Ask The Expert: Kidney problems excluded from pet insurance policy?

Kristine contacted me this week regarding her dog. Just a week after being rescued, her dog started to cough, a symptom of maybe kidney failures. Kristine wants to find out whether this would be excluded from any new pet insurance policy.

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Hello,

We took out Jack Russell Terrier to the vet because she had been coughing. We just rescued a blue-nosed pitbull terrier a week prior when she started to cough. We took her to the vet on Nove. 6th. For the week, she was given hydrocodone (cough suppressant) and antibiotics. On Nove. 11th she went in for a follow up visit. We noticed that she was unusually bloated in her stomach so we took her in on Nov. 16th. Her blood work and X-ray came back with water in her stomach. After the ultrasound on Nov. 17th, the vet had said she had a very tiny liver that is not functioning. Her body was producing too much protein. The next day, Nov. 18th, the vet now said through further research it was her kidney that were not working properly.

She calls it nephrotis syndrome. We put her on a new diet recommended by the vet with analpril. She was also taking meds for the parasite that were found in her stool from the new puppy.
Chilli Pepper is now scheduled for a kidney biopsy on Tuesday, Dec. 1st.

I can only assume that if I were to get pet insurance now, I would be declined. But is this ailment treatable/curable.

The vet said that eventually her kidneys will fail, but not sure when.

Can you help me?

Thank you for your time!
Kris

Hi Kristine,

Thank you for your email me regarding your dog and sorry for the condition she developed, it’s really sad.

As far as the insurance is concerned, you are right: kidney problems would be excluded if you were to buy a policy now. Maybe you can ask the person you rescued her from and see whether they had insurance and whether the condition was known prior to the rescue. If it was there already, they should have let you know.

Regarding the ailment, I must confess that I’m not a pet health condition expert and would leave this in the very capable hands of your vet. They should be able to tell you what to expect. If you’re not satisfied with them, you can always get a second opinion.

I hope this helps a little and that your dog will get better. Wish you luck for the coming days. Please let me know how things go.

Kind regards