Many years ago, I met a mysterious Persian cat in the alley next to my apartment in Chicago. His background was a mystery, his age was a mystery, but it was no mystery that he was beautiful, sweet, and staying with me.
After 12 years, I lost him to a mysterious liver disease. The last couple of years were rough, and I was under a lot of stress worrying about him each time his quality of life dipped. Not only was I nervous for him, I was nervous for my bank account. When he finally did pass away, I had a strange sense of hope through my sadness. "How nice it would be," I thought, "to have a brand new, healthy kitten that I didn't have to worry about."
So I got that brand-new kitten. But oh, was I wrong about the rest. I had forgotten that a kitten's immune system wasn't fully developed yet. I forgot how they are so small, it would be easy to injure them just because you don't see them underfoot. I thought I was doing everything right and by the book, but for the first few weeks I had her, it seemed like something was always wrong. After I almost lost her to pneumonia at four months old, an experience that cost me $700, I started looking for pet health insurance for the first time.
I had no idea if I could afford it, but after a bit of comparison shopping I found the best pet insurance for my kitten. It doesn't take the mystery out of how healthy she may or may not be in the future, but it definitely removed the fear of not knowing if I could afford to treat the pets I love so much.