Cat’s Misadventure Wins Him The Hambone Award For Most Bizarre Pet Insurance Claim [Video]

• Rafa, a Siberian cat mix, sneaked outside and ended up in a storm drain pipe and submerged in freezing cold water.
• A whole community’s efforts managed to free him from the drain pipe and rushed him to a vet for severe hypothermia.
• The public voted Rafa’s misadventure as the most peculiar pet insurance claim and gave him the Hambone Award. 

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What pet insurance claim could possibly win the Hambone Award?  For this year, it is plunging 45 feet into a drainpipe and being half-submerged in freezing water.

What started out as an adventure by Rafa, a Siberian cat mix, turned out to be a bad decision. 

He was just planning on a trek when he sneaked out of their door but he ended up in a drain pipe that was 45 feet deep. His body was already half in and half out of the freezing storm water inside the pipe.  What was even more dangerous was that there was an approaching storm and it would add more water to the pipe.

His mom and dad, Jose and Susan, already knew he was missing and went out looking for him but they could not find him.  Fortunately, the next day, her mom was able to hear his cries from the nearby storm drain.

It took a community to help save him from the sloping pipe: The fire department, neighbors, public utility staff and Roto-Rooter employees.  They all raced against time to get Rafa out before the storm arrived.

They cut down bushes, dug out the pipe and even had to cut it to get him out.  As soon as he was freed, his dad Jose brought him to the veterinarian to be treated for severe hypothermia and other complications.

Thanks to the community and the care he was given at the vet, he is now okay and able to win the Hambone Award from insurance provider Nationwide as the most peculiar pet insurance claim of the year based on the public’s votes.

He brought home a $1,000 gift card, a $1,000 donation to a pet charity of their choice and the ham-shaped Hambone Award trophy. 

While Rafa won the top award, 12 other nominees with claims ranging from a lodged wishbone and cracked teeth, among others, also got rewards.  And all of them have recovered from their misadventures in spite of serious injuries.

Source: Daily Paws