How we price

Every cost guide on this site shows three numbers: a low, a typical and a high. This page explains where they come from so you can judge how much weight to give them.

Where the numbers come from

For each procedure I build a table of real prices for a defined case: a specific procedure, a dog of a stated weight, and no complications. Each price in the table is one of two things: a price list or fee schedule that a clinic, emergency hospital or veterinary teaching hospital publishes; an itemized bill or written estimate that an owner has shared, with the amount and the practice type visible. Requesting an estimate from a practice myself is allowed by my own procedure and I have not done it yet, so no price on this site comes from one. For every entry I record the source, the type of practice (general practice, emergency hospital, specialty referral center), the state, and the date, and I keep that table so the numbers can be checked.

I aim for at least ten priced cases per procedure across several states before publishing, and each page says how many it rests on. Insurer blogs and marketing pages are not a source for prices, because they have an incentive to overstate them; I use insurers only for what their policy documents say about coverage.

What low, typical and high mean

The typical figure is the median of the prices I collected for the defined case. It is the number I put first, because it is the one most owners will actually be quoted.

The low figure is a realistic floor: a smaller dog at a general practice in a lower-cost region. The high figure is the top of the market I observed: a board-certified specialist at a referral hospital in a major metro. Both are real prices from the table, not extrapolations.

What is included in a price

Unless a page says otherwise, a surgical price includes the pre-operative bloodwork, imaging, anesthesia, the procedure itself, and one follow-up visit. It excludes physical therapy, medication beyond the first course, and treatment of complications. The exclusions are listed under each table.

The raw data

Every guide's price table has its own CSV: one row per price I collected, with the source, the practice type, the state and the date, whether or not that row was used. Nothing on a page is a number I made up.

How often numbers are updated

Each guide shows the month it was last updated. I re-survey procedures on a rolling basis and whenever a reader sends me a quote that falls outside the published range.

Insurance figures

When this site shows what an insured owner would pay, it uses a stated plan: the reimbursement percentage and deductible are printed next to the number. Coverage rules, waiting periods and exclusions come from the insurers' published policy documents, and each page links to them in the sources.

Corrections

If you were quoted something meaningfully different from what I publish, I want to know. Send the estimate, the state and the type of practice to [email protected].