# Vets4Pets lump removal £600?



## cavachonlover19 (Feb 15, 2019)

Hi all, I need some advice.

My dog is a small Cavachon, about 8.5kg and has a small cyst (about the size of a one pence coin) between her shoulder blades. I've been recommended to have it removed so I've gotten an estimate. The basic surgery cost is £444 but if I want and internal profile (pre-anesthetic blood test) and a "histology and interpretatino examination" (lab diagnosis of the lump) it'll bring the total to £615. This is with Vets4Pets inside Pets at Home.

What's your thoughts? I'm a young pet owner that works part time so this will be going through M&S Pet Insurance. Is this estimate quite high for what she's going to have done or is it around the average amount? I think I want to opt in for the other two optionals (blood test and examination of the lump in the lab) because I really want to know the chances of it coming back. Also is Vets4Pets a good vets to go to? Completely new to the area and had trouble finding a vets with high ratings so in the end went for this one. I've already paid £££ in vet bills since the start of this year because of continuous trips there.

Any thoughts and advice would be really appreciated. Cheers 

Edit: when she went in for her first consultation they did a fine needle check to pop it. Since then it's been popping on it's own and has been on 2 sets of medication for infection so that's why it needs to go. The vets have been really helpful


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Sounds about right to me, especially with lab cultures.
Unfortunately things like this aren't cheap...my dog recently had to have x-rays, scans, urine cultures and antibiotics after being diagnosed with prostatitis (infection in the prostate gland) and all that ended up at £987 (ish) 
That was with Vets4Pets in Cambridge so as I said, it sounds about right


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## cavachonlover19 (Feb 15, 2019)

Damn, poor pup. And yikes that's a hell of a cost. Makes me feel a bit reassured now though, thanks for sharing.


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2019)

Yes, I would say that was about the right amount based on everything I have ever had done.


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## Jobeth (May 23, 2010)

Check with your insurance company but with my dog as he had previous minor treatments that were related to his MRI etc Pet Plan counted that as the excess so it didn’t matter. My vet you have to pay up front but the specialist vet dealt directly with the insurance company as it was £3000.


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

@cavachonlover19: it does sound about right; such a relief to have insurance in these cases. My biggest vet bill (cat) was £4200 which was £3600 for the (specialist) operating vet and £600 for the referring vet. The only thing that the insurance co. refused to pay was a £400 consultation fee from the specialist. I actually did blame this on my vet who sent the cat up there at such short notice that they billed it as an ''emergency consultation'' when in fact the cat had been with him for nine days and could have been sent as a booked appointment. I think vets4pets are as reasonable as it gets; I have used them with no problems.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

As per what everyone else has said, just wanted to add hope the results all turn out ok for you both.


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

Is it a sebaceous cyst that she has? My Bichon had a couple of these in different places throughout her life but the vet never wanted to remove them. They usually pop on their own from my experience. The ones she had completely went away on their own.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

It sounds horrendously expensive to me but I live in the north of scotland. I thought my vets had got expensive but nothing like that thank goodness. I had some cysts removed while my dog was under anaesthetic for a throat biopsy. I think the whole bill was around £200 though that was a while ago. She has recently been in on a drip for 24 hours plus blood tests and x rays and it was less than £300.
I regretted having the group of cysts removed as it took ages to heal (on her side) and her hair did not grow back properly for ages. She almost immediately got a lot more cysts which I have left and have caused no trouble apart from rather a large one that stopped me using a harness but it disappeared after a couple of years.. My other dog has just one which I ignore. A friend's dog has loads too.


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

Yes I’ve read they can still come back after removal, I wouldn’t risk putting my dog under anaesthetic for a sebaceous cyst unless it was bothering the dog. My dogs was on her side and I used to just bathe it with salt and water when it popped and blood came out. It seemed to shrink away after the last time it popped.


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## tabelmabel (Oct 18, 2013)

It sounds horrendously expensive to me too - but I use an independent farm vet and they seem to be much cheaper.

I had a cyst taken off murphy, my tibetan terrier, in 2017.

He was going under anaesthetic anyway as there was a problem with his jaw. He couldn't open wide. So they wanted to see if they could force it open under anaesthetic. I asked for them to take the cyst off whilst he was under.

I think it was about £160 all in.


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## 2Hounds (Jun 24, 2009)

Sounds about right my friend paid just under 1k for lump removal & testing although he also had another lump that needed sorting at same time

Vets4pets like all practices the quality depends on the staff, but the investment allows vets/nurses to go into partnership to run own practice within brand so its in their own best interests to do well. I find prices reasonable & opening hours good. Very few practices offer own Out of hours cover & most send to vets now etc


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## 5r6ubertbe6y (Dec 5, 2017)

It sounds about right. Vet bills are expensive. My 18 month old kitty has only suffered minor ailments but I've already spent about a grand at the vets in total and I live in the North.


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