Stacye Buzzanca isn't surprised that her beloved cocker spaniel's name, Tucker, is considered one of the unluckiest when it comes to being an accident-prone canine.
The 13-year-old dog is admittedly rambunctious, she says. In fact, he recently had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. You know, the one in the knee that football players tear all the time.
"I am not sure how he hurt his leg," says Buzzanca, formerly of Chattanooga but now living in Houston, Texas. "I was on a conference call for work and I heard a thud. When he wouldn't come to me but just lay on the floor, I knew something was wrong. I took him to the vet immediately and two days later he had surgery."
The ACL surgery goes along with numerous muscle sprains Tucker has had in his life, the results "of the way he jumps around. He is the most active cocker spaniel I have ever had," Buzzanca says. "While he has had his share of trips to the vet, he is the only surviving member of his litter."
Top accident-prone pet names
Dogs 1. Stella 2. Tucker 3. Dakota 4. Emma 5. Jake 6. Cooper 7. Riley 8. Teddy 9. Winston 10. Gracie Cats 1. Maya 2. Tucker 3. Thomas 4. Rascal 5. Rosie 6. Tommy 7. Samantha 8. Tigger 9. Olive 10. Samson Source: Petplan pet insurance
Maya was the No. 1 accident-prone name for cats in a list compiled by Petplan pet insurance company.And easily breakable, apparently.
The name Tucker was No. 2 on a list put together by Petplan pet insurance company that ranked the Top 10 most accident-prone names for dogs and cats. For dogs, Stella was No. 1; for cats, it was Maya.
"Tucker is indeed a popular name, but it's also a name that we receive a lot of claims for," says Petplan co-founder and co-CEO Natasha Ashton. "There are other popular names, like Max, that didn't make any of the unlucky lists.
"There are definitely some pets that utilize their insurance policies more than others," Ashton says.
Compiling the list -- which they admit was done for fun -- through claims from pets covered by Petplan, they found that the most common problem was the animal eating something it shouldn't, she says. From there, other common ailments were torn toenails, broken toes, cuts and, yes, ACL tears.
Local veterinarian Marcia Toumayan, owner of the Cat Clinic of Chattanooga on Cherokee Boulevard, says it makes sense that cats with common names -- "most of those listed would fit in that category," she says -- will get into accidents more often. For felines, the most obvious risk factor is a cat that can get outdoors, Toumayan says.
"While I've had some cats incur unusual and sometimes fairly severe accidents while indoors, the risks posed by traffic, other animals (including other cats) and, even in some sad cases humans who are less than kind, make an outdoor lifestyle much riskier," she says.
Naturally, as any animal gets older, the risk of injury increases.
"Of course, any physical impairment that limits a cat's sensory faculties, such as deafness, or mobility, such as lameness, arthritis or old age, makes a safe indoor home even more important," Toumayan says. "As always, each cat is an individual, and any study that seeks to make a generalization about them is likely to be proved wrong -- by a cat."
Petplan also released lists of the cat names least likely to land on their feet -- keep any cat named Chloe out of high places -- and dogs who are "indiscriminate chow hounds" that eat anything and everything -- Oscar is a canine garbage disposal, apparently. But Tucker thinks with his stomach, too, ending up at No. 3 on the list.
Though Stephanie Blaine's dog, Snoopy, didn't make the Top 10 list for accident-prone dog names, it's a bit surprising he didn't make the chow hound list. After all, he does enjoy snacking on his own ... well, no nice way to say this ... his own poo.
Overall, Blaine says, the 1-year-old beagle's crazy behavior should be in a category all its own and it's probably just a matter of time before he hurts himself. Before she even got him, he'd been returned to an animal shelter twice by different owners -- all because of his behavior.
"He's a full-blooded beagle and the most hyperactive dog I have ever seen," says Blaine, of Ooltewah. "And though he hasn't really hurt himself yet, he's an accident waiting to happen."
But he's in obedience class, and the instructor says he is improving, she says.
"When you walk him on a leash, he goes the opposite way of you. It's like he's doing it just to cause trouble," Blaine says. "Sometimes it frustrates me so much and it makes me understand why the two families returned him to the shelter. But he's so cute. He's a handful, but I love him."
As for Tucker, while his age has slowed him down a bit, "he still acts like a puppy in a lot of ways," Buzzanca says. "He now has two sisters (cats) and he loves to chase them. He has no intention of harming them. If he gets close, he stops. He is just a playful, loving fellow."
Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.