I bought pet insurance. I should tell you an exciting story of adventure and death-defying acts that border on the impossible, but that's not my way, I like to give it straight and stick to the facts.

Alpha, our 8-year-old German Shepherd, instantly started acting funny one evening. Stumbling around barely standing, white marshmallow foam coming out of his mouth. No reason we can tell why, so we rush him to the emergency vet.

They diagnosed him with bloat. His stomach is twisted and he will not make it if we don't do surgery. The outcome of surgery is good, but it has risks and a chance he does not survive. The surgery cost we need to approve before they do it: a whopping $8,809.94!

Now, I love my dog, he is my buddy and goes a lot of places with me. He's part of our family, one of the members who always wants to hang out with me. But like most people, my last name is not Bezos. I have 2 kids in college and as a responsible adult (most of the time), I have to weigh the odds of financial decisions. Almost $9k is a lot of money.

But I didn't hesitate to approve surgery because I have pet insurance on Alpha. I knew they would cover 90% of the surgery cost. Peace of mind is powerful and allowed me to act quickly to prevent damage.

Alpha did great in the surgery and has recovered nicely, they even tacked his stomach to prevent it from happening again. He is sitting with me as I write this, lazily chewing on his bone. If you don't have pet insurance, call your insurance agent today. Any questions for me, write me anytime.