Doodah Diva

Guest Blogger: Romeo the Cat

Romeo’s Picks ‘n Pans
Hotel for Dogs
on DVD & Blu-Ray

Okay, so I wasn’t SUPER excited about watching a movie about dogs. I would have preferred something on Animal Planet like Cats of Africa or Cats 101 or something but the female staff manager insisted I sit on the couch with her and watch Hotel for Dogs so I could tell you all about it.

Well, let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised!

The movie is all about these two orphan kids (Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin) who aren’t allowed to keep their dog, Friday, in their new foster home (mean, mean adults). So, they set out to find a home for Friday and end up finding…..you guessed it!  An abandoned hotel where they could keep Friday. Well, in a series of fun adventures, they end up creating a very fun and cool home for lots and lots of homeless woofers.

Now you guys all know how passionate I am about helping rescue animals and this is all about helping our furry friends! Plus the acting by those woofers is really good. Where did they learn to do those things? That little Friday guy is one smart dog. There are some extra features that showcase these doggies and how awesome they are.

I won’t tell you any more because I don’t want to spoil it but suffice it to say that the movie held my attention the whole time, which is pretty unusual for me. Particularly when I am laying on the couch.

Besides being a good movie it has inspired my next project. I am going to open a hotel for cats!

I also want to point out the very nice people at Paramount Home Entertainment who sent me the DVD to review have also offered a copy of the movie as one of my FURPOWER Donate-a-thon prizes! So if you want to win the movie, all you have to do is donate a buck to Beaufort Community Cat Project and you will be entered into the drawing that we’ll do on June 1.

Sweet little boys

I’ve been confused about pet insurance for a long time. I’ve been in situations when vet bills were astronomical and I know lots of you out there have been in the same position and may even be struggling now. It’s heartbreaking and feels wrong to have to think about money when your pet’s health is at stake.

So I’ve looked into affordable pet insurance a few times and was overwhelmed by the complexity so I gave up. When I was recently offered the opportunity to speak with Dr. David Goodnight, president of PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance, I welcomed the chance to learn a few things that might help me make sense of it all!

First of all, how much do you love the name, Dr. Goodnight? It made me like him before I even spoke with him! Dr. Goodnight is a vet and has three cats himself – and yes, he has pet insurance. Why, if he’s a vet, does he have insurance? “People just don’t understand how expensive veterinary medicine is these days,” he told me. “There are so many new technologies, treatments that are very effective – and costly. Yes, I’m a vet and I can take care of the preventative care of my pets but if there were something seriously wrong, I would want to engage a specialist or surgeon in that area.”

Interesting.

I asked Dr. Goodnight what the biggest misconception about pet insurance is
and he told me that people think pet insurance is an investment. He cautions
that we shouldn’t look at it this way because it is not about getting your
money back. You should hope you don’t ever have to use it, because that
would mean your pet has had serious problems. You should think of pet
insurance more like car insurance, he told me. You don’t want to ever need
it but it’s there if you do.

PurinaCare has two plans available, one with preventive care (ideal for younger pets) and one that is just for accidents and illness. The premiums will be lower with the latter. With preventative care, your routine care should be covered (usually less 20%) along with a possible co-pay and then your monthly premium. With major care coverage, you know that if you’re ever in a position where your furbaby needs extensive care, you’ll be able to swing it. This makes a lot of sense to me.

But obviously you’ll have to decide what’s best for you.

Another thing Dr. Goodnight told me is that people are shocked by how much vet care costs these days. Well, I have to agree with that. But the thing is, he said, the care is better. We have so many options now and the ability to pinpoint and solve health issues. Medical advances cost money. Personally, I’m glad we’ve made these advances!

There are a lot of insurance companies out there but did you know only 1 percent of Americans insure their pets? After my conversation with Dr. Goodnight, I talked to my husband and we’re definitely going to get the boys covered.

One thing I liked about what I learned about PurinaCare is that they entered the market not too long ago after doing extensive research into the current needs of pet owners. Their main goal is to make the insurance process easier for both pet owners and vets. Wonderful! Anything to simplify my already overloaded life is okay by me.

Some tips Dr. Goodnight gave me to share:

1. Insure your pet when he/she is young. It’s easier and probably won’t require an exam. Plus your premiums will be lower.
2. Review all your options before making a decision. PurinaCare has a checklist on their site that will help (it’s on the home page on the bottom, in the center).
3. Have realistic expectations – you probably won’t get a return on the money you shell out each year but you’ll sleep a lot easier.



Today I walked into the room to see Romeo with his face pressed up against the TV screen, sniffing, batting and generally fascinated by the freaky bug-thing  jumping around on the Baby Einstein (Beethoven edition) DVD.

Now I am thinking about those crazy people who leave their TVs on for their pets when they leave the house (Who me? Nah, I don’t do that….) and wondering if I’ve stumbled upon that once-in-a-lifetime, million-dollar idea.  Any investors out there?

What the eff is this thing?

Introducing…two very important members of our household: Romeo (White Boy) and Pugsley (Black Boy).

The boys got their quarterly haircuts last week. This time they came back with the style called “The Lion.” I think this is a vast improvement over the little rat tails they had last time. The pom-poms on the ends of their tails make me think of little Dr. Seuss creatures.

Today Ms. J. grabbed Romeo’s tail tuft and tried to stuff it into her mouth, which was alarming but funny at the same time. Romeo just stood there and purred.