Cost for a cat's surgery

[aries185]

I'm stuck in a tough spot. I've been told that my dear cat needs to have her anal glands surgically removed. Yeah, it sounds terrible, I know. Here are my two questions:

1. My local vet wants me to bring my cat in for an exam before telling me how much the surgery is likely to cost. Does anyone know what this type of surgery is likely to cost?

2. I don't think its fair to require me to pay $120 for an eval, just to tell me the price of the surgery might be. If the surgery is $2000, then I may as well call around until I find vet who is willing to do it for less (assuming they are just as qualified). It feels like the vet is playing some stupid game with me. Do I have to pay $120 to each vet in order to get an estimate of the cost? Can you imagine paying an auto dealer $120 to get the price of a car? The fees to get the estimate could add up to the cost of the surgery very fast. This seems like a con job.

What do you think?

Aries185

[bigdog]

Hi,
well this isn't really a common operation to need to do on a cat, its pretty rare from my experience to require it-
so I guess many veterinarians would want to discuss the proceedure with you before giving you a price, to determine why its even required?

I'm a bit suprised that they are not prepared to give you a ball park idea of how much the operation would be however.
Its not a very quick operation, it requires good surgical skill, so I suspect it would be USD$500- 1000+ +(in the UK it would be about GBP350-500++ usually, and even up to GBP 1000 depending on the region).

I would be prepared as a vet to tell you a ball park figure, but without
i) discussing it with you in detail and also
ii)examining the cat and also
iii) seeing all the 'history' from the previous vets visits
I couldn't give you an exact price;
(as I don't know if the glands have some medical condition, if one or both are affected, and many other questions) and to be honest the consultation fee will cover all i)+ii) +iii) aspects..

But certainly I understand your frustration.

Can you imagine paying an auto dealer $120 to get the price of a car? The fees to get the estimate could add up to the cost of the surgery very fast. This seems like a con job.

I don't feel this is fair, its more like asking a garage mechanic the cost of repairing your car, and without an examination of the car they can't really do this.

[aries185]

Hello BigDog,

Thank you for your understanding and for providing quick answers and a direct estimate. Without seeing our cat, a ballpark figure is all I was looking for. And you gave it, so thank you very much. Now I can go into the doctor's office with some idea about the price to expect and am less likely to be taken for a ride.

Best,
aries185

[Oona]

$120 for an exam fee sounds like a total rip off.

We charge $40, and you're not required to pay an exam fee every time you come into the hospital.