Gretel, my 3 year old Great Dane, got very sick this year. What started with a Rochy Mountain Spotted Fever infection turned into an immune-mediated encephalitis. She had been an extremely healthy dog up to last February, and has had a lot of medications, testing (blood work, MRI, spinal tap) to figure out what has been causing her symptoms, ranging from blindness and fever to mental dullness and not being able to walk. I would not have been able to a lot of the very expensive diagnostics and now treatments had I not had Gretel insured when she was a puppy. She's big, so medications cost more. Anesthesia (for the MRI) costs thousands. Hospitalization and a visit with a Board-certified neurologist is all very expensive. Without insurance, my husband and I would have had to make the final decision pet owners never want to make. WITH insurance coverage, we are now seeing big improvements and Gretel is almost back up on her feet independently!