"Ariel" is a lucky cat.
The now 2-year-old housecat tried to make a break for the yard from a garage in August 2012 -- though in the process, she was caught by the door and squished, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
She survived after some intensive veterinary care to fix her "perforated" liver, the newspaper reported -- and now, thanks to the pet insurance claim that covered her medical bills, she's in the running for holder of "Most Unusual Pet Insurance Claim."
Ariel's injury might win the hospital that treated her a $10,000 Veterinary Pet Insurance-funded award through the Veterinary Care Foundation to treat pets whose owners could otherwise not afford treatment.
The Carters, Ariel's family. say that they purchased pet insurance after a harrowing -- and ultimately sorrowful -- experience with their dog, Tucker, who died afer $10,000 in medical bills after eating a possibly poisoned rat, the newspaper reported.
Their insurance was bought from Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. of Brea, the newspaper reported, and the company says 11 pets from the nearly 80,000 claims filed a month are picked for the oddest and most out-there claims.
