Your concerns were exactly why I signed up. What I found is that my policy didn't really help with illness, because each vet visit was treated as a separate incident. Poodles are a bit more prone to autoimmune disorders than some breeds: stuff like sebaceous adenitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and so forth. Pogo's worst diarrhea flare up cost me close to $1000. None of it was covered under my policy, because he got treated over a series of three visits. None of the individual visits met the deductible.
Cancer or major surgery are, of course, a different kettle of fish. I thought about how I might handle some of these more expensive scenarios. Cortisone and metronidazole are pretty cheap compared to chemo drugs. However, I'm not sure I would put a dog through chemo out of concern for quality of life iissues. Hip and knee surgery are pretty common in many breeds. However, a well bred dog shouldn't need hip or patella surgery. I will take that chance. Blowing out a ligament playing fetch does happen. Repairing a torn ligament costs about what I sank into policy payments. Again, I will take that chance. Getting hit by a car, stomped by a horse, or torn up badly in a dog fight - these would result in a cost large enough to justify the policy. I'm going to gamble that I can keep Galen safe from these threats.
