I now know why there is pet overpopulation!!

$45 is a remarkably reasonable price! Although, surgical procedure wise, it's a simple procedure, it is still just that...a surgery. It still requires anesthetizing the animal, using surgical instruments, monitoring the animal, antibiotics and pain meds right after the surgery, and watching the animal afterwards.   All of those things do add up.
 
In some areas there are low cost spay/neuter clinics, but there are still costs involved. 

hoot I lost my first post so will try to repeat it...New vets now days when they graduate owe a minimum of $50'000 school debts...if they want to set up a practice they will have to borrow about 100'000 bucks,..The price we get for the same surgery, the same medications, the same equiptment, the same amount of assistants in some cases , may be 45 buckswhere as phisiciansl get several thousand bucks...I think 45 is a very reasonable amout for neutering...
 
end of discertaion , I'm ticked about this one

Wow!  I would jump at anything under $100.  Max was $60 for a neuter - only because he came from the local shelter and we got a 75% break.

Joyce

found my first post for what its worth:
 
OK, I know it seems like we as vets over charge but when you think that most of the younng vets who graduate now owe over $50'000 in tuition debets and to set up practice  they will need to borrow another 100'000....I was luck when i graduated (after 9 years of college) i owed nothing bue t=o the GI.bill and state scholarship programs but now days it is pretty difficult financially...And I often wonder  If we do a bit of surgery that physicians get a couple thousand  dollars for and charge maybe 45 or 50 bucks we are gauging the public..We use the same equiptment, use the same anesthesia, The same medications , instruments , and nursecare...We just are not as elaborite as the RDs, ie "real Doctors"  and of course do not have medical plans to pay for the surgery...

I agree! Anything below $100 for a spay/neuter surgery is very reasonable.

I have never felt that my vet was *gouging* the public.  Sure, sometimes it's hard to cough up the cost of an office visit plus shots and whatever else the dog may be in there for.  We notice it more because the dogs don't have HMOs like people do. I think if someone were planning to go into some field of medicine just for the money, they sure wouldn't pick veterinarian medicine. They'd be in Beverly Hills doing boob implants or giving botox injections. []

Joyce

Wow, I'd love to find someone in this area who does speuter for less than $100.  Cats are right around that, and it goes up to $200 for dogs of various sizes and over $200 for a large dog spay.

I whine when I pay the prices around here since it's heartbreaking after my WONDERFUL vet whom I left behind - but I certainly don't begrudge it.  Vets  go through almost as much hassle to get their degrees as human medics, work way harder usually (a vet's job is probably more comparable to a frontline field surgeon), and do have to have a sharp business sense to keep their practices afloat and all their employees happy.

i agree with everyone else. anything less than $100 is reasonable. i would be worried to trust any of our pets to a vet only charging $20.[sm=2cents.gif]

dvet.....FWIW: the vet we have now is the best. his prices are super low and he is great with all our pets. for sure we would use him even if his prices werent so low. the small amount he charges for office visits almost makes me like i am the one ripping him off sometimes. not like with my own dr where i always feel like i have been ripped off even with insurance.

I know of numerous vets who participate in public service programs with low cost spay and neuters.  Part of the price of caring for animals will be in health costs. Last time I checked prices are just about every thing is going up.  Over population has less to do with pets and more to do with a lack of personal responsibility in individuals.

i agree with everyone else. anything less than $100 is reasonable. i would be worried to trust any of our pets to a vet only charging $20.

That's what I was thinking.  Sometimes you get what you pay for.  I can spend $10-$15 for a not so great lunch some days, so expecting to pay a little more for my dog's surgery makes me pretty nervous. 

Hold on now.  One of my boys was done at the vet....he came home $200 later looking like he was sporting two BLACK softballs.  Swollen and horribly bruised.  The NEXT two went to the HS vet and cost $35 each including the pre-op blood work.  Tyler WAS done at the same vets practice, but we got a different vet and his was fine, and with both the nueter, tooth extraction and pre-op blood work only slightly over 200.  Theo will be done next month by the same vet that our HS up the road uses.  HE will be $50 because his testicles aren't descended.  That includes his pre-op blood work and the pain meds for afterwards since its a more invasive surgery.  But, two of my boys have been done by this vet and I like his work, AND I like the man.  He doesn't have a private practice, he just travels from one shelter to the next taking care of the surgeries, giving vaccines, etc.  Do I like his price BETTER than the 400 bucks the local vet wants?  Darned straight I do.  But, I also know and trust the man.

At the shelter where i volunteer we have a vet that works with us, and he charges $85, which includes spaying/neutering, all shots, heartworm check, and microchipping for all dogs. 
 
Cats are the same price and also tested for feline aids/leuk.  Our adoption fee is exactly what we are charged by the vet, and we think it's a really nice deal, plus we ensure no animals are adopted out intact.  There is also a mobile spay/neuter van that i believe charges $45, and they only do cats. 
 
i would honestly worry about $20 though, you might want to check out the vet first. 
 
 

I'm sorry if I offended anyone in my previous post, that wasn't really my intention. The last time I had a cat neuterd was last year and it cost me $20.00 so I was expecting something around $30.00 because I expected the price to jump. I was totally shocked when I started calling these vet offices and they wanted not only $100.00 for the neuter but then another $100-$200 in I dont know what!!! I think it's great if people can afford to pay a couple hundered to get their animals neutered and blood work and stuff, but I just dont have that kind of money. It's one thing to charge $80.00 for a neuter but these vets were telling me they wouldn't even neuter the cat without at least another $70.00 in shots and blood work. I will get this cat neutered and UTD on all his shots, but I just can't afford it all at once. I agree with everyone that the $45 is a decent price, and I think that's the vet I'm going to go with. The place that I was told charges twenty dollars really charges thirty five and by the time I factored in gas and time it would be just as much as this vet who is near my house. Once again, I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I was/am simply shocked at how much vets are charging these days and thought I would share with people who might understand and maybe have some suggestions for finding someplace with lower costs. 

ORIGINAL: glenmar
But, I also know and trust the man.

if i knew and trusted the vet or he came highly recommended i would go for a $20 neuter. but i would be a little worried to just call a vet out of the blue and choose him based solely on price. [sm=2cents.gif]

our vet was recommended by the lady that runs the rescue we got amelia from. using him is like having your cake and eating it too. he is a great vet and has really cheap prices. dont know how much he charges for spay/neuter though. amelia and sydney were both altered as part of their adoption fees. same with sasha (our oldest cat). gidget (our youngest cat) was the only one we had to foot the bill for. that was about 5 yrs ago and i think we paid in the neighborhood of $200, but that was including getting her UTD on shots and all before going through the actual spay.