{"id":1317,"date":"2012-09-06T10:34:16","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T14:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=1317"},"modified":"2012-09-06T10:34:36","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T14:34:36","slug":"vote-for-the-most-unusual-pet-insurance-claim-in-the-2012-vpi-hambone-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2012\/09\/vote-for-the-most-unusual-pet-insurance-claim-in-the-2012-vpi-hambone-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Vote for the most unusual pet insurance claim in the 2012 VPI Hambone Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Baxter fell from the 11th story window and lived to meow about it. He\u2019s just one of the nominees for the 2012 VPI Hambone Awards that honor the year\u2019s most unusual pet insurance claim. (Photo: VPI nominees)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. is getting ready to award the 2012 Annual Hambone Award, and\u00a0 you get to pick the winner!<\/p>\n

Named after a dog that ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while stuck in a refrigerator, the VPI Hambone Award has since been presented for three equally unusual claims. Past winners include Ellie, a Labrador retriever who gobbled up an entire beehive and its thousands of inhabitants; Lulu, a hungry bulldog who swallowed 15 baby pacifiers, a bottle cap and piece of a basketball; and Harley, a pug that ate, and subsequently passed, more than 100 rocks.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s nominees include Havee the Havanese, from Pompton Plains, N.J., who took a trip to the local animal hospital when\u00a0his tail was run over by the vacuum after he fell asleep under the dining room table during a cleaning spree;\u00a0\u00a0Baxter the domestic longhair cat from Seattle, Wash.,\u00a0who fell\u00a0from the 11th<\/sup> Floor and lived to purr about it; and Peanut the dachshund-terrier mix from Sicklerville, N.J., who\u00a0 got the bad end of a\u00a0squabble with a skunk and, after chasing the skunk into a small hole in the ground, had to be\u00a0rescued by firefighters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that all nominated pets made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible treatment expenses. So while some of the injuries were very serious \u2013 Bayley the Labrador retriever from Lothian, Md. suffered a two-inch gash on his chest when\u00a0he and his pals\u00a0shattered a 55-gallon aquarium while romping in the house \u2013\u00a0the pets are all doing fine.<\/p>\n

You can read detailed summaries of all 12 nominees and vote for\u00a0the one you think is the most unusual\u00a0by visiting http:\/\/vpihamboneaward.com\/nominee\/<\/a>. Here are the 12 nominees at a glance:<\/p>\n