A pet insurance provider has analyzed its claims data on urinary issues of cats and dogs, including urinary tract infections, incontinence, cystitis (inflammation of the bladder), urinary obstruction, and crystalluria (crystals in the urine). The study results can be found on the company’s blog.
In this study the insurance company used U.S. EPA maps on regions of water hardness ranging from slightly hard to extremely hard ratings. For the State of Florida (as an example), extremely hard water is the rating for the eastern and southern regions, and very hard water is the rating for the remaining central and western regions of the State.
Based on over 5.5 million data points on over 400 breeds of cats and dogs collected by the company since 2000, there appears to be a correlation of higher incidence of urinary health claims within regions of hard water. Male cats living in extremely hard water regions are three times more likely to have urinary complications when compared to male cats living in less hard water regions, according to the company’s claim data. Our nearby Tampa, Florida region is one of seven U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest insurance claim payout for male cats suffering from urinary complications.
Thank you, Ann and John C. of Ft. Myers, Florida for forwarding this interesting research study to us. No wonder our customers like Ann and John share their Watt-Ahh® with their beloved pets. Likely, in the long-run, there are savings – either on their co-pay or out-of-pocket costs, by maintaining good health for their pets. There is also less stress endured by both the pet owner and pet if surgery can be avoided.