# Do the Blue Cross deal with reptiles?



## Demonique (May 5, 2007)

If you go to a Blue Cross mobile clinic with a reptile and they refer you to a reptile vet will they help with the cost of treatment?


Someone on a forum in Ireland told me that the Blue Cross doesn't cover the cost of treating reptiles.

Only thing is, the first time I brought a reptile to Bairbre O'Malley after attending a BC mobile clinic she treated it no problem.

The second time I attended her clinic she told me next time she wouldn't accept it as it's only for cats and dogs.


I took this to mean that she personally would only accept cats and dogs via the BC scheme. The BC mobile clinic said NOTHING about not covering the cost of reptiles.


The person who told me this on the Irish forum works in a veterinary clinic (I found out after I saw one of her posts after she told me that the BC didn't cover reptiles, before I knew for sure she was working in a veterinary clinic my first thought upon her saying that the BC doesn't cover reptiles was "I bet you work for Bairbre O'Malley")

By the way Bairbre O'Malley is the same Bairbre O'Malley who worked in the RSPCA Harmsworth clinic in Animal Hospital with Rolf Harris.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

I would doubt it - reptile medicine is a fairly specilised area, and a standard vet such as with the Blue Cross is unlikely to be able to help.


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## Demonique (May 5, 2007)

ian14 said:


> I would doubt it - reptile medicine is a fairly specilised area, and a standard vet such as with the Blue Cross is unlikely to be able to help.


I wasn't talking about vets that work specifically for the Blue Cross, I was talking about the Blue Cross referral service where they refer you to another vet and pay part of the cost of treating the animal.

Someone on another forum said that the Blue Cross won't pay part of the cost, but on the two occasions I used the Blue Cross mobile clinic they never said anything about not helping with the cost of treating reptiles.


The person who said this mentioned she worked in a veterinary clinic, it made me think she was telling lies in order to defend Bairbre O'Malley.

Bairbre O'Malley herself said that Blue Cross was only for cats and dogs, it made me think that it's Bairbre herself that chooses only to accept cats and dogs via the Blue Cross and not a policy of the Blue Cross.

Bairbre O'Malley is an experience reptile vet, I don't know if you ever watched Animal Hospital, but she was the vet that dealt with reptiles when they came into Harmsworth Hospital, she was the Irish vet with the headband.

I find it extremely irritating that she worked for the RSPCA yet refuses to treat reptiles via the Blue Cross, sounds like she only worked for the RSPCA for the paycheck and not because she cares for animals


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