Omg Desexing Is So Expensive!

[luvsdogs]

When I had April spayed in 1993 it was $200. That was in the days without pre-op blood test. In 2001 when Sooty was spayed I think it was still $200, maybe $240 & we decided against pre-op blood test. Both had a night in hospital. I was given a quote to have Tilba done in Jan. for $370 which includes pre-op test, pain relief b4 & after, a night in hospital & pain meds to take home.

They also have cat adoption there & you can adopt a cat for $140 which includes desexing, microchip, worming & heartworm test. To have my own cat done was $180. She was a foundling at 3 weeks old. I didn't know if I would keep her & they were too full to take her in. They didn't charge me for the few visits I had only meds needed until I decided to keep her. It would have been cheaper to surender her & adopt her back. But I didn't want to take the chance that someone else would take her. Especially after hand raising her.

[NoodleNut]

Hi

I had Noodle (Hungarian Puli) speyed yesterday (turns 6 months today) and was charged $140. She had already been microchipped by the breeder so that didn't need doing. The vet clinic/hospital also kept her over night at no charge as she was pretty upset about the stitches and they suggested she stay so they could keep an eye on her and they gave her some more analgesic. We picked her up this afternoon with a bottle of analgesic and only charge $36 so I think we did really well having read other people's posts.

The vet also have an after hours number that you can ring at any time. I have just rung to check on what I should expect regarding her urinating .. honestly not sure if she has gone to the toilet as she just sits on teh grass when I take her out. She seems much brighter in herself this evening and has eaten two small meals in the past 4.5 hours and drinking well. Nice to know there is an experienced person at the other end of the phone. I reckon this is a must when looking for a vet. To be honest I think their service is better than the local GP!

Mind you Noodle has an Elizabethan collar as she is not to be trusted with her stitches and I don't want to be back at the vets having her resown

The stitches come out in 12-14 days .. no appointment needed and no additional charge. Noodle weighed 8.5kg yesterday morning.

I feel so sorry for Noodle :rolleyes: .. pretty hard going to not be able to chew with that darn collar on .. our 6 year old was sittin gon the kitchen floor tonight holding a chew so Noodle was able to chew it as she can't hold on with her front paws like she normally does becasue of the collar.

[centitout]

Sadly, our vet has a monopoly,

We had the cat desexed a number of years ago for $130, she was a kitten at the time. Can't remember what the dog cost us but not an exorbitant amount prior to the competition leaving town.

Recent desex of 10 kg bitch, plus stripping of one mammary and removal of a lypoma, $807, not very happy at all.

Regards,

hi bob-was it a removal of a mammary tumour ? if so,some of them can be extremely hard to remove and time consuming if they have invaded down into the tissues,i have done the anaesthetic on several and nearly all have had complicated removals-hence the price. still $800 seems a little excessive-my vet would probably be around the $500-600 mark.

[JENCOL]

For those who are on a Health Care card or low income etc you can apply for assisstance to get your pet desexed here: http://www.ndn.org.au/

A hugely worth while organisation!

[Dane Chick]

On the flip side feel real sorry for anyone getting a 2year old Dane bitch spayed :rolleyes:

4yo dane bitch (Summer) cost me around the $250 mark. But my vet me. I think I paid for his house :cool:

SIL had her X breed everything desexed and aborted a couple of days ago. $200.

Dog only weighs 7.5kg.

[viddee]

I'd be happy to spend a lot of money if I knew I could trust the vet.

Our friend had her GSD bitch desexed by a vet who is reputed to be a lot cheaper than the standard, he was $150 or something.

She got an internal infection after the procedure, and a different, younger, more careful vet pulled out and had to clean her intestines and organs for a further $5000.

And it wasn't the only time it's happened with that particular vet either - he has a v.bad rep with the dog club.

Otherwise, I'm not sure about other states, but in the ACT you have to acquire a permit to keep a dog sexually entire, and this is $300 - so either way it'll cost money.

[Miss B]

Our clinic is at the more expensive end of the scale, but having said that - for what you get for your money it is well worth it. Given that you only have to desex your pet once in their life, the cost is really not that big of a deal. When checking out the prices at different clinics you really have to ask what is included. Do they do a pre-operative health check? What type of anaesthetics do they use? Do they include pain relief injections and/or take-home pain relief? Will a vet nurse be monitoring the patient during and after the procedure? Is a recheck appointment included in the cost?

As for shopping around and going to the cheapest place - not something I would ever do. Chances are they are cutting corners somewhere and I have heard some real horror stories.

[tramissa]

I'm not sure how much my vet would charge, but I think he's in the $200 - $300 range. Either way, there is no way I would be getting my dogs done by anyone else up here. I trust my vet completely and you can't put money on that peace of mind.

[Malamum]

I think when we got Indy done is was approx $200 -$300. Don't really remember as it was so long ago now.

It is expensive but they are having surgery so as long as they come out the other end ok then I'm happy. With this in mind I wouldn't be comfortable with shopping around, I'd rather just go to the practice that we always go to as we know and trust them.

[EISHUND]

Took rover to the vet to get desexed, 20kilo 6 month old labrador. $298 for desexing!

Is this the same everywhere!?

I just, wow, I had no idea it was so expensive!

I can't believe some of the prices quoted in here :D

My vet charges for DOGS:

$150 females (up to 30kg) + $20 for pain relief

$118 males (up to 30kg)

[duckle]

Hi there,

It's my first post, so here goes.

I've had a read through this whole thread, and all I can say is I agree with those saying "you get what you pay for". People need to be aware of exactly what is included in the price they are quoted. It's been said before, but you must also consider things like which anaesthetic is used, which induction agent, the monitoring equipment used if any at all, even how qualified the nurse is (some "nurses" working at vets are not qualified at all) pain relief (which in my opinion is NOT optional - if you had an operation would you expect pain relief??), which type of suture is used, is the suture dissolvable, how the instruments are sterilised and are they used for more than one patient. Even the general facilities of the hospital need to be considered. Have you ever been invited to view the facilities of your chosen vet hospital. Next time ask to see where the paitents are kept, where the surgery takes place, where they recover etc. You may be shocked at the general facilities and level of cleanliness of some hospitals. If your vet is reluctant to show you the facilites, you must ask yourself why.

Staff at Vet Hospitals cannot work for nothing. Clients are demanding more and more from their vets, and in order to deliver the high standard of care I'm sure you all would want for your pets, vets need to be able to charge for it.

[Kirty]

Hi there,

It's my first post, so here goes.

I've had a read through this whole thread, and all I can say is I agree with those saying "you get what you pay for". People need to be aware of exactly what is included in the price they are quoted. It's been said before, but you must also consider things like which anaesthetic is used, which induction agent, the monitoring equipment used if any at all, even how qualified the nurse is (some "nurses" working at vets are not qualified at all) pain relief (which in my opinion is NOT optional - if you had an operation would you expect pain relief??), which type of suture is used, is the suture dissolvable, how the instruments are sterilised and are they used for more than one patient. Even the general facilities of the hospital need to be considered. Have you ever been invited to view the facilities of your chosen vet hospital. Next time ask to see where the paitents are kept, where the surgery takes place, where they recover etc. You may be shocked at the general facilities and level of cleanliness of some hospitals. If your vet is reluctant to show you the facilites, you must ask yourself why.

Staff at Vet Hospitals cannot work for nothing. Clients are demanding more and more from their vets, and in order to deliver the high standard of care I'm sure you all would want for your pets, vets need to be able to charge for it.

This is not necessarily true. The vet who does my cats is one of the cheapest around (if not THE cheapest). She is also located in an expensive area. However, she genuinely cares about animal welfare so she keeps her prices as low as possible to make it more affordable for everyone. She also runs the Cat Protection Society and is probably the most experienced and compassionate cats vets around.

[duckle]

Hi there,

It's my first post, so here goes.

I've had a read through this whole thread, and all I can say is I agree with those saying "you get what you pay for". People need to be aware of exactly what is included in the price they are quoted. It's been said before, but you must also consider things like which anaesthetic is used, which induction agent, the monitoring equipment used if any at all, even how qualified the nurse is (some "nurses" working at vets are not qualified at all) pain relief (which in my opinion is NOT optional - if you had an operation would you expect pain relief??), which type of suture is used, is the suture dissolvable, how the instruments are sterilised and are they used for more than one patient. Even the general facilities of the hospital need to be considered. Have you ever been invited to view the facilities of your chosen vet hospital. Next time ask to see where the paitents are kept, where the surgery takes place, where they recover etc. You may be shocked at the general facilities and level of cleanliness of some hospitals. If your vet is reluctant to show you the facilites, you must ask yourself why.

Staff at Vet Hospitals cannot work for nothing. Clients are demanding more and more from their vets, and in order to deliver the high standard of care I'm sure you all would want for your pets, vets need to be able to charge for it.

This is not necessarily true. The vet who does my cats is one of the cheapest around (if not THE cheapest). She is also located in an expensive area. However, she genuinely cares about animal welfare so she keeps her prices as low as possible to make it more affordable for everyone. She also runs the Cat Protection Society and is probably the most experienced and compassionate cats vets around.

It's good to hear that your Vet is reasonably priced and you are happy with her, and I agree it's not necessarily true in some cases, but in the wider veterinary community, it is the case that you get what you pay for. Although I don't think being located in an expensive area had anything to do with it.

[Kirty]

Of course it does - expensive area means higher rent for her. And I just think its not always true. There are lots of vets around my area who charge a fortune but I have not been happy with a single one of them.

[duckle]

True, I hadn't thought of the rent factor!

[Nekhbet]

Do many people realise that most vet clinics subsidise the cost of desexing animals out of their own pocket to encourage clients to do it? That a female spay, being an abdominal surgery, at rates of $150 and such is rediculously cheap? If you had to have a normal abdominal surgery on your animal expect it to be 2-4 times the price for the same thing if not heinously more for a large dog.

I'm sick of people questioning our pricing at the clinic and scoffing at how expensive things are - hey if speying a dog was so easy why would a surgeon need to go to uni for 5 years to know how to do it? You're paying for a surgeon, for the use of the clinic, the time of the other staff required, the medications, the equiptment, disposables etc. We charge between $209-$244 for juveniles.

If you want an older dog speyed its $440-$550. Bloods, surgical fluids, full hospitalisation etc are a non negotiable so its an incentive to do it earlier.

[indigirl]

The going rate from the vet who desexes my rescues is $105 for a male dog regardless of age/size as long as it in umcomplicated. Females are $150 assuming they arent in season etc. Seems this is a pretty good price and its less than the rspca vet charges!

[duckle]

Here here! Couldn't agree with you more Nekhbet. I'm more than sick of constantly explaining why everything costs so much.

We run a well equipped HOSPITAL, with highly trained staff - thats why it costs so much!!!

[Bjelkier]

I found that I only had to pay 130 for my Lab boy who weighed about 24 kilo at the time, I was just happy they did a good job, price really dosn't bother me.

[EVERYLABDESERVESAKID]

A couple of years ago, I paid $180 to have my little scruffy male desexed, two retained baby teeth out and two front dew claws off. I got sticker shock when I went to pay the bill, because it was so cheap.