At first glance this seems like a good idea: you create a safety net for your pet and get to keep all the money if you never need to tap into the fund.

However, there are several problems with this plan:

Not helpful for young pets

What happens if your 6 month old puppy swallows a rubber ball and needs emergency surgery to have it removed? Say you have been putting aside $30 per month for pet care, but your vet tells you that the surgery will cost you $1400. What do you do now? A savings account balance of $180 is not much help for puppies or kittens that need serious medical treatment.

Vet bills have been getting really expensive

Using a savings account instead of pet insurance may have made sense 15 years ago when vet care was more basic. Today, however, veterinarians can provide treatments that were previously unheard of: diagnostic tests, cancer treatment, surgical procedures and other advanced treatments.

This type of care can get very expensive and easily run into the thousands of dollars. Even if you have been putting money aside for years, it is unlikely that you will have enough saved to pay for advanced procedures.

Procrastination

And even if you could afford to put aside enough money each month to cover the latest vet treatments, many people simply lack the discipline to actually open an account and make a monthly deposit. Perhaps you are an exception, but the majority of people just won't get around to this task.

Use both

The smartest plan may be to set aside money each month for the basics (annual checkups, pet meds, etc.) and purchase a high-deductible pet insurance policy for protection against unexpected, expensive occurances.