The Reality Check
78%
of newlyweds underestimate their pet's first-year vet costs
Source: American Pet Products Association, 2025 Newlywed Pet Spending Survey (n=4,812 couples married within 24 months)
$1,400
Avg. first-year vet spend
63%
Have no pet emergency fund
The Gap That Costs Everything
$0
ACL surgery, average cost
vs.
$0
Avg. savings, couples married under 12 months
The $400 shortfall
One surgery. One diagnosis. One emergency — and your first year together is spent paying it off instead of living it.
Real costs, real emergencies
What your vet will never prepare you for
Intestinal blockage surgery
Swallowed a sock. Yes, really. · Labrador Retrievers
$6,800
Vow covered
TPLO knee surgery
Jumped off the couch wrong. · Golden Retrievers
$3,200
Vow covered
Feline urinary obstruction
11pm on a Saturday. · Male domestic cats
$5,100
Vow covered
Gastric dilatation-volvulus
The one that cannot wait. · Deep-chested breeds
$9,400
Vow covered
All figures represent actual Vow claims paid in 2024–2025. Individual reimbursements vary by plan and deductible.
From the registry
Couples who didn't
have to choose.
These aren't testimonials about feeling good about insurance. They're testimonials about not being financially derailed in the first year of a marriage.
$7,200 claimed
“Mango needed emergency spinal surgery eight months after our wedding. Vow covered $7,200 of the $8,000 bill within 11 days. We didn't have to touch our house down payment.”
Dominique & Rafael Herrera
Mango, 3yr French Bulldog · Austin, TX
$3,400 claimed
“We merged households — two cats, one apartment, and zero idea what vet costs looked like. Vow let us cover both cats on one policy. When Udon got a urinary blockage at 2am, we weren't doing math in the waiting room.”

Yuki & James Thornton
Soba & Udon, 2yr cats · Portland, OR
$5,800 claimed
“Our financial advisor told us to insure the dog before we insured anything else in the new house. We laughed. Three months later, Pepper ate half a sock and needed surgery. Our advisor was right.”
Amara & Kweku Mensah
Pepper, 1yr Labrador · Atlanta, GA
$28.4M
Paid in claims, 2024
97.2%
Claims approved
14 days
Avg. reimbursement


