Fetch pets: a dog who kept getting sick for a mysterious reason

Ever since Aviel was a little girl, she dreamed of having a dog named Chicken — and on Christmas morning 6 years ago, an Australian Shepherd entered her world, making that dream a reality.

“I know everybody says this, but my dog’s my actual best friend and life partner,” Aviel said. “She does everything with me.”

The pair really do life as a team. Their favorite activities include (but aren’t limited to): long walks, snuggling on the couch, sitting together while Aviel works from home, meeting new people (where Chicken immediately requests butt scratches), visiting family in Florida and playing with toys.

And Chicken’s been there for the bigger moments, too. Like when Aviel decided to move from New York to Los Angeles, the pup made the transition a little easier. Or when Aviel was going through a breakup, Chicken helped to make her feel better. 

“Chicken has this ability to lift my spirits. The unconditional love thing is definitely helpful,” Aviel explained. “Like, whenever I've been sad or had somebody go out of my life or something, I can always fall back on her.”

And Aviel always returns that same love to Chicken, admitting that she basically plans her life around the pup. Like when she signed Chicken up for Fetch Pet Insurance because she wanted to know that she could always agree to care if health issues popped up. 

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Aviel's decision to sign up for Fetch has already paid off several times, as Chicken has had quite a few accidents — including a few times while swimming in her grandparents’ pool. On hot days in Florida, Chicken turned to drinking the chlorine water to cool off.

“Chicken had these episodes that were very scary,” Aviel remembered. “She would run around in my parent's backyard, suddenly vomit, lose muscle control and fall over.”

Panicked, Aviel took her dog to the emergency room, specialists, a neurologist, heart doctor and even sent the pup’s blood samples to universities. But, unfortunately, no one could figure out what was wrong with Chicken. 

It wasn’t until Aviel’s dad realized that Chicken was drinking too much pool water that they discovered the pup was essentially drowning herself from the inside out. So now, anytime Chicken is in Florida, the family puts a gate around the pool as a safety precaution. 

Unfortunately, the surprise health issues didn’t stop there. As an avid chewer, Chicken finds pleasure in chomping on anything — including sticks. After an intense chewing session, Aviel realized that the pup had broken one side of her incisor teeth (the other side broke shortly after). 

And when Chicken was hit in the eye with a ball during playtime, the pup needed some pain medications to get through the mild recovery. 

Throughout all these surprise accidents, Fetch Pet Insurance was there to cover the costs of Chicken’s medical bills and pay Aviel back quickly. The smooth experience always allows Aviel to focus solely on caring for Chicken as best as she can. 

“I have the Fetch app on my phone, so as soon as I get Chicken’s medical records from my vet, I upload them and describe what happened,” Aviel said. “I get an email a few days later letting me know about the claim and how much I'm going to get back, and then I get a direct deposit to my bank. So it's very easy and seamless.” 

Chicken is currently in tip-top shape, but if there’s ever another health surprise, Aviel knows that she can count on Fetch. “I tell every single person to get pet insurance. Like, truly, that's the first thing I tell them,” Aviel admitted. 

‍‍Do you have a story about your Fetch pet you want to share? Email us at stories@fetchpet.com.