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5 Injuries Your Dog Will Probably Suffer From, And You Will Foot The Bill

This article is more than 10 years old.

People love their pets, dogs especially. But when those animals get sick or have an accident, we often feel almost as much pain as they do. On top of that, we wind up having to pay exorbitant veterinary costs to make our pet-pals right again.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong medically with a pet. They suffer the same ailments that we do: broken legs, arthritis, heart attacks, cancer, ear infections, etc. Eventually, whether we like it or not, there will come a time when we as pet owners are forced to deal with the illnesses and injuries that inevitably befall these companion creatures whose lives span a length of time so much shorter than ours.

Recently Forbes published a story focusing on Petplan , a Pennsylvania-based pet insurance company that allows pet owners to pay a certain amount of money each month in order to assure that when their animals become ill or have an accident, between 80% and 100% of the vet bills will be covered (well, err, covered up to $22,000 at the most).

If your pet needs serious medical attention, insurance could be a deal. If it doesn't the upsides become debatable. In other words, that's insurance! There are a handful of reputable pet insurance companies out there -- some better, some worse -- and you can learn more about Petplan and the industry by reading the story here.

In researching the piece, we came upon a lot of information on dogs, cats and medical treatment. The above slideshow on canines and the ailments that afflict them is a part of that. Our information comes from several sources, including The Orthopedic Foundation For Animals, petMD, The Canadian Veterinary Journal and Dr. Richard E. Goldstein of the Animal Medical Center of New York City.

Follow me on Twitter @KarstenStrauss