NICKLAS C.
Bait and switch
Here is the full story, good and bad. Unfortunately, the bad severely outweighs the good. I have been dying to get my first puppy for a long, long time. I'm 34 years old and finally have space and money to take care of a dog. My family has always had Boxers, so I wanted to carry on the tradition. My experience working with the customer service rep was actually very stellar. Quick to respond, friendly, personable, and someone that I felt comfortable to be honest with on what I really wanted. When it comes to spending thousands of dollars on an animal, I expected this type of service...and I got it! So long story short, I got the puppy trucked over to my home in California from, I believe Nebraska. The experience was easy, and very expensive. But it felt worth it. But with this expense comes a lot of risk. I know from the past that dogs (let alone Boxers) can always come with issues and ailments, but according to Pawrade they have a "Health Guarantee" - to dive a little further into that I quote from their website "Should a health issue arise after your puppy comes home, this Health Guarantee along with your Pet Insurance has you covered." Well surprise surprise, not even a year into owning Benny (my dog) he started losing weight, vomiting regularly, and became lethargic, drank like a fish, and peed every 30 minutes. So something was clearly wrong. I took him to two vets who after lots of testing (and thousands of dollars) they found that Benny had a Copper Storage Disease (also know as copper-associated hepatopathy). For those that don't know, basically all dog food and treats have copper in them. Even vegetables and poultry have copper in them. Well, Benny couldn't digest copper properly, and left untreated, the vet says he had a year or so to live. They took more tests and did a couple biopsies on his liver and ultimately prescribed 7 medications to detox his liver, clean his liver, and promote liver function. They also prescribed liver friendly food for Benny, that he will have to eat for the rest of his life. For just the food alone, that will be about $200/month. If Benny lives until the average lifespan of a Boxer, that is 11 years. So minus 1 year, that is $200/month x 12 months x 10 years. That is $24,000 in food that I would have otherwise NOT purchased had he been a healthy dog. Not to mention the medicine and the ultrasound/biopsy cost over $10,000. Thank god I had insurance, so I had to pay about $4,000 out of pocket. Now here is the real nasty side of the situation. When I asked Pawrade to help me, because of their so called 'guarantee' - well, long story short they denied the claim because he wasn't 'sick enough'. They said, and I quote "It is important to note that should there be a subsequent diagnosis of a liver shunt, which would necessitate surgical intervention to address the condition, your claim would then qualify for coverage based on the terms of your policy." - A Liver Shunt has NOTHING to do with the disease Benny has. A shunt is for a liver bypass issue or filtration issue. The copper storage disease can only be fixed by completely removing the copper stuck in the liver, and moving forward strictly have a copper free diet. Again, if I couldn't afford the medicine, or the operations - Benny would be dead in about 6 months from today. Not even before his 2nd birthday. The vet told me that Benny, who had just turned 1 in November, had a liver functioning like a 50 year old alcoholic. Now, by Pawrade's standards, that isn't an important enough issue to help cover my needs. They're basically saying "by our guarantee's guidelines, your dog is healthy enough that it doesn't fall under our guarantee". How is that healthy? I am furious for so many reasons - the greed, the misdirection, the lies, but what bothers me the most is the utter deniability of something so clearly obvious. Luckily, I am actually able to afford these procedures and medicines (plus the thousands of dollars in medicinal food), but some of you won't be that lucky. And you'll be faced with having to see your new dog (that you likely already spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on) die slowly, or to have to put them down. And Pawrade will be sitting there counting their cash, denying your claims just like the American insurance companies do. I should have listened to my gut. It all feels very "murphy's law". You could be lucky and get a perfect dog, and Pawrade will be the wonderful company that I first thought I was interacting with, but should anything go wrong, you stand the chance of facing a cold, heartless, insurance-type industry company that will laugh in your face with your dollars in their hands. I will never, ever consider doing business with them again. And I hope that none of you reading this experience what I've had to deal with these last few months.
Response from PawradeApr 16, 2025
Nicklas, we are very sorry that your pup has some form of liver condition. You did provide documentation from a vet indicating Copper Storage Disease. This would be eligible for coverage under the PetPay Health Guarantee. A concurring second opinion would be required. This is a normal protocol and is clearly disclosed in the health guarantee. A second Vet should be able to reveiew the tests you already have and provide that opinion. Initial documentation indicated elevated liver levels and we did mention a liver shunt as an example of a liver condition that would be covered with proper diagnosis. This was only given as an example as the symptoms fit the condition and a liver shunt is fairly common. As we have communicated with you, should you provide a concurring second opinion you will be eligible for coverage.