Comparing neuter costs

CL10

We are going to be neutering our male and female jack russell dogs shortly. At our local Vet in Swords we were quoted €185 (165 operation, 10 Elizabethan collar, 10 painkiller) for the female and €160 (140 castration, 10 Elizabethan collar, 10 painkiller) for the male. Speaking to a friend in Kildare the prices are much cheaper, fair enough Dublin will be more expensive but she said her Vet is great so we are considering taking them down there. However we'd prefer less of a journey for them after the operations so we're going to stick with the Swords Vet. It just got me thinking that it would be interesting to compare neuter costs as I have often seen people ask prices on here. If anyone wants to tell us the location (I suppose not actually name the Vet) and the price? Also if you were happy with the procedure and would recommend the Vet as obviously money is not the main priority.

boodlesdoodles

That's expensive and a bit rich charging extra for the medicine and the collar. When I got my fella done the vet wouldn't give us a collar as he thinks they cause a lot of distress and as an owner we should be diligent and stop the dog scratching, though it might be different for girls as its a bigger operation. Personally, I'd go with a vet that's recommended by a friend or at the very least ring around for an idea of prices in your area.

mymo

The fact they charge extra for a painkiller is shocking:mad:
I would have thought it was pretty standard to give painkillers after an op.
I have a Lhasa apso, she was spayed before christmas and it would have cost me €100, but due to me not working he did it through the voucher system so it only cost €20.(I have since made a monthly donation of €5 or €10 and plan to give more when I can afford it)
That included pain meds, and visit to remove stitches. No collar, but she was very good and never went near stitches.
I'm in a small town in the south east.

I think the weight affects the price(more anesthetic), she was just over 6kgs.(small jackie size)

ha-ya-said-what

Either €110 or €120 for a 10Kg dog around Maynooth is what I was told before. Having said that I use a dif vet now & he'd def be cheaper.

And yes prices go by weight everywhere, bigger the dog bigger the price.

anniehoo

Charging €10 for a collar is ridiculous.Im shocked at that because its not necessary unless the animal is visibly pulling at their stitches and those collars are cheap as chips to buy wholesale.

Im completely biased here as i work for a vet hospital that doesnt charge these prices, but anything over €100 for either a spay or castration is crazy money.

If anyone wonders, a spay costs more because its a more complex op and requires more anaesthesia than a castration, but its one of the most routine and basic ops a vet does. If you're having problems, you dont have a good vet..simple as!Anaesthesisa has complications which is understandable,but is very rare.

Your vet should give you a breakdown of costs prior to the procedure.As i said, its a routine op, they know what to expect end of and shouldnt be surprising you with random expenses after it.If infection sets in,fair enough but not what you've been charged for.

CL32

Hi CL10,

We got a 7 month old staffy bull terrier spayed in Raheny and total cost was 195. I don't know what the breakdown was but we brought her there since we got her at at 9 weeks and have been very happy with them.

There are much cheaper ways of doing it, but I was happy to pay what I did. (She's a bit of a pudding so most of the cost was probably trying to knock her out)

By the way, you have the worst username I have ever come across :pac:

morganafay

I wouldn't put on the collar unless the dog is at the stitches. I've gotten 3 dogs spayed and one neutered, and loads of cats spayed and none of them went near their stitches. It might cause the dog distress too.

My vet is really cheap. I live in Co. Cork and it was a few years ago, but to get my Cavaliers spayed was €50 each. I'd say the prices have gone up now, and they are small Cavs, but even to get my tom cat neutered last year was only €35. Which is the same price as the vet was charging 5 years ago. I my vet!

Toulouse

I paid €150 for less than 10kg dog in Naas a couple of years ago. I paid about the same for my girl when I got her done but with a different vet in Laois

I have to say though, cheaper is not always better. The reason I paid that little bit more for my male was down to me not being 100% happy with the vet I got my girl done at. I'd never go back there for surgery but at the time I didn't know any better.

Being happy with your vet and having them close by for after-care is the most important thing I think.

Clare Bear

I've heard of a few places charging for the Elizabethan collar. Then again I suppose other Vets just add it to the total cost of the operation instead of charging it seperately.

anniehoo can I ask what location you work in? If not could you PM me?

I worked as a Vet nurse in the past and provided you are keeping an eye on your dog after the operation (which you should be anyway, please take the day off work if you can to look after them) then you shouldn't need the Elizabethan collar. I honestly think it causes added stress to the dog. Unless you're not with them after the op then get the collar as they may pull the stitches out.

I think what you're being charged is the norm around Dublin to be honest, if not a little bit cheaper than most? Could be wrong though, just going on my own experiences.

tk123

€160 is what it cost for our dog to be neutered (and 2 follow up visits to check and remove the stitched) although he's a golden retriever and would have been at least 25kgs when he got it done. €160 for a JRT seems a bit high? Also he didn't need a collar.

Ado86

Why do people think its not acceptable to charge extra for the painkillers ? The vet has to buy the painkillers, they're hardly going to hand them out for free? Whether the spay is 160 + 10 for the operation and painkillers, or 170 in total, does it make a difference. I would think people would be twice as horrified to think their pet would be sent home without painkillers, even if they got it ten euro cheaper.
And as for a spay being one of the most common jobs that a vet does - this may be true, but a spay is an ovariohysterectomy - which is a major operation, and poses many complications, so it is by no means "routine" surgery.
For country veterinary practices their prices will naturally be cheaper, they don't have a lot of overheads that Dublin practices have. But saying that most Dublin practices use gas anaesthesia which is obviously much more expensive, your animal will be intubated which results in a much safer anaesthesia in the case of anything going wrong, they have trained nursing staff to monitor your pet during and after surgery, which naturally costs more money. Overall there is a reason why it is more expensive in certain veterinary practices than others... you cannot compare like for like in these situations.

Clare Bear

It's not just comparing prices. If that was the case they'd just ask for the cheapest and not ask if they thought the Vet was a good one. Nothing wrong with comparing costs and opinion on Vets. And if you can get a procedure done for cheaper but the level of care is just as good if not better then I think that should be welcomed.

Ado86

How do you rate a good vet ??

Clare Bear

Ado86 wrote: »

How do you rate a good vet ??

If somebody has been going to the same Vet for years and have never had any complaints and have always been completely happy with the service, then that's what I would call a good Vet. I go on word of mouth more than anything. If I hear from a few people that they are happy with their Vet then I tend to go with that. I don't buy in to their websites or what they claim themselves, it's what their clients think that I'm interested in. Plus I've worked with many Vets, I think I know what a good one is at this stage.

ha-ya-said-what

Bad Vet: Gave the dog the annual booster, put the dog on the floor .. wondered why we were staring at the dog & blood pouring from him, whole coat & floor covered in blood, vet far to rough with needles. Then tries pushing the dog food they were selling on us.

Good Vet: Years & years at it, came recommended, can call him anytime & go to his house or surgery, great with the dogs & never left one pouring blood after a simple booster shot. He always comments on how well the dogs look & how healthy they are & never starts going on & on about products he sells!

Miss Lockhart

Personally, I cannot understand how people think €100 - €200 is too expensive for a spay. No matter how routine it is, it is a MAJOR operation and is a once in a life time cost with extensive health and convenience benefits. On the other hand I understand fully when people are concerned about costs for minor, ongoing or regular treatments such as vaccination, worming etc.

I think Ado raises some really good points. The variation in the standards of anaesthesia in vet practices in Ireland is enormous. Also, in my experience, most pet owners have no idea which anaesthethic, or even which method of anaesthesia, is being used on their pet.

I am extremely wary and sceptical of people's recommendations for a "good" vet and not only because it often is a matter of getting on with or "clicking" with a particular person. There is a really well respected vet practice in my area. People travel up to 100 miles to attend and literally just rave about the vet. However, I know that for 9/10 operations (inc spay) he uses injectable drugs (xylazine and ketamine) and does not intubate or administer oxygen. On the rare occasion he uses gas (usually when the op is taking too long and the animal needs to be kept under mid-op) he uses halothane.

These standards are just not really acceptable in this day - especially in a specialised small animal practice in the Dublin area. But he is relatively cheap, and his customers LOVE him and no doubt if they were here they would highly recommend him. I would NEVER let him near my pets though.

sambor

I'm looking for neutre my GSD bitch (now the best time is May/june), I'm living in Bray, I was told 290 euro (dog around 27 kg) so I think that is too much and I'm looking for some good vet in Dublin.

arybvtcw0eolkf

OP check out Dogs Aid in Ballymun, my sister got her dog's done with them (a JRT and a Staffie) for €50 each.

boodlesdoodles

It was €120 to neuter my Westie and that included getting his stitches out and all the meds, we're based in Limerick. It was under gas and the vet held onto him for the whole day so they could make sure he came out of the anaesthetic ok and cared for by a veterinary nurse. The vet's a bit rough and ready and just a tad eccentric but he's great value and he takes no notice of my fella snapping like a madman at him just laughs it off. My dog was attacked few weeks back in the evening and he saw him straight away. He cleaned the wound, gave him 3 injections and a course of antibiotics all for €50 which I considered great value. Up the road from him is another vet's surgery where my niece got her dog neutered and it cost her €220!!

CL10

Cohen Long Trek wrote: »

OP check out Dogs Aid in Ballymun, my sister got her dog's done with them (a JRT and a Staffie) for €50 each.

Thanks Cohen Long Trek

We are happy to pay the price that we are going to pay in Swords, I just thought it would be good to compare prices and Vets, I didn't want people bickering over what is a good vet and what isn't. Just thought it would be interesting to compare.

Miss Lockhart

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

It was €120 to neuter my Westie and that included getting his stitches out and all the meds, we're based in Limerick. It was under gas and the vet held onto him for the whole day so they could make sure he came out of the anaesthetic ok and cared for by a veterinary nurse. The vet's a bit rough and ready and just a tad eccentric but he's great value and he takes no notice of my fella snapping like a madman at him just laughs it off. My dog was attacked few weeks back in the evening and he saw him straight away. He cleaned the wound, gave him 3 injections and a course of antibiotics all for €50 which I considered great value. Up the road from him is another vet's surgery where my niece got her dog neutered and it cost her €220!!

It's great that you have found a vet you trust and get along with, who sees your pet promptly - that can be a hard thing to find.

Was your niece's dog the same age and weight? Same breed? Did they use the same anaesthetic gas administered by the same type anaesthetic machine? Were the nurses providing the care all equally qualified? (or qualified at all, since it's not a requirement yet in Ireland)

These are the sort of things I would like to find out if I was trying to judge which vet was "best" for my pet - of course in conjunction with how I felt about their animal handling skills, their manner with my pet and with me.

boodlesdoodles

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

It's great that you have found a vet you trust and get along with, who sees your pet promptly - that can be a hard thing to find.

Was your niece's dog the same age and weight? Same breed? Did they use the same anaesthetic gas administered by the same type anaesthetic machine? Were the nurses providing the care all equally qualified? (or qualified at all, since it's not a requirement yet in Ireland)

These are the sort of things I would like to find out if I was trying to judge which vet was "best" for my pet - of course in conjunction with how I felt about their animal handling skills, their manner with my pet and with me.

Yup both dogs are the same size, she has a bichon. It wasn't gas and she had to collect him at lunch time and he was still fairly out of it when she got him.

We actually took our fella to her vet once, he fell off the back of the couch and hurt his hip when he was around 6 or 7 months (long story ) and our regular vet wasn't available. We had to leave him with them the next day for an x-ray and they were supposed to phone me when he was ready after a good few hours nothing so I decided to ring them myself and snotty receptionist told me he'd been ready for ages! When we met the vet she had sarky comment about him being a bit snappy and we should do something about it. We were going through the worst of the training at that time to break the habit and Westies can be snappy so I would have thought as a vet she'd have come across them before. I felt so patronised by her at a time when she should have been reassuring me he was ok rather than scolding me! They never saw us again.

Sigma Force

Our pup is 3.5kg so a very simlar size to a Bichon, and a jack russel would be around the same size/weight.

Get this €65.00 for his neuter that price does include the pain killer and collar.
(Based in Co Laoise).
They use gas to be honest not sure of the ins and outs but the vet was recommended by another family member and used the vet a few times for vaccinations etc. just before hand and felt they were good and they were.
He came through the op just fine nice clean wound area, his breed can be sensative to anesthetic but they were very careful and I asked them to give me a ring once he came around because I didn't want to wait until we picked him up and they rang straight away.

The usual vet (based in Co Tipp) I would use who are great but were charging around €95.00 for the same op. and normally I would use them but things are tight and I wouldn't risk taking a dog to a vet I wasn't comfortable with but I was comfortable with the cheaper vet and very happy with their service.

The vaccinations for my dogs were also €10.00 cheaper each and they said if I brought them all in together they could offer a discount.

We aren't entitled to things like the dogs trust scheme and we can afford our pets but as things are still tight so if we can make a saving without risking quality of care we will and why not.

Only difference was an extra 10 minutes travel by car.

arybvtcw0eolkf

CL10 wrote: »

Thanks Makikomi

Your welcome, just thought I'd post that up.

Some of the Vets in Ballymun are doing Pro Bono work, others are Vet students under the supervision of qualified Vets.