"Their general consensus is that you are better off putting aside a little bit each month and then you'll have the money to pay for routine care and whatever illnesses/surgeries/etc. come along. You'll also be earning a tiny bit of interest on the money. And whatever you end up not spending you'll be able to keep.

For example, if premiums are $42 a month, you'd have more than $4,500 saved by now, minus whatever you took from the account to pay for routine care."

Say it's my first year of having health insurance for my dog, and I've paid 2 months of premiums and my dog needs major surgery. If I were just putting money away, no way would I have saved enough money to cover it. I understand their logic, but I don't think those people have pets.

I have insurance through the AKC PetHealthcare plan (and they do cover cats...and your dog does not need to be a registered purebred). My plan covers wellness (spay/neuter, flea/tick , vaccines and heartguard). Might I never get my money back? Sure...but every time I have an emergency I don't have to make the financial aspect be the primary decision factor for treatment. And yes, I've had to use it within 3 months on each of my dogs. My first Borzoi had cancer, I didn't have insurance and I swore I'd never go without.