Why does a dog neuter cost $60 and $500?

Why does a dog neuter cost $60 and $500?

Here is another example of why we are more determined than ever to rewrite the practices within the veterinarian industry.

If you have adopted animals throughout your life, you are likely to be a responsible pet parent who gets their pet “fixed”. I don’t like that phrase, the animal is not broken to start with. Firstly, I will mention the neuter laws of Finland. The Norwegian Animal Welfare Act makes it clear that surgical procedures are not to be used to adapt animals to the needs of humans, unless strictly necessary. Dog’s are not allowed to be neutered or spayed and there is no overpopulation problem. In an ideal situation, hopefully not too far into the future, dogs will not be allowed to be “fixed” and breeding dogs will be illegal. That won’t be realistic until all of the stray dogs are adopted. “Neutering can never be a substitute for proper training of a dog,” says Torunn Knævelsrud, the chief of animal welfare in Norway. We, at Havok’s Wolfpack, believe personal human responsibility is the only challenge standing in the way of the long term happiness of animals.

Either way, rescue animals in Colorado are certainly required by agricultural law to be spayed or neutered. We on average pay around $70 for a procedure at the Maxfund Wellness Clinic. If you , however, call your local vet they will quote a figure of many hundreds of dollars for that very same procedure. Why is there such a contrast in pricing?

Well let’s explain why a $70 costs that much. Firstly, clinics that cheap are specialist spay neuter clinics. They specialise in fixing animals and can carry out up to several dozen such procedures a day. In reality, specialised veterinary technicians preparing the animals for their procedures will do everything except put the animal under anaesthetic and handle the scalpel. The vet is probably working on any particular pet for an average of 30 minutes. The actual costs of the procedure in drugs, medical supplies and stitches is around $10.

So with that in mind, why does a procedure at my vet cost $500? That’s because your vet usually charges thousands of dollars for the variety of operations they offer. From the beginning, the anaesthetic is hundreds of dollars at any vet. Unfortunately, there is no real explanation, beyond a bankers favourite economical buzz-phrase, it’s the going market rate. Your vet can’t compete with a specialist low cost spay neuter clinic but they can set prices identical to their veterinary competitors. That’s what they do. It is likely to be the only procedure your vet will carry out that day and that means they need to charge higher fees to cover the expenses of running an entire veterinary clinic. The volume of patients they can see in a single day is significantly lower which means their prices for the care are higher.

It comes down to this question, which is the better option for your pets procedure?

My recommendation would be to use the more experienced specialised clinic that does a dozen operations every day. There are plenty of low cost clinics, some are better than others so I encourage you to shop around and pick the best one. Better reviews are a great indication but so is post surgery care. We didn’t go with the cheapest clinic, the Maxfund Wellness Clinic was more expensive than others in Denver but what they did do was provide 3 days of post-operative medications and that’s why we, at Havok’s Wolfpack, chose to work with them.

We do offer a specific arrangement, we actually offer our adopters the opportunity to use a local vet they like. We specify we will cover $70 of the procedure and they can use their preferred vet, covering the rest of the expense themselves. Why do we offer this? Because we occasionally hear stories about how bad low cost clinics are, they dont want their new pet to go in for their procedure but not come home. While these stories are rare, your piece of mind as a new pet parent is our priority so we make this exception when it is requested.

The truth is, you are just as likely to have a bad experience with a low cost vet clinic as you are with a bad vet. Unfortunately, people associate a bad experience with a low cost clinic as representative of all low cost clinics. A bad experience with a vet is only associated with that specific vet. The truth is, a low cost spay neuter clinic is a specialist clinic. They are just as likely, if not more likely, to be successful with their procedures than your local vet.

How does this vast chasm in price difference affect the pet overpopulation? Unfortunately, it affects it in an extremely negative way. Pet parents don’t fix their animals because it’s too expensive when there are no low cost clinics. This is very common in rural areas where there is not enough demand to run a successful low cost clinic. This causes unplanned litters and worsens an already vicious downward spiral. Especially in southern states, there is extensive price collusion between vets. They keep prices high to make better profits. Include an environment where animals can survive without shelter or homes and you have a recipe for disaster. Picture unplanned puppy litters dumped in cardboard boxes on the side of highways. Support your local low cost clinic, they are the first line of defence against an epidemic of pet overpopulation.

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Phone: 1 720 504 4660
Email: havok@havokswolfpack.com

Boulder, CO 80301
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