Cost of umbilical hernia repair op in small dog?

littlesnuggy

I'm going to meet and hopefully bring home an 8 month old small-breed dog at the weekend. The breeder told me he has a small umbilical hernia.

I have just phoned a local vet that came recommended by a colleague to check the costs of various things (microchipping, initial check-up etc) and they advised for a hernia repair op it would be around £200. If we were having him neutered, they would do both procedures at once for £230 (their neutering cost is usually £98.50). We won't be breeding from him, incidentally.

If he needs the op, then of course we'll get it done, however from research I've done online this seems very expensive. Can anyone advise how much they paid?

Thanks.

Kimberley

Shouldn't the breeder be paying for this Operation?

juliebunny

That price seems reasonable - I had the same operation done on a small kitten and I'm sure I paid similar to this (it was a fair few years ago.)

She hasn't had any issues with it since.

I must agree with the above poster though - any responsible breeder would not send their dogs out in anything less than the peak of good health - how does she know that you will get the op done even?

Of course she knows that any problems with the operation are then yours not hers......I would take care here....she is playing on your feelings....I'm guessing the dog is very cute...

If you are paying for the animal at the very least I would expect the cost of the operation to be deducted and if I were you I would withold payment until you know there are no further complications once the vet opens the puppy up....

Good luck and be tough. I hope you have checked this breeder out properly.....not sure how you do that but maybe someone else can advise.

Oh and dont forget - any pet insurance will likely exclude any conditions related to this problem....I think the breeder should just give you this poor dog. Sounds like you will look after it better than her but head over heart here.

lostinrates

Is the hernia causing a problem that requires the op or is ''cosmetic''? My guess is there is a price for the dog recognising she is a ''pet'' not breeding/showing potential. If however the hernia is causing issue then yes, I agree, it is cause for concern. My last dog had an umbilical hernia and after thought we decided to leave it alone. It caused her no difficulty or problem through out her life, we came to the decision with our vet and friend. Breeders often home older dogs having cared for them through problems they are born with or developed in early life. However these are the dogs you certainly don't want entering a genepool. If they make a good pet, and someone happy and the full extent of the condition is made clear I have no ethical issue. In fact one of my dogs now is here because of such a reason: kept to breed as she is a good example but developed OCD and most certainly must not be bred from. A life here is much better in her circumstances and we knew the issue. (we did not pay for her as its expected she will have more vets bills and her breeder is an old friend so both parties knew what everything was.)

littlesnuggy

Thanks for the comments. The dog is coming from one of the top kennels for the breed in the country, and I have no reservations about the breeder whatsoever. She has been involved in the breed for over 30 years and I've seen lovely puppies & dogs from there before, and have scoured the internet for both positive and negative comments/reviews.

As he's already 8 months old (she's selling him as he's a bit too chunky to show) the price I'm paying is less than what a 'newborn' puppy would be, so I'm not sure how to compare whether this takes account of the potential operation required. I'm phoning her tomorrow so will bring it up then I suppose.

littlesnuggy

lostinrates wrote: »

Is the hernia causing a problem that requires the op or is ''cosmetic''? My guess is there is a price for the dog recognising she is a ''pet'' not breeding/showing potential. If however the hernia is causing issue then yes, I agree, it is cause for concern. My last dog had an umbilical hernia and after thought we decided to leave it alone. It caused her no difficulty or problem through out her life, we came to the decision with our vet and friend. Breeders often home older dogs having cared for them through problems they are born with or developed in early life. However these are the dogs you certainly don't want entering a genepool. If they make a good pet, and someone happy and the full extent of the condition is made clear I have no ethical issue. In fact one of my dogs now is here because of such a reason: kept to breed as she is a good example but developed OCD and most certainly must not be bred from. A life here is much better in her circumstances and we knew the issue. (we did not pay for her as its expected she will have more vets bills and her breeder is an old friend so both parties knew what everything was.)

You're spot on. From what I've been told, it is small and only a cosmetic issue, however I will be taking him to a vet to get it checked out. I have been warned that some vets do operate as businesses and so may recommend the procedure anyway so they can take their fee, when in reality their was little or no risk posed to the animal's health. I'd never want to risk his health, but equally I don't want to put him through an operation unnecessarily.

Anyway, I know I'm not meant to discuss medical issues here, just moneysaving!

lostinrates

littlesnuggy wrote: »

You're spot on. From what I've been told, it is small and only a cosmetic issue, however I will be taking him to a vet to get it checked out. I have been warned that some vets do operate as businesses and so may recommend the procedure anyway so they can take their fee, when in reality their was little or no risk posed to the animal's health. I'd never want to risk his health, but equally I don't want to put him through an operation unnecessarily.

Anyway, I know I'm not meant to discuss medical issues here, just moneysaving!

Apologies for calling him''she''

katie1234

dogs with umbilical hernia cant be shown either as far as im aware. seems expensive to me as its not a long or difficult procedure. if neutering only costs 100 another 130 for hernia repair is. for example my vet did it for 10 ontop of 110 to neuter. however, my dog is female and would have had her belly open anyway so unless it is so expensive due to a male operation being so different.

id ring a few other vets though and see. even though it is purely cosmetic i can understand wanting rid of it as it gets badly in the way for belly rubs!

littlesnuggy

Just to update this, I've phoned a couple of other vets this morning. One said it was unlikely that it would require surgery, and if it did it would cost around £110 or if done at the same time as neutering an extra £50 on top of the £90ish neuter cost. The other quoted around £160 alone, or £40 on top of £94 neuter cost. So sounds like the first vet was on the expensive side.

It definitely hasn't put me off getting pup, and the first thing I'll be doing when we get him is taking him to a vet to assess whether it requires repair or not.

ani100

HI,

My Shar Pei was castrated yesterday and also had an umbilical hernia repaired. The vet thought the hernia was quite large as he could insert a finger in it. He is 6/7 months old. He weighed 22.5 kilos and the cost was £197. This includes a checkup at 3 and 10 days and 3 days worth of anti inflammatory tablets. Looking on here I assume the price was fair. We acquired him from Battersea and they would have done this op in the £105 rehoming fee. But he is so car sick and living miles away from there, we decided it would be kinder to have the op done at our local vets. He was even sick going there and that was 1.5 miles away. Just thought I would reply to this post as I wasn't sure if the price was fair but I now feel it it.
Thanks

NannyPlum_2

Hi my Shih-Tzu is going in tomorrow morning for an umbilical hernia operation to City Vets. I was quoted £70-£100 so I think your quote was quite high. Shop around.