When Your Ferret Has an Ulcer

About 85 percent of pet insurance policies are written for dogs and 14 percent for cats. And the remaining 1 percent?

Birds and rabbits for the most part, joined by a variety of critters that would have made Noah proud: hedgehogs, potbellied pigs, iguanas, anacondas, guinea pigs, and even a uromastyx (a spiny-tailed lizard). Veterinary Pet Insurance, the largest U.S. company in the field, has issued policies for these animals and more.

Among what "avian and exotic" plans cover:

• Birds: feather picking, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems, obesity
  
  

• Rabbits: skin and respiratory problems, gastroenteritis, fractures, eye and ear infections, hairballs
  
  

• Snakes: mouth rot, respiratory disease, injuries caused by prey, pneumonia, spinal fractures
  
  

• Ferrets: skin tumors, ulcers, hepatitis
  
  

Sid Kirchheimer writes about health and consumer issues.