking have to do with Pet Insurance?” Well, when I really looked inside about why I want to start baking and what truth I’m seeking with it (other than the perfect coffee cake), I realized something. To bake, you have a goal in mind and a definite way to get there. Stress dissolves away as the recipe dictates what and how to prepare the dish and you know, with few exceptions, that you’ll get the same thing each and every time. After working in private practice for almost 13 years, one thing I can assure you is that veterinary medicine is not as simple as following a recipe in a cookbook. What most pet owners don’t realize is that veterinary medicine is much different than that. There’s so much more that can affect the end product when treating a sick animal than what’s in the books. That’s why your doctor cannot just follow a recipe for health and may have to change the plan multiple times in the course of treatment to get you a healthy animal. It’s not like baking a cake or like fixing a car. A living, breathing, wonderful little four-legged friend is so much more complex and there are so many different outcomes during treatment that it makes the future pretty much unknown. Your vet knows what he or she wants, but also knows they will have to deal with the difficulties and course changes as they arise. Let me tell you, from personal experience, that’s stressful enough without a pet owner’s economics entering into the mix.

That’s why we’re putting together VetCareComplete as the best of all available pet insurance. So that we take the economy out of the equation – one less variable to change the outcome that you want – a healthy and happy pet. By not thinking about the cost, you can allow your vet to offer the best and newest diagnostics and treatment to your poor little dog or cat.

So, maybe the real reason that I like baking other than making my house smell really nice, is that I can affect a quick and wonderful result by following a simple, little-old-grandmother recipe… stress free. Dr Keith and I are working hard so that your vet (and you, too) can feel that same freedom from stress – even if it’s just a little freedom.

We just want a stress-free world full of healthy animals, happy pet owners and vets… and some warm blueberry muffins.

With love from 350 degrees for 65 minutes,

Dr. A.J.

Veterinary Medicine of the 21st Century

September 25, 2008 – 4:40 pm

It makes me laugh when I hear 4 and 5 year old children talk about wanting to become a veget…vetrim…veteriminary…doctor for animals. I think at that age I wanted to be an engineer. That promptly changed in high school when I took my first part time job as a veterinary assistant (and I decided that I really disliked math). The year was 1986, when a practice might be considered state of the art for having an in-house blood chemistry machine. I remember dunking x-rays into fixer and developer tanks and having to air dry them on a rack in the dark room. Nowadays, you would be hardpressed to find a clinic without in-house chemistry and CBC machines. While there are x-ray processors in most hospitals (eliminating the need for those hideous dunk tanks), many are beginning to upgrade to digitial x-ray machines. Talk about cool technology, the digital radiograph can be magnified with minimal loss of detail and manipulated to provide optimal interpretation. Better still, these digital films can be emailed to veterinary radiologists and specialists for interpretation.

$Roo\'s skull$

(This is an example of a digital radiograph taken of one of my technician’s dogs after it was hit in the head by a passing car. See if you can spot the jaw fractures and the fractured tooth)

Since I graduated veterinary school in 1996, we have seen other dramatic changes in technology that have brought veterinary medicine into the 21st century. These advances have allowed speciality medicine to transition out of academic environments and into public venues. There are veterinary specialists in all the same fields as human medicine (e.g. cardiologists, neurologists, internal medicine, ophthalmology, etc. ) Speciality centers have opened up all across the country providing state of the art services such as digital radiography, ultrasound, MRI, CT, endoscopy, state of art laboratory equipment, and high-tech surgical tools that allow veterinary specialists to mirror many of the same things their human counterparts are doing.

My generation of veterinarian graduated accustomed to being able to refer patients to any of the speciality fields that a patient required. It is now considered “standard of care” to offer referral as an option. This is due in large part to the accessibility of referral centers in local communities.

Now for the catch, which I am sure you can guess at this point. High tech definitely equates to higher cost. Even though the cost of some of these technologies has been reduced into the accessible range, a $1500 to $3000 bill at a speciality care center is not uncommon. I have mentioned in past blog entries that it can be really frustrating practicing as a veterinarian with your hands tied by financial constraints. As veterinarians, we want ALL owners to benefit from the wonderful advances that have taken place in veterinary medicine. VetCareComplete’s insurance policies will allow you to visit any vet or specialist that you choose, providing you with comprehensive coverage and reimbursement taken directly from your veterinary bill, not a benefit schedule. This will maximize your ability to take advantage of all the technologies and speciality fields that are available today and in the future.

VetCareComplete is firmly committed to supporting veterinary research, residency programs, as well as scholarship programs for the next generation of veterinarian and veterinary specialist.

Yours in support of the veterinary profession,

Dr. Keith

Exceptional Customer Service?

September 3, 2008 – 12:20 pm

Somebody told me that is getting harder to spend your money without getting angry. I agree. How sad is that? We put up with so much lame customer service that it’s become the standard that companies aspire to.

I mean, why don’t we boycott companies that outservice their customer service call centers (like my phone company)? Nothing is worse than pushing your way through an automated answering system only to finally get a human on the line who is on the other side of the planet outsourced by the company you’re trying to call. When I call a company because I have a question about their product or service, I want to talk with someone who works there, who makes that product or offers that service. They’re more personally invested in what they’re selling me. It’s difficult enough to get people to understand what the heck I’m saying without having to explain it to someone who doesn’t really care. Which, sadly, is the norm nowadays.

I guess the reason for this rant is that when we’ve launched and are actively selling policies, we have some relatively simple goals. By goals I mean something we will work every day to accomplish. They are:
1) Give Value – to treat every client as if they are our only client.
2) Be Reliable – fix problems and answer questions the first time we get a call.
3) Be Honest – in our treatment of others
4) Exceed Expectations – of all the goals above.

I once told a friend of mine that if there was a roofing company in Richmond that answered their calls, showed up on time and sober, and finished a job in time – they could charge anything, do only adequate work, and corner the market. Looking back, I can see a correlation from what I felt to what people currently feel about pet insurance companies.

I don’t vow much. But I’m telling you now that we’ll be setting a new standard of what you’ll expect from everyone in your life – from roofers to your phone company.

Love to all,

Dr. AJ