Rossie and the Pussycats

First example: Duncan
I just signed Duncan up for it last year. It costs me about $200 a year to cover him ($200 deduc/90% repay) and he needs it. 

My little Dunky Monkey apparently has bad mouth chemistry. He's had 10 teeth taken out and one that just fell out at the doctor. $975. That same year, he did something expensively stupid: pinched a nerve in his hip late on a Saturday night, which looked EXACTLY like the time my mom's cat had a blood clot in his hip that meant we had to put him to sleep. YIKES. Emergency visit and another $500. 

The year before, Mr D had cost me $600 on other silly but expensive things. Considering I spend anywhere from $500-$1000 to care for him a year, spending $400 to get 90% of that back is good money.

Sadder example: Lily
I also just spent $1500 in a blink of an eye on Lily, aka my “totally healthy” cat, to find out that her body was shutting down, turns out from cancer. If I’d had insurance, that experience would have only cost me about $400. 

Insurance couldn't have fixed Lily or reduce the pain of losing her, but it would have made it less financially painful.

My result?
Never thought I’d be an insurance promoter. But what I’ve learned is that it’s not the expensive life-extending stuff that gets you. Most of us have a threshold where our wallet says, "um, is this really worth it?" 

It’s the unexpected teeth removal. Or the pinched nerve. Or the conk on the head that knocks the little guy unconscious. This stuff isn’t cheap. And I’d rather not put a healthy animal to sleep just because I think it’s too expensive to care for his (sorry Duncan but you're the one who earns this qualifier) stupid but pretty minor accidents. 

I have insurance on me. And my car. And my home. I always thought that was silly too. Til I needed it. After the last couple of years, I feel the same way with pet insurance.