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The Price
Of The Spay Procedure
The following is
a copy of a "letter To The Editor" by Dr. T. J. Dunn, Jr. and
was published in a
northern Wisconsin newspaper in 1990... years ago! But is still
is relevant today. It is in response to a reader who was
complaining that veterinarians charged too much for spaying and neutering dogs and cats,
and that veterinarians were actually contributing to the numbers of unwanted and orphaned
pets due to excessive surgery fees. |
From Dr. Dunn...
Regarding the price of surgery on dogs and
cats for spaying and neutering.
Dear, Sir:
I would like to express some personal opinions relative to the pet
population problem present locally and nationally. These opinions have been formed
throughout my 25 years as a veterinarian, working daily with dogs and cats and interacting
with their owners.
There are a number of pet owners who believe that veterinarians are
part of the problem and are actually one of the causes for so many excess, unwanted pets.
The reasoning behind this belief stems from the perception that "The
vets charge too much to get my pet spayed or neutered." This
self-serving criticism asserts that since the pet owner cannot afford the surgery, it
means, therefore, vets are charging too much.
I am frequently involved in discussions that begin with, "I've
got six cats that need to be fixed and I sure can't afford all that surgery - but they
keep having litters. What kind of a bargain can you give me if I get 'em all fixed?"
Now I begin to feel like I'm partly responsible for any future litters these cats
might have! How does one perform "bargain priced surgery" where each patient's
life is on the line during the procedure? It is not acceptable to me to ever lose a
patient during this type of surgery; and yet the owner is looking for a bargain...
Also, there are responsible pet owners who ask a perfectly honest and
reasonable question, "Why does it cost so much?" Well,
I'm going to tell you why.
1. Education: There are only 27
universities in the United States that provide Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.)
degrees. They accept only one out of ten qualified applicants. Students may be
accepted for the four years of professional veterinary school only after three to four
years of pre-veterinary studies. Therefore, there are seven to eight years' minimum of
college preparation, studying such topics as biochemistry, physics, comparative anatomy,
microbiology, genetics, pharmacology, surgery, etc., etc. No home correspondence courses
here! According to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges the costs
incurred by a student to achieve a D.V.M. degree in Wisconsin [these are 1990 figures,
TJD] is $8,000.00 per year tuition ($11,500.00 if you are from out of state),
$4,300.00 per year for room/board, and $1,800.00 for books and supplies. These figures are
only school related costs! Not everyone is able or willing to make the
educational/financial sacrifice to earn the B.S., D.V.M. degrees. I'm one of the lucky
ones!
2. Licensure: After graduation the
veterinarian may only practice if a license is obtained through intensive examinations for
a particular state. I am licensed to practice in Wisconsin and Florida; I cannot simply
move to any state and start a new animal hospital. There are regulations I must follow and
minimum requirements of knowledge and expertise I must possess.
3. Business: An animal hospital owner is
generally self-employed. For me that means that I am responsible for payback of the loans
I took out to establish the business. For example, real estate, hospital equipment,
inventory suppliers, employee wages, advertising, insurance, telephone bills, etc., etc.,
are all my responsibility. Nobody provides me with insurance benefits, paid
vacations, retirement funds, bonuses for hard work or pats on the back for maintaining a
positive attitude. There are no corporate expense accounts or perks, no government grants
or subsidies.
Every small business owner is in
business to make a profit, and profit is what's left over AFTER all the expenses
(supplies, equipment, rent, wages, etc.) are paid. Then with that profit the self-employed
business owner has to take care of personal expenses such as car, house, insurance, food,
utilities, etc., just like everyone else. If the self-employed business owner is
fortunate, a little profit is left over after all those ordinary expenses for savings or
retirement. In general, people do not perceive veterinarians as small business
owners, but we really are no different from the shoe store operator, the dentist, the
plumber, or carpenter. We get paid for our ability to perform a service.
I chose to become a veterinarian; nobody told me I had to do this. I
spent seven years in college gaining the ability to perform a service and expected
to make a good living through conscientious application of the skills I acquired. I
don't know how to repair a ruptured water pipe though; and I don't have the tools to do it
if I did. So, I'll call a plumber and expect to pay him for his knowledge and skill. In
return, he'll provide for me a service I request. Likewise, pet owners call me to apply my
abilities to safely prevent their pets from reproducing.
So why is spaying and neutering so
expensive?
First of all, and I don't apologize for
this fact, you now realize I must make a profit during my sometimes very busy hours at
work.
Secondly, a dog or cat spay is major abdominal surgery performed under
general anesthesia in a locally sterile environment. If it is not done properly, the pet
may not survive the procedure or may develop internal adhesions or develop
life-threatening infections. I have seen botched surgeries and believe me, they're not a
pretty sight! And as can be expected, the pet owner is very unhappy.
Most people cannot fix a ruptured water pipe in the basement. Most
people cannot perform major abdominal surgery, 
removing both ovaries and the uterus from 5
pound cats to 220 pound St. Bernards. Really, the only difference is nobody's pet is going
to die if the repair job on the water pipe doesn't go well!
Here's a brief rundown of what we do when a pet needs
spaying (ovaries and uterus removed) or neutering (testicles removed).
1. The client calls and we schedule an appointment time
and give pre-admission instructions. Later, when the patient is presented at the animal hospital, presurgical and postsurgical instructions are
discussed with the pet owner. The pet is placed in a clean cage or pen.
2. Just prior to surgery the pet is examined by the
surgeon to be certain the patient is reasonably healthy. Often, blood tests are performed
if the patient is older than eight years of age.
3. With the assistance of the veterinary technician, the
intravenous followed by the gas anesthetic is administered. An endotracheal tube is
inserted into the trachea ("windpipe"). The surgical site must be
carefully and precisely cleaned and antiseptic applied.
4. The surgeon opens a sterile surgical pack containing
various instruments, and adhering to sterile techniques, completes the procedure while the
level of anesthesia is regulated at a safe but effective rate so that the patient
perceives no discomfort
5. The spay procedure entails incising the skin,
subcutaneous tissue, and midline abdomen, then through the peritoneum to enter the
abdomen. The right and left ovaries are located near the kidneys; their blood supply and
ligaments are isolated and ligated to prevent bleeding. The ovaries and broad ligament
suspending the uterus are incised free of their attachments and the base of the uterus is
located. Here too, blood vessels and surrounding tissue are ligated with surgical suture
material and then both ovaries and the uterus are removed. Any intra-abdominal bleeding is
identified and corrected. The abdominal lining, muscles, subcutaneous tissue and skin are
carefully sutured together again at the end of the procedure.
6. After surgery, the patient is placed on a clean blanket
in a clean cage or pen and is monitored as it recovers from anesthesia.
7. Prior to going home, very specific post-operative
instructions are given to the owner. The pet is given a bath if necessary prior to being
discharged.
8. The cage or pen is cleaned and readied for the next
patient.
[1990 prices! TJD]
Some of my expenses for this service entail little things
like telephone service, paying employees for their time, hot water, and laundry. Larger
expenses include gas anesthesia, a 4 oz. bottle of Isoflourane costs me $97.00; and
sutures, a box of 36 costs me $123.00; and I use 2 to 4 per surgery. I refuse to buy cheap
suture material for obvious reasons. My fee for a dog spay is $90.00 and a cat spay is
$75.00.[These are 1990 prices... TJD] Neutering is slightly less
complicated surgically, however, from the first telephone call to dismissal all the other
links in the chain are the same as a spay. According to Veterinary Economics Magazine, the
national average for a dog spay [in 1990...TJD] is $88.00.
Pet Population,
Veterinarians and the Pet Owner:
The choice to obtain a pet presupposes some forethought
concerning it's care. Nobody forces or requires you to own a pet. Neither is pet ownership
a preconferred right, but rather a responsibility and commitment freely undertaken; and
any reasonable person knows pet ownership will require expenses for food, shelter and
occasional medical care.
One aspect of pet care involves "planned parenthood" for your
pet. There are medical advantages for the pet and sociological advantages for us humans if
the pet is spayed or neutered. Unfortunately, sterilizing the pet requires surgery.
Unfortunately, 
not everyone has the skill to do this safely. Unfortunately for the pet
owner, they will have to actually pay someone to do it who does know how... just
as you world to repair a water leak in your basement.
It is self evident that this surgery never comes as a
surprise to the pet owner. It is not an unplanned emergency. It is not something that
suddenly presents itself as a huge medical/financial disaster. I fully appreciate the fact
that there are people who desire to own a pet and also desire to responsibly curtail their
pet's reproductive ability but have severe financial constraints. To these people we
extend credit with no interest and a payment plan is set up.
I personally believe it is unfair and illogical to assert
that "If you vets truly had humanitarian feelings for pets like you're
supposed to, you wouldn't charge so much for 'fixing' them. That's why there are
so many unwanted pets. And maybe if you did it for free, all those animals wouldn't be put
to sleep in animal shelters."
Sometimes I'll respond to these questions with equally
illogical statements of my own like, "Why don't the dentists give away free tooth
reconstructions to people who can't afford it; or the shoe store owner give away
basketball shoes to kids whose torn shoes affect foot care and posture? Or why doesn't the heating specialist fix that furnace for a bargain price for old folks on a fixed
income; or why doesn't the guy who runs the clothing store sell winter coats at cost
to people who "just can't afford" warm winter clothes? After all, we're
talkin' HUMAN HEALTH here! If these business people had any humanitarian empathy toward
their fellow human beings, they wouldn't charge so much for those things!"
Somehow the veterinarian has been singled out to give
their time and labor away for "humanitarian reasons" in order to stem the tide
of homeless, unwanted pets. I speculate it's in keeping with the currently
fashionable fixation on blaming someone or something else for our own personal challenges. If all the
veterinarians in the USA did nothing but spays and neuters all day long for a month, it
would barely dent the surface of the pet over-population problem. The
responsibility for animal population control lies squarely on the shoulders of the
pet-owning public. Veterinarians, through their understanding of medicine and
surgery, are available to assist and promote pet population control. And, like any other
service provider, they charge a fee for your use of their knowledge, skill, and
time... just like a plumber, cab driver or neurosurgeon.
I've raised the fees I charge only once in the last eight
years. Can you think of ANY other business whose fees have gone up less often than
that? I believe other area veterinarians are also holding steady regarding the fees
for spays and neuters. Plus, all the veterinarians I know in northern Wisconsin donate
their services at no charge for spaying/neutering animal shelter pets in order to increase
the animal's chances of adoption. So, if pet owners in my neighborhood are looking for
a bargain for surgical sterilization of their pets, look no further... you're already
getting one!
Respectfully,
T. J. Dunn, Jr. DVM
February, 1990
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