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Canine health testing clinics/US

Karlin

Administrator
Staff member
This is a useful list of all the upcoming clinics in the US for testing for a wide range of conditions.

http://www.cavalierhealth.org/health_clinics.htm

Don't forget that hearts in particular are a concern with cavaliers, so attending one of these low cost clinics to get a cardiologist's assessment is very valuable. Usually your cavalier should be about two before you cardiac test, since MVD is a progressive condition. So much can be done if murmurs are caught early that this is one of the best tests to do annually. :)

Several other of the listed clinics may also be of interest to cavalier owners, too.
 
Great resource, karlin! thanks!

rory's getting his heart checked at the vet school on june 20th.

-kendall
 
rory said:
Great resource, karlin! thanks!

rory's getting his heart checked at the vet school on june 20th.

-kendall

:xfngr: good luck! what tests will be done? I was looking at what these clinics offer and for heart, most have ascultation, but there seem to be different kinds of ascultation? Wey, Fine, Siemens, Wood, Jacobs, are these different kinds of ascultation?

When a breeder has their dogs heart checked, what does this mean? Does it mean just ascultation, or does it include echocardiogram?

will Rory be having an ultrasound/echocardiogram? A couple of the clinics offer those and the prices are great, $175. When i was trying to find out how to prove to the insurance company that Zack dosn't have an enlarged heart, i called a local cardiologist and they said it would be about $500.
 
Ausculatation is just when they listen to the hearrt to see if they hear a murmur. It has to be from a cardiologist to get certified clear for OFA. I think Wey, Fine, Siemsn, etc are the doctors' names. The clinics are just auscultation, I think.

Why do you need to prove that Zach doesn't have an enlarged heart? Why would he?
 
rory said:
Why do you need to prove that Zach doesn't have an enlarged heart? Why would he?

when i first got zack he had diarrhea off and on for 3 weeks and then he started vomiting and was listless and i took him to the emergency room to be checked one night. The attending vet took two abdominal xrays. He showed me what he said could be a foreign body in his stomach, and then he pointed to the heart and said Zack had an enlarged heart. He said there was a bulge there that was abnormal. He said he would consult with the radiologist in the morning and would call me and let me know what she said, as far as follow up. He called me the next morning and said the radiologist agreed about the foreign body and said i should take him that morning for more xrays to see if the object had moved. I asked about his heart. The vet said "Oh, his heart is fine. That bulge was just caused by the position he was in for the xray."

All of this was written down in Zack's medical records. On the first night, the vet writes "Enlarged heart." The next day he summarizes the consult with radiologist and says that she says 'heart likely within normal limits.' i submitted all these records to Zack's health insurance company, to make a claim for the foreign body. All of this was happening during the first 30 days of the policy so no illness that was noted by a vet would be covered by his plan. They placed an exlusion on his policy for enlarged heart or anything they consider related to an enlarged heart.

But the radiologist and the attending vet said he did not have an enlarged heart. The attending vet mis-read the xray. The radiologist wrote a letter to the insurance company saying that abdominal xrays don't give information about heart shape and size. In another letter, she said Zack was auscultated and the examination showed no abnormalities. But the insurance company still gave him an exclusion. At first it was a permanent exclusion, which would be a major disaster for me if Zack ever has any heart issues. Then after the letters from the radiologist they changed it to a temporary exclusion. In a year i can ask them to reconsider it. I don't know what they would require me to show in order to get them to change it.

I'm continuing to appeal the temporary exclusion. I don't think it's fair or based in reality.
 
It's Rod Russell's respource from his site. :) Very useful to have all the potential clinics listed and what they will cover.
 
The names in the parentheticals after the word "auscultation" are the names of the cardiologists who will be doing the testing. If we know who the heart and eye specialists will be, we include them. Some Cavalier owners like to know who the doctors will be in advance.

I appreciate Karlin listing the health clinic webpage.

Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida USA
 
Wow..Thanks Karlin!
Clinton, NJ is down the road from me and Elaine Lessig is a big time breeder / owner of cavaliers...she shows as well.
I think I will email her and see if I can bring Teddy who just turned three the other day.
Thanks!
 
judy - that's very frustrating. whwo is your insurance company? i might suggest switching companies. They are obviously being unreasonable because the final diagnosis was that his heart was fine. they are therefore basing their decision on a provisional diagnosis that was then finalized to his heart being fine. That sounds pretty unethical. And if they're already being this difficult, imagine what they'll be like when you actually try to get reimbursed for something!
 
the insurance company is Petcare. i agree, it's unreasonable and unethical. I'm filing a complaint with the state insurance commission/ombudsman. I've written Petcare a letter, asking them to reconsider, as part of the process, and then the next step is to file the complaint.

I'm looking for another pet insurance company. VPI does not cover hereditary conditions. Petcare, at least in theory (if they do pay claims which as you say, is questionable) has the best value i can find so far, for $53 a month, they pay 100% (no copay) up to $6000 per incident after a $50 deductible. I haven't found another one that covers 100% yet, they all seem to cover 80%, but in the end, that may not be as important as finding a company that is reasonable and does pay claims. But i don't know how to find out how good a company is.
 
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