Opinions on Neuter at Humane Society/Animal Shelter
Submitted by FWicks on June 9, 2010 - 11:49pmWe are looking to have Stig neutered now that he is old enough, but the vets that I have looked into in this area charge a TON and require that we have several tests done although he has had several THOROUGH exams, with the last one being less than a month ago. He also has an undescended testicle, which is an extra charge. I want him to have a safe surgery, and I would definitely pay whatever is necessary if this were a complicated surgery or if the majority of people here say that I should NOT take him to a low cost clinic or animal shelter for this particular procedure, but I also don't want to be naive and pay through the nose for something that can easily be done for several hundred dollars less. The places I have gotten quotes from (including his regular vet) have all been in the range of $250-$350 + $150 for an undescended testicle if they go through his abdomen to remove it or $80 if they can remove it through the scrotum. On top of that, they want to do an exam for $40 and blood work for $75 to check for liver and kidney problems. A friend of mine recommended looking into the low cost spay/neuter clinic near me, as the charge for him (undescended testicle included) would be $105. I know that bulldogs are sensitive to anesthesia, so I'm looking for opinions on whether this is the type of procedure I should feel safe having at a clinic. (Just so it's clear, I am sure the vets at the shelters and clinics are just as capable of performing a good surgery, I'm mostly concerned about whether they have the means to provide the correct anesthesia/after care a bulldog might require.) So, I guess to summarize, my questions are:
1. Have you had experience with having your bulldog spayed/neutered by a shelter or low cost clinic?
2. What things are actually necessary in addition to the surgery? (I know somethings might be necessary, but I know vets also like to try to get you to get as many services as they can when they aren't really necessary unless there is a concern.)
3. Are these prices typical? (All my previous dogs were family dogs that my parents had neutered/spayed at the humane society for $50 each, with no problems, but none of these were bulldogs.)
I also looked into voucher programs to offset the price of having a regular vet or animal hospital do it, but there are none anywhere near us that accept the vouchers, apparently. Thanks to all of you for all the good advice you've given me already! I appreciate all the info I've gained here!!!
Costs of surgery
A Bulldog is a difficult patient, and most of it can be placed on the anaestesia part. Especially the "small" surgeries are dangerous because a tube isn't placed and there are no special precautions.
If you are not ready to invest in a safe surgery, I would advice you to totally skip the neutering and work on the (normal!) behaviours a unneutered dog can display. There are parts of the world where not all dogs are neutered and these dogs live a good healthy life. Even with an undescended testicle, the advice nowadays is to leave it and check in a few years by echo. Only a very small part of the undescended testicles "turn bad". Normal obediencetraining is enough to handle a complete male, to prevent him from roaming and keep leglifting to the just places for it.
Just my two pennies,
Ineke and Zorro (who is my 4th unneutered male)
Ineke
I strongly advise against anyone but a well trained,
Knowledgeable, Bulldog vet. Shelter vets can be fabulous, I know, I worked in a Humane Society for 4.5 years. I also know several vets of quality that do low cost spays and neuters for a few shelters. But they are NOT equipped to handle an emergency should one arise with a Bulldog if they are not a Bully professional. The anesthesia is crucial. NO ACE. And that is what they use for all surgeries unless specifically requested not to. At a shelter there may not be another anesthesia option.
Also, if they have to make an abdominal incision, that is going to be more of a big surgery. One you do NOT want to entrust to a shelter or low cost clinic. Find yourself a good Bulldog vet, or one who sees a LOT of this breed, and go to them. It is worth the price you will pay. Also, blood work is optional. No vet should have it as a requirement. You do NOT have to have blood work done if you prefer not to. Be firm about it and tell them NO!
Amy and Sophia
you really don't want to trust a shelter to save $150.
Honestly, I work in a clinic, that cost is not a lot considering what the surgery will be if that testicle is up in the abdomen. Plus we have seen tons of sick dogs at our clinic from our local shelter where they have intubated with a contaminated tube and the dogs have pneumonia, another complication that you don't need recovering from a major surgery. While most shelters are good, they try to follow the protocols for cleaning etc, unfortunately they are not staffed enough to be able to do so at no fault of their own.
IMO, don't risk your bulldog to save a little money. Go to a bulldog vet.
Thanks for your input. LIke
Thanks for your input. LIke I said, I don't mind spending whatever we need to for him. I just didn't want to be paying someone close to $500 if I would have the same type of care for $150. It's less a matter of money and more a matter of me not wanting to get taken because I don't know what's necessary and what's not. One vet was giving him a fecal exam everytime we went for vaccines, and at that time he was under 6 months, and I had no idea that he didn't need a fecal exam every 3-4 weeks, so I kept paying for them. I wasn't aware that shelters often don't have the means necessary to properly care for a bulldog as far as anesthesia and emergency services, so I'm glad I asked. I'm not actually having him neutered to help behavioral problems, but we signed a spay/neuter contract with our breeder, so I was just looking at the help with behavioral problems as a positive, although I know it sometimes doesn't make a difference. I really love the vet that he sees regularly, and Stig does too, so I'll probably have it done there. Although she isn't listed on the list of bulldog vets, she sees quite a few bulldogs and knows that they have special needs, and they are well equipped to handle the situation should something go wrong since they are also an animal hospital with a intensive care unit and LOTS of staff. Is there an anesthesia I should ask them to use specifically?
Yes, there is a specific anesthesia
They need to use Isoflurane or Sevoflurane. And tell them to keep the breathing tube in until the dog is almost all the way up from the anesthesia. You do not want them removing it when your dog is still heavily under, they can have serious breathing issues arise from that.
Amy and Sophia
My 1 experience with a Shelter neutering
The Clinic I've used for over 10 years has raised prices across the board to where many (read: me) can't afford tham any longer.
Last summer I had a 2 year old female to spay prior to placing and the Clinic quoted me $650 to do it! That was up from $450 the year before when I had last used them for a spay.
Financially I had no option but to take her to the local Shelter, well it isn't a County run shelter, but one funded by private donations and fundraisers. Their cost for a spay was $100 and I was very nervous. I called and talked to the Scheduler and one of the Techs before the appointment to be sure they had Bulldog experience and asked what anestesia/drugs they used, etc. I was satisfied that they had sufficient knowledge and equipment to handle it and then mentioned my concerns again to the Tech when I dropped her off for the spay.
The good news is the spay went smoothly, in fact I've never had one heal as nicely with so little scaring or downtime.
I guess it comes down to how much experience the Vet and Techs have and how healthy your dog is, a good dose of luck.
I also looked into Clinics in other cities within a 50-75 mile range and found several that also offered reduced rate spay/neuter services and was prepared to travel to get it done if that is what I needed to do.
I would not use the shelter
for my bulldog, because if the increased risk. About the bloodwork, ask the vet , What specifically are you testing him for? What are the risks if I do not test?
I have always done the bloodwork before any surgery. Honestly I don't know if my vet would still do the surgery without it because I never said no to it. I wanted to make SURE the vet had as much information as possible about each individual dog to be able to optimally handle doing surgery on them, and also the recovery.
Cathy and Audrey
Cheaper is NOT better.....
I HIGHLY recommend going to a bulldog specialist vet. Surgery for bulldogs is not to be taken lightly at all. We just had some close friends lose their bully in surgery and that was even at a very highly respected bulldog vet. I would also recommend the pre-anesthesia bloodwork to be done as a precaution. But again, In my opinion, surgery is absolutely not the place to be looking to save some money when it comes to bulldogs. I will say your price isn't bad, my vet charges about $400-$500 for neuter surgery, that is including all bloodwork, monitoring when coming out, etc.
dont mess around with a retained testicle.....
if it was a normale neuter the vets at spay neuter clinics use good precautions.....but becasue you have a retained testicle...dont fool around....charlie had one and their was a complication as it had wrapped around....this could of been life threating....neuter was 500$ but he was in safe hands that could handle an emergency and two doctors took over on him....he was a year but i had all his blood work done two weeks ahead to help with cost.....i wouldnt fool around i would get the best to do that surgery.....
charlie
I agree, because it is not a standard neuter
I would have my own vet do it. We had one of our males neutered at 2 years old, he also had an undescended testicle. The vet discovered a tumor growing which had to be biopsied but it made the surgery even more complicated. For peace of mind, I would have your own vet perform the surgery.
Good luck
Lynn King CPDT-KA
Your quotes are actually pretty reasonable,
I paid $550 for a neuter and the blood test on a bully that had both testicles down, so it would have been more for me had he had your boys problem. I would not feel comfortable having a bulldog done at the low cost clinic, but that is me, they also don't usually do follow up care. The quote your vet gave you includes follow up care and probably a night in the hospital to make sure he is fine.
Thank you all for your
Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions. I went ahead and made an appointment at the regular vet for blood work, exam, and a consultation so that I can talk to the dr. about the procedure and anesthesia. I do just want to make sure that it's clear, though, that I was in no way trying to "cut corners" or that I would risk his life over a few hundred dollars. That's exactly why I checked here for more information. Before Stig, my family always had Pekingese, and we had them spayed and neutered (one with two undescended testicles) at our humane society, because my mother always said that that vet there has the same licensing requirements as a private practice vet and they should be very cautious and good at what they do, since that's all the do all day. Our dogs never had a problem, so I never really considered that it could have all the complications that you all are describing. I appreciate you all letting me know what I should expect to pay, because everyone that I mentioned the price to seemed really shocked at how high it was, and I wasn't sure what was the norm for a surgery like that. I asked why the blood work needed to be done to test his kidney and liver, since some required it and some did not, and they said that it was to be sure that the anesthesia would be able to be filtered out after surgery without any problem, and that some don't require it with dogs under a certain age. That's pretty important, so of course, we'll do that. Money will NEVER be an issue when it comes to what is necessary to keep him healthy and safe, but I also don't want to be naive about what things should cost and possibly waste money that could be spent on something he'd like a lot better. Like deer antlers and Kong squeakers ;)
I didn't think anything of the sort:-) Shopping cost is a need
in this day and age. What is unreasonably high at one vet can be done someplace else for less sometimes. I do the same thing with my Equine vets. I will call back and forth between the two I use and ask specific pricing on different services. I use which ever one is less expensive. But....I know both vets are extreemly good at what they do and I don't worry for one second that I am putting an animal in jeopardy by going cheap:-)
I wish you the absolute best with your baby:-) Let us know how things go, will you?
Amy and Sophia
their is nothing wrong with price shopping.....
i have two vets (not including my holistic,) they work in the same clinic and you know what they charge differently...experience ect.....so depending on wat i need i get the less expensive one....i think he knows what i am doing but what the hell look at the exoerience he is getting......he even assisited on a surgery for charlie which made me feel good as its good to know just in case....
but never feel like your being cheap we ALL look for ways to cut coroners.....
One more question!
I called his regular vet, along with a vet that is listed on here as a bulldog vet, and one other that I have heard rave reviews of. They all have said that they use isoflurane to "keep them under", but two of them gave me different IV medication names in addition to the isoflurane. Is there one I should ask for or any that should be avoided? Also, I am also seeing things about neutering earlier causing developmental problems. Would it be a better idea to wait until he's closer to 8 months (the contract with our breeder is 6-8 months for neuter), or would that make any difference? I know it is somewhat a matter of opinion, but that's why I come here....for your opinions!! Thanks so much everyone! I'll let you know when/what we decide!
I would need to know the names of the IV meds.
Iso is excellent. If they use that and are aware enough to use it, then the IV drugs are more than likely Bully safe as well. I just need to know the names of the meds, there are hundreds of names out there:-)
And, I neutered my boys very young, at 4 months each. It did NOT in any way hinder their development.
Amy and Sophia
Thank you! That makes me
Thank you! That makes me feel better to know it shouldn't stunt his growth and development or anything. One of the IV drugs the receptionist wasn't sure the exact combination, but said the doctor used a mixture of two. I am to call back on Monday to speak to the doctor. The other one uses Ketamine and Valium together.
Ok. There is a difference between sedation and anesthesia.
You need to understand what your vet is telling you. Is he/she using Iso for the surgery, or the Ketamine/Valium mixture through IV for surgical sedation? One or the other, but I haven't heard of them using both anesthesia and a heavy duty sedative like that together. The Ketamine/Valium solution is a VERY heavy sedative. I simply would not allow both anesthesia and the K/V to be done concurrently.
Others on the board are vet techs and I sincerely hope they will respond to this.. They will tell you much, much more than I can about that. And some may even say both at once is fine, though I would go against that myself. I would not do that to my girl, it is a very dangerous combination.
Amy and Sophia
the reason they use....
k/v is to relax the dog.....the solution is not enough so the dog is knocked out completely ( the dilution for surgery is only enough to take away stress).........you dont want your dog struggling when the mask is put on some dogs will start to panic... and start breathing in deep amounts of the gas ...... add a short nose breed and you could be in trouble.....so the k/v is given about 15 min prior to surgery than the dog is gassed down by mask.....its easier on the dog less stress and less restraint needed.....their are very few vets who would not use some kind of sedative first especilly on a pug or bulldog....and in my 15 years as a emergency vet tech i never not given a sedative before masking.....even in my most critical cases....
iso is the surgery gas and is employed during the surgery.....k/v is a pre sedative.....hope this helps.....
also so you may understand k/v is not enough to knock the dog completely out...you dont tube a dog thats been given k/v you wait till their down and under the iso.....( under non emergency situations)
sedation.....has come a long way its safer..surgeries are shorter than before....they have heart monitors now....where as in my time you did everything by eye and hand (feeling the heart beat counting the breaths) most techs are trained in surgery....they have more education.....more hands on....
i pay more but the vet i use has licensed vet techs....most thave their 2 years degrees in animal science.....they have to keep up on education.....also remember when you read of some one losing a bulldog here hundreds of others have had surgery with no problems......this is a very small world.....
even in humans surgery is a risk.....but in this day and age its alot safer....
Thank you Judy.
I only know so much...you explained it really well. I thought this person meant they use them both together at teh same time! That would be a disaster for most dogs, bullys especially.
Thanks so much for stepping in and explaining it.
Amy and Sophia
VET TECHS....you guys need to answer this post please!!!
This is a question someone else needs to look at!!
Amy and Sophia
With everything that could
With everything that could go wrong and me not having prior experience with bulldogs, I have decided to go to the bulldog specialist if the consult with him goes well. I have been talking with the clinic manager, and he has been very helpful and informative in answering all of my questions and they include boarding him for two nights in the price so that they can be sure everything is ok. They also use isoflurane only. I also looked up reviews on him, and it seems that he is well liked and has been treating English bulldogs successfully for quite some time. I made a list of things that you all brought up, so that I can be sure to address those things with him at the consult. I will let you all know what I think after the consult! Thank you again for taking the time to keep up with this thread and helping me to stay informed so I can make the best decision for my little "Stigasaurus"!
Good to hear:-)
I am glad you have chosen to go see the specialist. A good vet is a good vet, but if they have little or no experience with this breed it can be deadly for the dog. I am so glad we were all able to help out. Please let us know how everything turns out:-)
Amy and Sophia
That makes much better sense!
Thank you so much for explaining this. The way it was explained to me by the receptionist I was thinking they were using both at the same time. I'm sure she thought since I was asking about it I must have known enough to know what she meant. You explained that really well, so I feel a lot more comfortable talking to the vet when we go in for our surgery consult (hopefully tomorrow - they only take walk ins for consults and exams).