<prompt> Human: I just adopted a 5.5 year old shelter cat. She has all her immunizations and shots and her bill of health is all clean, but I definitely want to be able to take care of any health issues she may have in the future. My mom never took our pets to the vet when I was growing up because of money worries, and I dont want to be like that. Is pet insurance a bad idea? Is it a better idea to throw the 30mo or whatever into a savings account for kitty in case something happens?  <response>: If you know you would be tempted to spend more than you can easily afford on diagnosis and treatment, then pet insurance is a good idea. If you think you would be OK putting the cat down if diagnosistreatment costs were over your affordable limit, then its not a good idea. This is such a basic difference in personality and approach to pet ownership that theres no real answer except to know yourself. 