LAST YEAR, I ran up some pretty impressive veterinary bills seeking treatment for my red chattering lory, Nelson - over $1300 to be exact, not including prescription medications.

Two weekends before Thanksgiving (why do animal emergencies always happen on the weekend?), Nelson became bloated and had trouble breathing. The emergency clinic veterinarian wasn't sure what was wrong, but sent us home with the antibiotic Baytril and instructions to take Nelson to her regular vet on Monday if she wasn't better.

Nelson rallied on Monday, but on Tuesday she was ill again, so I rushed her to the For The Birds clinic in San Jose to see Dr. Fern Van Sant, a well-known avian veterinarian in the Bay Area.

How far to go?
After looking Nelson over, Dr. Van Sant sat me down for the talk all pet owners dread. "We need to discuss how far you would like to go in treating Nelson," she began. My heart sank.

"I want you to save her," I blurted after a moment, tears welling, "but I don’t want to torture Nelson."

"We will respect Nelson and your wishes," Dr. Van Sant reassured me.

Then I had to say it. There was never really any doubt in my mind that I would. "Money is no object. Do what you need to do," I told Dr. Van Sant, gulping.

Thus began Nelson's - and my bank account's - odyssey through the wonderland of avian medical science.

After a round of tests in Dr. Van Sant's office that day, including fluid drains by needle, bloodwork, weight checks and two sets of x-rays, it was determined that for some unknown reason Nelson had been retaining waste.

The retained fluids had overflowed to fill Nelson's air sacs, threatening to suffocate her. With such frightening symptoms, I was more than happy to leave her with the staff of For The Birds for a few days so they could keep a close eye on her.

Three days later, Nelson came home a much thinner, more energetic and healthier bird. She was her old self. But it wasn't the happy ending I'd hoped for. The problem, perhaps neurological in origin, kept coming back.

With trips to the veterinarian becoming a regular thing, I began taking Nelson to a closer clinic in San Francisco, where she racked up several hundred dollars more in vet bills.

My bird, my friend
When we tell friends about Nelson, their jaws go into freefall. I suppose they wonder why anyone would want to spend so much on "just a bird." But my husband and I see it differently. After all, we gladly part with hundreds of dollars for a new couch or a backyard patio set. Why would we spend any less on a sentient creature we love?

Nelson, a yellow-backed chattering lory, needed ongoing medical treatments for a puzzling neurological problem.

Nelson ultimately did not survive, unfortunately. However, I would do it all again and more. She seemed relatively energetic and happy up until the end, and I got to spend more time with her. But do I wish I had had insurance for Nelson? Do I ever.

If any of Nelson's doctors had been part of the Pet Assure or American Pet Plan networks, I could have saved up to 25 percent, which would have helped. But they aren't, so I decided to ask Veterinary Pet Insurance to estimate how much I could have saved with them.

No fair peeking
The VPI Web site lists only a handful of avian conditions as examples of what they cover, so I called the toll-free number to get an avian benefits schedule sent to me. The VPI representative with whom I spoke encouraged me to enroll in order to get a copy of the benefits schedule. "You can always cancel if you don't like what you see," he said. Finally, he took down my address and agreed to send me a schedule, without enrolling me.

I never did receive a schedule, not even after calling and asking for one a second time. All I ever got, almost three months later, was a general enrollment kit and a benefits schedule for dogs and cats, not birds. I wound up using a copy of the avian schedule provided by Christine Okon, one of the interviewees for the story, Who will pay the vet bill for birds?

All prospective customers should be able to see the avian benefits schedule before enrolling with VPI. It lists over 200 common diagnoses and the dollar amounts paid for each, broken out into primary and lower-paying secondary categories. Included separately are amounts for diagnostics and anesthesia. It's all very helpful information.

This bump in customer relations aside, I still thought VPI sounded like a great deal. After all, when I asked the 800-number reps how much VPI covered, they had told me 90 percent. Wow, I exclaimed, that would pay for most of the bill!

It wasn't until I spoke with Michelle Desai, the company's media representative, that I found out that the 90 percent the reps were referring to is applied to VPI's benefits schedule, not the bill. So what the reps really meant was that VPI shaves a 10 percent copayment off an already limited dollar amount allowed for each condition.

The verdict
In the real world, Nelson would not have been eligible for VPI coverage because she had a pre-existing condition. But for the purposes of our test-case exercise, VPI agreed to ignore that and calculate for me how much they would have paid for Nelson's medical expenses, had she been enrolled.

I faxed a copy of her bills to Desai, along with the diagnosis of "cloacal atony" - fecal retention as a result of nerve damage to the cloaca.

It took VPI a couple of weeks to come up with a benefits amount, but when they did, it was impressive.

Applying the benefits allowed for cloacitis, limb paralysis, colitis and some grooming performed during the first emergency visit, VPI would have paid $101 of Nelson's standard office charges and $778.50 of the procedures.

In total, I could have saved $879.50 out of about $1300. Not bad at all. If Nelson had been covered for, say, one year before becoming ill, I still would have come out $660.50 ahead ($897.50 minus $219 in premiums, including the $99 well-care policy).

A few "ifs"
The moral of my story is that VPI would have more than paid for itself - depending on several "ifs." If Nelson had been eligible. If I had not been paying premiums for so many years already it would have wiped out any advantages. And, of course, if VPI approved of all other aspects of the claim.

As Desai noted at the end of her e-mail to me: "This condition may be due to a congenital problem as well as other factors. Please keep in mind if this was due to a congenital or hereditary problem, it would not be eligible at all."

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