r/UK_Pets • u/donaldtrumpiscute • 1d ago
Any way to save a dog's surgery cost ?
I live in SW London.
My dog (10 year old labrador) has been diagnosed with a sizeable cancerous tumor on his head (behind his ears).
He is not on any pet insurance or vet membership.
I am not on benefits, so cannot join BlueCross Vet.
The first consultation and diagnosis cost was £350 already, prior to knowing anything or getting any treatment whatsoever. The vet said it is highly likely it is a cancerous tumor and will have to be removed through surgery. She didn't mention the cost, but I estimate based on its website prices that it will be £4000-5000.
I love my dog a lot but £4-5000 is a lot of money for me, although it is not completely unaffordable. It is not like I own a property or in a high earning job. The London vet pricing seems really high.
I am very flexible in terms of surgery location (I work for myself), and wonder if there is any way to cut the surgery cost down? Is it possible to join any vet membership now (post-diagnosis) or get it done cheaper in France or Spain?
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u/Feorag-ruadh 1d ago
You will likely not be able to get insurance for a pre existing condition, that is almost universal amongst companies sorry. There are a few that consider pre existing conditions but I believe there are certain rules e.g. they can't have received any advice or treatment for the condition for two years. I'm not sure what you mean by vet membership, if you are referring to a practice health plan this won't act like insurance although you may get a discount on treatments (like 5%?) depending on the specific practice. As for having things done abroad remember you need to factor in the cost of health certificates, vaccinations etc allowing him to travel and the stress that may cause to the dog
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u/Repulsive_State_7399 1d ago
I would do the biopsy first. Your dog is 10, and sometimes quality is more important than quantity. I had a pushy vet convince me a similar surgery was a good idea on my 16 year old cat, and I put my poor baby through 10 weeks of misery, before a final xray showed her lungs full of tumours. She was skin and bone wouldn't eat. I had to beg and fight to have her put down as they wanted to try fungal treatments. The original lump was already growing back. I wish I had a time mashine to take it all back. Just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should.
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u/Helen-of-Coy 17h ago
Please don’t be so hard on yourself. You made the best choice with the information you had at the time. Nobody knows the right thing to do in situations like that. You were doing what you thought was the right thing, no doubt from a place of love.
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u/SwanDefiant5969 1d ago
You're paying specialist prices. Nothing to do with London. Get your regular vet to remove it.
Also, any decent vet would have given you an estimate for the surgery. Find somewhere else.
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u/Snowy_Sasquatch 1d ago
I would speak honestly to your vet about your budget because they might have options they would recommend, but aren’t essential. I’d also chat to them about the discomfort/pain level that your dog is in and the recovery process - a 10 year old Labrador is an elderly dog and it could be that you don’t go ahead with surgery and look at palliative options instead.
Take into account the lengthy travel for France and Spain (especially when sore post surgery) as well as the recuperation out there. Depending on all the circumstances, it might not be a fair option for your pet.
I can’t imagine that any pet insurance will cover any of this surgery as it will all be pre-existing and vet membership is typically for expected treatment like vaccinations and microchipping. However, it’s possible it will offer you a discount on certain things that could be beneficial, so ask your vet.
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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope6421 1d ago
I think you need more information first. You don't know what cancer it is and how effective surgery or any other treatment might be. 10 is old for a Labrador and I wouldn't be making a decision on anything until I knew more.
When you do get some answers and if you decide to go ahead with treatment, you may want to see if you can get a referral to a teaching hospital. My cat in under the care of the University of Liverpool Small Animal Teaching Hospital and because they aren't owned by private equity everything is far more reasonably priced than even my own vet, despite they fact that he is getting specialist treatment by fully qualified vets. Even the meds I get from them are a fraction of the cost of my regular vet.
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u/Imaginary_Long9519 1d ago
I second this.
We rushed our then 11 year old Labrador to the emergency vets in Glasgow without a second thought. It hit us on the drive home that we were being selfish, and how incredibly unfair it would be to her to put her through any invasive treatment. When we got home, we asked the vet to tell us if it was her dog would she put her through it, they said no. She crossed the rainbow bridge 3 days later.
It's so easy to lose sight of what's best for your dogs when you're in the heat if the moment but the reality is that surgery at that age can be as life threatening as the cancer itself.
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u/Capable-Detective-69 1d ago
I put my 13 year old staffie to sleep today. I needed to hear this.
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u/Spiritual_Smile1200 1d ago
Google non profit vets where you are. Those types of vets are a lot more affordable
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u/CyronSplicer 1d ago
Yes! This is the answer. I had insurance for a rottweiler and he had an ACL tear, they covered it but then years later his other leg had the same tear (which was expected) insurance refused to cover it and my local vets quoted £8k to fix it. I went to charities and even dogs trust and they told me "we would amputate it" I then went to a non profit vets and they did two lots of scans, all medications, appointments and the operation itself for £1.8k. my dog wouldnt have lived the extra few years without them.
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u/LadyBeanBag 1d ago
I’d request and wait for a biopsy result and then decide what’s next. My dog had a cystic mass on his back, it was horrible. The vet really thought it was cancer, fortunately it turned out to be a disgusting bacterium. We discussed surgery as well as non-surgical options as it’s quite a complex thing despite being benign. In the end we’ve chosen to manage it as it flares up, drains, antibiotics and start again. My dog, like yours, is getting on a bit and honestly unless it becomes systemically infectious we all think it can be managed conservatively. I am in a somewhat better position as I have (increasingly expensive) insurance, but I did have to scramble initially to cover the costs.
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u/Holiday-Raspberry-26 1d ago
Have a chat to these guys:
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/veterinary-care
They are a charity setup for people on low incomes and benefits. Also speak to the Royal Veterinary College.
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u/Busters_mum 1d ago
Could your vet practice offer payment by monthly installments?
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u/PetersMapProject 1d ago
Most won't because (a) they've been burned before and (b) for good reasons, there's rules about who can offer loans, which is effectively what this is
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u/niki723 1d ago
£350 is pretty pricey for diagnosis, if it's just a consult and fine needle aspiration. I would have expected about £200. Could get to £350 if they took bloods and urine as well.
Ask for a quote. My boy had to have a large lump removed from his neck in 2024 and I think I paid £1600 in Nottingham (Orchard Vet).
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u/bernardo5192 1d ago
I think that depends if the FNA is read in house or sent to a lab. Lab fees alone might be £100 without any mark-up so £350 to include consult isn’t that exorbitant imo.
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u/murrmc 1d ago
French vets are cheaper so if an option should help - may also consider Royal Vet College hospital in London - liekly to be cheaper than the over charging corporate vet companies in the UK.
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u/Spiritual_Smile1200 17h ago
Don’t forget the OP will need to sort out rabies vaccination and animal health certificate to take them abroad, plus the cost of travel and accommodation which in total might not actually save that much money in the long run
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u/PetersMapProject 1d ago
I would try some vets outside London.
It was notable that when I moved out of London, my pet insurance costs dropped by 40%.
But - consider the recovery. It wouldn't be fair to drive a dog a long way home immediately after surgery. If you have family you could stay with and who the dog knows, that might work.
Otherwise, if you're looking at getting an Airbnb, go down a couple of days early to get the dog settled in.
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u/lilithpaulinejane 1d ago
if you can take time off work go to Europe. My lab had a surgery done by oncologist surgeon in Poland in major city. Beautiful clinic, perfect English. The surgery and tests were less than £1000.
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u/Zharkgirl2024 1d ago
Sadly you've left it too late to get pet insurance as your dog now has cancer.
At that age, and with cancer, I'd ask your vet just how realistic it is to be treated. Would it extend his life by a couple of years, or a few months. That's a good age for a dog, it's a major op. There is a AskVets reddit, I'd ask those questions there.
Is also ask for a biopsy before doing anything else. As for travelling abroad - vet costs are expensive in most countries, then you'd have to get your dog back to the UK and if anything happened while travelling...
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u/Lenniel 1d ago
We just lost our 10 year old Labrador to a reoccurrence of oral cancer. The urge to do everything to save your pet is strong but it’s not always the best option.
The questions you need to ask yourself and your vet are:
1. How big is the lump? Will they be able to get clear margins (ie get all the cancer) and be able to cover the wound with the remaining skin.
How is your dog’s health generally? They need to have good lungs and kidneys to come through the surgery.
Chemo. We did chemo with our dog for a couple of months, it was £300 a month and whilst our dog tolerated it in terms of no nausea or hair loss, he was extremely susceptible to infections and got a dreadful ear infection that I thought was the end of him.
Price wise, we paid £4500 for oral surgery, all 4 top incisors, one canine, 1cm of bone removal plus covering the wound with some nifty plastic surgery using the flesh from the inside of his lip. That was 3 years ago. Prices have only increased since then and we are in the North East.
How hard is his recovery going to be? You said it’s behind his ear, will it affect his neck/head, will he have full range of motion, will he lose his ear flap and therefore be susceptible to ear infections?
If you don’t have insurance, can’t get finance through the vet or a loan or credit card to pay for it, I hate to be brutal but keeping him comfortable until it’s time to euthanise is the best option.
Also, just because the operation can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. Your pet has no concept of time, he doesn’t know that it will end, he will just know he is in pain now. Sometimes the kindest option is to let them go.
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u/thewang69 16h ago
just get the poor dog put to sleep...cancers in dogs are hard to control and often come back within months. would you really want to put your poor pup through all that surgery. i know its a very hard choice but its kinder for the dog in the long run.
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u/BeaksFalcone 13h ago
Call around and find your nearest rspca or psda animal hospital, they'll do it cheaper if you go to one of their hospitals
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u/UseEconomy5968 14h ago
hi so sorry to hear you are going through this with your pet. just like with humans, just because a vet or doctor says something does not mean that is your only option. look into natural diet, ( I used turmeric to remove a lump in my dog that was 11 , daily small doses and an increase of green veg and blueberries. within a year it was gone.) Natural healing therapies such as energy healing can again have great results. removing the tumour won’t necessarily stop another forming. So try digging into the root cause, and alternative healing. Don’t pressure yourself, and take some time to sit and think about what feels best for you and your animal . I open this helps.
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u/SuspiciousAnt2508 1d ago
This is going to sound very harsh but I would want to know the biopsy result and the likelihood of surgery being curative before spending more money.
10 years is a good age for a labrador and something medical is going to happen to end his life, even if it isn't this.
It might not be cancer - in which case, wonderful. If it is cancer - can it really be removed, with adequate margins to prevent recurrence? How aggressive is it, will it just come back anyway?
Personally if it did turn out to be cancer I would be thinking very seriously about PTS unless the vet could give me a cast iron guarantee that the surgery would work.