Bobtail Medi-Care is a Dog Accident Benefit Program open to all Bobtail Dry Dog Food customers. 

If you register as a Bobtail Medi-Care member, you can qualify to benefit from our dog Accident Benefit Program. You will be protected against those unexpected veterinary expenses when your dog is accidentally injured.

We provide you with this benefit at no cost to you, but you will only receive this benefit if you remain an active Bobtail Medi-Care member as explained in these FAQ’s. It’s important to note that this is not an insurance policy where you are the policyholder.

You qualify as an active Bobtail Medi-Care member by activating your membership on the Bobtail website, purchasing Bobtail Dry Dog Food and uploading your proof of purchase monthly.

It’s all about knowing that if you are an active Bobtail Medi-Care member and your strong dog is injured in an accident, you can relax knowing that Bobtail Medi-Care will ease the financial burden of these stressful occurrences.

Bobtail Medi-Care is NOT a dog medical aid insurance policy. It is a benefit for accidental injuries only.

How is an ‘accident’ defined in the benefit program? 

Bobtail Medi-Care offers a benefit for accidental injuries sustained by domestic dogs.

An accidental injury is caused by an unforeseen and unintended event that results in physical harm to your dog. Below is a list of typical accidental injuries sustained by dogs.

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Burns or electrocutions
• Accidental poisoning
• The actions of another animal (e.g. dog fights)
• Surgical or endoscopic removal of foreign object
• Snake bites
• Allergic reactions to insect bites (except tick & fleas)
• Fractures (broken bones)
• Traumatic ligament or tendon injuries
• Lacerations, abrasions or wounds

Only domestic dogs can benefit under our program, as long as:

• You are registered as a Bobtail Medi-Care member.
• Your dog/s are registered on your Bobtail Medi-Care app profile
• Your dog/s is at least eight weeks old at your benefit start date.
• You own the dog and you are responsible for their day-to-day wellbeing.
• Your dog resides at your physical address that is captured on your app profile
• Your dog is not used for laboratory testing or experimentation.
• Your dog is not used for any of the following:
  • Dog racing, as a police or guard dog, search & rescue dog, customs dog or quarantine dog.
  • Laboratory testing or experimentation.
  • Commercial breeding.

This benefit is only for accidental injuries. Bobtail Medi-Care does not cover the following:

• Treatment of illnesses such as diabetes and cancer.
• Routine care such as dentals and vaccinations.
• Ambulance fees and any other transport fees.
• Treatment of any pregnancy and related conditions.
• Voluntary euthanasia, burial or cremation.

It’s completely FREE to the dog owner as a reward for your monthly purchase of Bobtail.

Should your dog hurt themselves in an accident (as defined in the Bobtail Medi-Care Rules), Bobtail Medi-Care will reimburse a portion of your veterinary bill, after deducting an amount of R500 from the claim amount, up to the respective limits as explained below.

You can then rather focus your full attention on getting your strong dogs back to their playful best

To become a new Bobtail Medi-Care member all you need to do is visit bobtail.co.za/medi-care on your PC or Mobile Phone and follow the instructions below to join.

1. Register your details on our website or on the app.
2. Confirm your account via the confirmation email that will be sent to you.
3. Register your dog’s details*.
4. If you have more than one dog that eats Bobtail, then you must register each dog to enjoy the benefit for each dog.

It’s that easy 😊

You qualify for the Bobtail Medi-Care benefit by keeping your membership active by purchasing our Bobtail Dry Dog foods and uploading your proof of your purchase on a monthly basis.

1. Upload your monthly Bobtail Dry Dog Food purchases and include the relevant proof of purchase (refer to the proof of purchase section for more details )

1. After the initial 30 day waiting period when registering new dogs, your dogs will  receive the benefit under our Bobtail Medi-Care Program, provided you continue to purchase Bobtail Dry Dog Food  and upload your purchases every month (even if you don’t buy every month, you still need to upload your previous proof of purchase as explained under the ‘Additional Food Purchase Questions’ section )

We reward the owners of our strong dogs with financial peace of mind.

Active Bobtail Medi-Care members can submit a claim for their Vet bill and Bobtail Medi-Care will reimburse a portion of, or all of, the final vet bill ( dependent on the amount of the vet invoice in relation to the R5000.00 per claim limit).

You will be able to submit a claim in order to receive a reimbursement of your veterinary expenses incurred for the treatment of accidental injuries for any or all of the registered dogs in your household. There is an annual limit of R10 000 (incl. VAT) per benefit year* from which an amount of R500** will be deducted every time you claim.

There is also a maximum amount per claim of R5000 (incl VAT).

*Benefit year: Your benefit year is the 12-month period starting on the 1st of the month following the month in which you registered as a Bobtail Medi-Care member, and any subsequent 12-month period while you remain a Bobtail Medi-Care member. Your benefit year is used to determine when your annual limit of R10 000 (incl. VAT) expires and starts again.

**The R500 deductible: You are responsible for a R500 claim deductible on every claim. This means that R500 will be deducted from every approved claim amount that will be paid out to you.

Yes there is an initial 31 day waiting period for every new dog that has been added. 

Your dog’s benefit will only be active once this waiting period has been completed.

All we require from you is a valid proof of purchase to be uploaded during the course of every month in order for your dog/s to receive the benefit for the next month.

You need to upload a proof of purchase each month  in order for your household of registered dogs to continue receiving the benefit.

For example:

• Upload the Bobtail dog food proof of purchase each month to continue the benefit for your dog/s.

It’s super simple!

Unfortunately, if your membership profile status is in red at the time of the accident, then your dog will not receive the benefit for any dog accident-related claims through Bobtail Medi-Care.

This is a system requirement that is used to verify your purchase. It is an important part of the process and should you make a claim, your proof of purchase and purchase history will be checked to determine the claim validity.

You must check that the picture of your till slip is clear and legible. The picture must be of suitable quality so that the following information is clearly visible:

• Date of purchase
  • Description indicating Bobtail and the bag size / variant purchased
• The name of the retailer from which the dog food was purchased.

If your proof of purchase is not legible, it will not be acceptable to maintain your membership of the program and your claim might be affected if you cannot provide clear proof of purchase.

Ideally your till receipt is first prize. If you are unable to upload a till slip, please tick the applicable area (“I DO NOT HAVE TILL SLIP”) during upload to advise us that your proof of purchase is one of the following alternatives:

• an image of the bag including the manufacturing date or best before date showing, with credit card/bank snippet attached.

PLEASE NOTE: In the event of a claim, failure to do so may result in your claim being rejected.

If you are uncertain if you have uploaded an acceptable proof of purchase, you can contact us at support@bobtail.co.za 

• You need to upload a proof of purchase every month in order to receive the benefit for the following month. You can do so at any time during the month.
• Failing to do so will result in no benefit being available to you as a member.

• We realise that this is a normal dog ownership practice and we have catered for this by allowing you to upload the same receipt as proof of purchase if you enter a new month and still don’t need to buy food during that month.
• You are only permitted to use the same proof of purchase for a max of 2 x months in a row
• Failure to get the required approval may result in your claim being rejected.
• The responsibility is on the dog owner to manage their food purchases and proof of purchase uploads effectively.

You only need to load up one purchase to be covered for the next month. If you buy another bag close to the end of that same month that you wish to use for uploading in the new month, then please drop us an email at support@bobtail.co.za so we can assist you with this.

We believe that our food is so good and contains all the nutrition that your dog needs that no additional food supplementation is required. However, we are aware that feeding your dog additional ‘human food’ happens from time to time. We would love it if you would just tick this option upon registration and we will make note of this on your user profile for our records.

Click on the Claim button on the Bobtail app and follow the instructions.

1. A detailed invoice from your vet
2. Proof of payment that was made to the vet i.e. credit card slip, EFT confirmation etc.
3. Claims must be submitted and received within 60 (sixty)  days of the veterinary treatment

The vet’s only involvement is to:

• Give you an invoice.
• Give you a proof of payment.

Both of these documents need to be submitted with your claim form. 

Please note that you must settle the full Vet invoice directly with your Vet and if you have a valid claim, Bobtail Medi-Care will reimburse you the applicable portion directly. Bobtail Medi-Care will never make payment directly to a vet.

Please visit bobtail.co.za/medi-care for more information about Bobtail Medi-Care or drop us a line at support@bobtail.co.za