Pet policy: Health insurance for furry friends growing in popularity.

Byline: Stephanie Earls

Jan. 8--Eloise Palmisano and her husband returned to Wilton from vacation last summer to find their 7-year-old dachshund, Skip, was partially paralyzed, dragging his hind legs limply behind him. The diagnosis wasn't good: A herniated disc in Skip's back had swelled and was pressing against his spinal cord. Without $5,000 emergency surgery, they were told, Skip would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. "Our son and daughter were going to camp the next day and my son said to my husband, 'Dad, I don't have to go to camp this year; use the money to save my dog,' said Palmisano. "My husband and I looked at each other and said, 'We have to save this dog.' " So for Skip, they skipped mortgage payments for two months, nearly losing their home, saving up enough to pay the vet bill. Skip emerged from the ordeal on all fours, after a week of hospitalization and months of hydrotherapy. Eloise Palmisano came through with a new sense of clarity, that "we could never be in that situation again." Palmisano immediately purchased pet insurance on both of her family's dogs, becoming one of a small but growing number of pet-owning …