Owning a pet can be just as expensive as raising a child. On a recent data from a pet insurance company, veterinary bills more than $1000 are more common than you think. Also, many pet insurance policyholders spent over $37 million on the most common health conditions. If you don’t think these bills can come to haunt you, you may want to think again. Our pals from HowMuchIsIt.org, a cost-helping database, shared with us data of five common dog procedures that could quickly put a damper on your budget.
5 Most Expensive Dog Procedures
1. Dental Emergencies
Dental emergencies can be avoided with regular dental care. You should brush your dog’s teeth regularly to prevent diseased or damaged teeth and gums. If a dental procedure is needed, your veterinarian will extract any and all of the teeth. Many will perform an x-ray of the teeth as well. A dental consultation alone can cost you more than $150. During this process, they will discuss treatment as well as teach you how to keep up with your dog’s oral health. An annual cleaning can run you $650 with tooth extractions.
2. Gastrointestinal Obstruction
Gastrointestinal obstruction is very painful for dogs. It occurs when an ‘item’ partially or completely blocks the passage of fluid and food flow through the small intestines. Objects, such as pennies or lead material, can cause toxicities and even death. Occasionally, if the item is small enough it can pass with time. If not, then surgical intervention is needed. If your dog needs surgery to remove the obstruction, you are looking at a bill that could be close to $3,000.
3. Pyometra
Pyometra is an infection that happens due to hormonal changes in a female dog. This infection prevents white blood cells from entering the uterus. Pyometra is most common in dogs over six years old, and symptoms may include the following: vomiting, drinking more water than usual and swollen abdomen.
Unfortunately, the treatment needed to take care of this infection is surgery. It is around $1,000 for emergency surgery. After that, you will need to pay for antibiotics for at least two weeks.
4. High-rise Syndrome
High-rise syndrome is when your pet falls or jumps anywhere from one to six stories. In these instances, injuries may range anywhere from a simple fracture to visceral trauma.
The charges for severe high-rise syndrome cases can range anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000. Your dog will also require intensive care and will be in the hospital for several days. Your dog may also need oxygen therapy and temporary feeding tubes. These costs will all depend on the severity of the case.
5. Hip Replacement
Many veterinarians have said that hip replacement surgery is one of the most expensive procedure. The replacements are made from the same material as human hip replacements. Before surgery, your dog will have to undergo x-rays, and your dog will need a minimum of two months limited mobility to recover. Some veterinarians believe hip replacement surgery should be avoided unless there is no alternative. The average fee for hip replacement surgery in dogs ranges anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000. If your pet needs a double hip replacement surgery, it can bump up to $8,000.
Other Dog Procedures
Aside from the dog procedures mentioned above, other conditions often occur and can cost hundreds. This can include:
Benign Skin Mass: $400 to $600
ACL Rupture: $2,500 to $4,000
Cancer: $500 to as much as $4,000+
Bladder Stones: $1,200 to $2,000
Like us humans, these conditions can pop at any time. Do you have a pet insurance or an urgent fund to care for any emergency dog procedures?
This is such a useful article. Vet costs are always a huge concern for me and my family, especially at times of trauma, so keeping this handy will always be a huge help.
we had more procedures and more cost for Baby, the only female, the three males had one or two but not like she did.
it’s absolutely important to have an insurance what covers at least a part of the things what can happen… a fb-friend had bloat-surgery two month ago, that’s a challenge for a family with a common budget…
Morning Sugar….what valuable information.
Hugs madi your bfff
We will never go without insurance again
Woof,
Lily & Edward
This is a great post, Sugar. I always stress the cost of vet medical costs to any friends considering pets. After years of working as a vet tech, I will never underestimate how much an emergency or even routine care can cost. I’ve seen dentals run well over $1,000 with a lot of extractions, and TPLO surgery can be thousands for one leg! Still nothing close to human medical costs, but you definitely need to be prepared for anything.
So far, thank goodness and knock wood, we haven’t had to deal with any of those major things. But Sheba did have two surgeries to remove cancerous lumps and each was over $800. Since we declined any further treatments (radiation was our only other option and it was quite expensive, though that was not the reason we declined) and have treated naturally, there haven’t been too many further expenses.
We are looking at surgery for our Luke though for his luxating patella, and I know that will be probably around $1500.
These are all good reasons to look into insurance (we blew it by not doing so!).
Wow. Those are some expensive surgeries. Daisy will be my most expensive dog ever. I spent $6000 (in the end) for her insulinoma surgery (that was supposed to cost $2800), and now she has laryngeal paralysis which will cost $2300. Without this surgery, she could suffocate to death, so it’s not a matter of choice.
I’m pricing Mr. N’s next dental and it’s not going to be cheap!