I almost bought insurance with my previous dog when she was young (I think it was VPI, too) but opted not too. Funny thing was, I'd first learned of if when she was already in the hospital having surgery for swallowing a needle! I figured that was my $$$ payout for this dog, so chances of it happening again were slim. She really didn't cost me much (except preventative care) until she was diagnosed with Lymphoma when she was MUCH older, so I'd made the right choice.

When we adopted a new young puppy from the shelter, we thought about insurance again but opted against it. So far, it's paid off... It was really strange to go from basically weekly vet visits with the old dog to once a year visits with the puppy! I started to miss all the people at the vet! Honestly, our two dogs don't even have a vet yet here in OR. They are happy, healthy dogs. Ahhh, youth! Insurance would have been a serious waste of money for us.