I'm assuming you mean a spay, not a neuter.

For kicks and giggles, if any woman has had a radical hysterectomy, please tell the group how much that cost. Same surgery, ya know. I'd like to know how much I'll be discounting my services compared to a human doctor, since we have the same medical training. Oh no, wait, I can also spay a lizard, turtle, rabbit, and rodent. How many species did the human doctor learn again?

No, a neuter. For a 45lb male.

Sylvia, to answer your microchip question, the reason I wanted to get an Avid chip was because that is what they put in at the shelter and so #1, I want to use what is the most compatible with the shelter. #2 my adopted dog has an avid and if I ever move and have to change information, it's easier to only have to do that from one company. But the ultimate deal breaker for the home again which is what most vets put in around here is that they charge an annual fee to stay in their database. Avid charges to register the chip in your name (optional but recommended) and a nominal fee for changing information if you move but no annual fee.
The annual fee alone wouldn't stop me but since it is not the chip the county uses, I don't see the benefit.

Meghane, I'm not saying vets should not get paid what their services are worth, just that one might assume that because of it's co-branded big box locations that it would be somewhat discounted prices. The one here was not even open on Monday or Sunday.

I'm starting to think that vets are finally charging closer to a fair price for spays and neuters, not a high price to discourage people from spaying and neutering their animals. I personally take offense to that statement. People who cannot afford basic health care for their pets should not get them in the first place.

It's about time that people realize that spaying and neutering animals is MAJOR SURGERY and begin treating it as such. I'm glad Banfield is charging a fair price for their spay/neuter. Since the cost of anesthesia, pain meds, suture material, monitoring equipment, drapes, gowns, gloves, surgical tables and instruments is the same for everyone, the only way to offer discounted services is to cut the money going to the veterinarian and technicians or skimp on equipment. Banfield pays a reasonable salary to their vets and staff and they have well-equipped surgical suites, so it's no wonder that the cost is comparable to other clinics. Banfield is after all a for-profit business. If their practices resulted in a high number of pet fatalities or other problems either through poorly trained vets and staff or through lack of equipment, then people wouldn't take their pets there and they would lose money. I don't know how they would be able to charge less and still be profitable.

The only reasons spay/neuter clinics can charge a lower price are 1) they didn't pay for monitoring equipment (most shelters don't have pulseOx, ECG, blood pressure monitors) 2) someone took a pay cut (many shelters don't have techs to watch the animals during or after surgery, or use free labor from the local vet school) or 3) they are supported through your tax dollars.

Obviously you are free to choose whether or not to get your pet's major surgery performed at a place where they use the highest standards, or not. But in general you get what you pay for. Sure, most animals do just fine and don't need monitoring equipment or personel or pre-anesthetic bloodwork, but some are NOT fine with that. It's your pet and your choice to take the risks. Just be aware that there ARE risks, and if something were to go wrong, low cost clinics in general are ill-equipped to handle it.

Don't take offense. It was a joke.

Nobody on this forum can take a joke. You people have zero sense of humor.

"It's about time that people realize that spaying and neutering animals is MAJOR SURGERY and begin treating it as such. I'm glad Banfield is charging a fair price for their spay/neuter."

Hmmm, that's weird, just last week you posted this... * Posted by meghane (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 11, 07 at 17:34

I would find out EXACTLY what is included in the price of the neuter. $180 sounds like there may be pre-anesthetic bloodwork included. $550 sounds like there is a LOT of stuff included besides just a routine non-cryptorchid cat neuter. The surgery itself takes a grand total of 15 minutes from knock down to full recovery, even when I (a 4th year vet student) do it- it's literally a snip-snip, tie-tie, and done.

If the cat is cryptorchid (non-descended testicles) or is also getting an annual PE (which may be required if the vet hasn't seen your cat in over a year), vaccines, heartworm prevention, flea control, and pre-anesthetic bloodwork, pain control, all those things add to the base price. I personally think that $100 is a high-end price for the surgery, no matter where you live.

It is imperative to compare apples to apples when checking prices.

I'm confused.

Look, I'm an advocate for spaying and neutering but it's hard to blame so many people for not doing it when it costs as much as it does and so many clinics require boarding, bring your pet in very very early in the morning and a number of other hassles.

To me as a pet owner, it's worth it to pay the going market rate (be it in the $200-300 range, which largely depends on where you live) in order to ensure that it's done with care at a qualified facility. I am somewhat unconventional in how I care for my pets since I feed a raw diet and pass on most of the "booster" vaccines. However for major surgery, I think in many cases you get what you pay for.

It is after all a one-time expense, and I feel it's worth it to have a healthy pet afterwards. If I chose a clinic to cut costs and it resulted in complications or worse, I would never forgive myself. The way I look at it, I spend a fair amount of money on my mortgage and car, or even things like renovating our kitchen - my pets are worth it too.

BTW, I've heard negative things about Banfield, so personally I'd avoid it.

Neutering a cat is TOTALLY different than neutering a dog- 8-10 minutes for the cat vs 15+ for the dog, surgical time only.

I was saying $100 for ONLY the cat neuter is high-end reasonable. That does not include the PE, pre-anesthetic bloodwork, pain meds, etc. I was trying to make sure that people were comparing apples to apples in the other thread- saying a surgery costs $550 when it includes things that the $100 does not include isn't a sensible comparison. Once you add in the costs of pre-anesthetic bloodwork, a physical exam, and pain meds for example, the TOTAL price for a cat neuter would obviously be higher. I am sorry for not being clear in my other post.

I find it hard to joke about things like that, especially after yet another day of being told that the vet I work with and I are such a horrible people who hate animals because we had the nerve to charge a reasonable price for our services. Sorry, but after a day like that, I am not in a joking mood. My apologies for not recognizing the joke.

Apologies accepted.

Once again, my point was that one would expect that type of clinic in a busy retail setting would aim to promote having lower prices similar to those little (human) clinics that are popping up supermarkets. I'm only posting this because it came up in that other thread that talked about banfield's prices. I'm not trying to argue that the prices are reasonable or not reasonable, just that they are higher than other practices that I consider to have higher prices on account of more staff, newer technology, big clinic and a lot of clients.

In a suburb of Kansas City, I found spaying and neutering costs are based on the size of the dog. We have brother and sister, both over 100 lbs at 11 months when they were neutered.

Male was $145 and female was $245. This was day surgery, they went home that afternoon. Did not include "extra" blood work of any type, and no pain medications. (vet said the bigger the dog, the less they would need them ... and he was right!)

Frontline 3 pack at my vet is just under $40. I had to go in the opposite direction last weekend so ended up at Banfield for the Frontline. It was $55.

Charlie's (55 lbs) spaying was $138 and included bloodwork and pain shot. A couple of years ago when looking for a new vet, I took 2 cats to be spayed. Each cat costs almost $200. That's extremely high for my area so I no longer go there.

I'm very happy with the vet we have now. I like everything about him and his clinic, including his little lisp. :)

do you have to have an appt at Banfield or do they accept walk-ins? I was wondering if you pay for the convenience. It sure was convenient for me when I bought the Frontline, rather than going another 45 miles in another direction.

It's by appt and you have to bring them in really early in the AM just like everywhere. That's just the thing I don't see what's convenient about that plus they are closed sun & mon.

How inconvenient.

"It's about time that people realize that spaying and neutering animals is MAJOR SURGERY and begin treating it as such."

I think in the other spaying/neutering thread a vet commented that a neuter shouldnt cost that much cuz it is little more then a "snip snip,and sew sew".And that it took about 10 minutes to complete.Anyone else remember that comment?

OOPS~SORRY!
I see that was already cleared up. I remembered that too though quirky.
Not to get personal,but my husband had a vasectomey and some of those prices were almost as much as it was for him!
Not to mention I'd hardly call it MAJOR surgery.It took 20 minutes to complete and he was back to work on Monday.One could assume a cat would be even easier.

Banfield is a rip off... unless you have one of their HMO type plans. That is why they are so expensive, because they want you to get on their plans.
I have Pet Insurance so, but still since I was new here, I went to Banfield for yearly shots, and an yeast otitis on my dog it was over $300 all said and done!!
They also wanted me to purchase a bunch of other unnecessary stuff for over $150...are you kidding me?
MBG

meghane
Just for giggles.
Whats the insurance difference from a animal surgeon to a human surgeon?

I am being charged $500 just for the spay. With the wellness plan, I am being charged $403 without the medications... My dog is a 5 year old husky and this seems much higher than I have yet to hear or see...