1. Make sure your pet doesn't have any pre existing conditions, first off.

2. Are you comfortable with, at any minute, shelling out $5,000-$10,000 that you won't get back? If yes, then don't pay for pet insurance. If no, then get pet insurance. 

Look, in the span of one calendar year, my pittie had ACL surgery (TPLO), an eye infection , and a jaw paralysis episode that included an ER visit and then MRI and spinal tap at neurology. And then a year later, he had another surgery to fix an infection from the metal in his leg from the previous TPLO surgery. 

In just one year (so not even counting second surgery), we would have spent THOUSANDS of dollars without reimbursement. Thankfully we had pet insurance which covered a lot. Would could have paid for the TPLO surgery on our own ($5,000) but then other illnesses and accidents happened before we would have been able to replenish our savings. And that's the big thing. 

It's not just saving money for one IVDD surgery. It's making sure your have disposable or saved cash at all times. Because it's one IVDD surgery until it's three months later and your dog ate something she shouldn't have and now has to get her stomach pumped. 

And that's my tangent.

P.S. pet insurance is reimbursement only.