Price comparison of  spay / neuter fees

Except in a few unpleasant or unsafe areas, California has a surplus of veterinarians.  "We really want your business." is not just a motto.  All veterinarians try to provide good service and low prices, although some of us seem to try harder than others.

You, as a client have almost no way to know if you are going to like any particular veterinarian until you've had some personal experience, and you have hardly any way of finding out how expensive a veterinarian will be except by comparing the price of seemingly standard things like a spay or an office call.  This competition drives down the price of spays, because the vet is glad to do a little low cost work, if that means he will also have your regular business. This is true in our practice and it's true of nearly every practice. However, spays are not all the same and all office calls are not the same.  The veterinarian who charges $25.00 for an office call is likely to make sure your dogs also gets a $25.00 penicillin injection.  (Even with the overpriced injection, your total bill may be perfectly fair, but I think this is a sneaky approach.). A veterinarian doing the cheapest spays in town is probably doing a very satisfactory and competent job, but he needs to do the surgery at the lowest  possible cost. He may not have the latest monitoring equipment, and it's unlikely that he will be using pain control drugs without adding extra charges.  

At our hospital we do all our surgery the same way:  Every patient gets the best care we can provide.  

Jon Vilhauer, dvm