I posted an item a few weeks back talking about the growing pet health insurance market and explaining our reasoning for purchasing a pet health plan for our dog, Smoke, when we brought him into our pack about a year ago.

A bit of an update: In that post, I suggested that we hoped not to have to tap that insurance until Smoke's senior years. Well, if you happened to read my column in the print BI today, you know that that was a bit of wishful thinking, as I'll likely be making a claim to recover some of our costs for Smoke's recent treatment for pneumonia.

Smoke's illness caught us by surprise, but the good news is we have pet health insurance, and the better news is that Smoke seems to be doing quite well. So well, in fact, that restricting the exercise of a not quite two-year-old flat coated retriever for seven days has been the most challenging aspect of his recovery.

At any rate, Smoke has a follow up visit with the vet tonight, and hopefully will be cleared to return to his normal tennis ball chasing routine on our morning walk tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue following the development of the pet insurance market, and any signs of growing interest in including it as a standard employee benefit!