What is typical cost of serious avian medical treatment/surgery?

[James121515]

Hi guys,

I am a long time bird owner. Right now I have four birds: a sun conure, a green cheek, and two Meyers parrots. Luckily, it's been a while since I have needed to take any of my birds to the vet, but I know that being prepared financially for medical treatment is important, especially since I want to get at least one more bird, which would put me at 5 or more birds. I was even thinking about investigating whether you can buy some sort of avian medical insurance. Anyway, my question is: what is the typical upper bound for the cost of a major avian medical procedure? I remember once when I was a kid we had a cockatiel who seriously cut open his bottom when landing on the sharp tip of a lamp, and the vet managed to save him but had to do a serious 4 hour long job involving anesthesia and stitching. I don't know how much it cost, but it does have me wondering what to expect. I would never not pay to treat my animals, but I definitely want to be prepared.

 

[weco]

Realistically, the answer to your question is anywhere from $50 to $2,000 to whatever.....I had a maroon-belly lose a toe to a cage bite...the vet visit that included anesthesia, removing the toe at a joint, cleaning the wound, pulling a skin flap over the wound, two very small stitches, an antibiotic shot, a pain shot & two carry-out anti-bio syringes and 30 minutes of the vet's & tech's time, all for the inclusive price of $185.....

A leg amputation can be twice to three times that price or more, depending on bird size, while I have seen numbers for a wing amputation run $1,200 to $1,800 and have heard of a cancer surgery that ran in the $3,000+ range.....

I know that many people do not have the ability to set aside several thousand $$$ for pet health care, but a savings account of $3,000, for health care, might be a good target.....

There have been a couple of insurance companies (in the U.S.) offering pet insurance, but you need to read all of the fine print very carefully.....outside of the U.S., pet insurance has been more readily available.....you might inquire if your vet has a pre-pay plan for different procedures.....

 

[henpecked]

We looked at getting a amazon hen treated for cancer. Chemo,radiation,meds,surgery,etc was about 2,500 tops, maybe as little as 1500. i can't think of anything more expensive than that. Of course that same bird has been costing me about 200$ per month for the last 18 months. I don't think the average vet bill is that bad for a a one time issue,yeah the lab work cost alot. It's long term care that gets expensive. The moral of that story is, feed your birds right, and be careful with older rescues, some come with a load of baggage.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I'll give you 3 examples of what treatments have cost me.

In 2003 my Hunter developed a growth on her third eyelid so of course I took her to an avian vet. The consensus was to have it removed, AFTER running all sorts of tests first, and sending the growth to pathology. All in all that bill (including surgery which lasted 10 minutes) was a little over $1,200. The growth came back within 1 week, BEFORE I even had the pathology results. The avian vet who performed the surgery suggested I go through the entire ordeal again, NO discount either.

In 2009 my DYH Quincy literally fell ill overnight, so he was rushed to an avian vet. Over $2,000 later he died in my arms that same night. (liver)

Back to my Hunter: Last year I decided to have her growth removed again on the eyelid because it started growing and irritating her. I paid a little over $300 for a very thorough checkup, including blood work, and one week later she had the surgery, and it cost me exactly $180. (This growth turned out to be a Xanthoma)

 

[Mayden]

Oh wow, you're asking for too specific information when there's so many things that could happen!

Now you guys are quoting $3000k as a ballpark number whereas for Merlin's leg I was quoted £2,500.

£2,500 translates into roughly $3725

I got in contact with a vets the other night asking them for an estimate on how much the surgery to correct Merlin's splayed leg would cost.

I would be happy leaving his leg as it is but unfortunately I'm far too anxious about the added damage he's doing to his joints on his leg. I don't want him to be hurting when he could have this fixed with some surgery and a few weeks recovery!

Anyway, I'll give you the details this lady gave me, just so you can all look in horror at the amount of money I'm looking to cough up for this. (I'm unemployed by the way due to health.)

The referral appointment will cost £112.85 (the appointment will be with our Avian Vet Neil Forbes). During the appointment we will assess the extent of Merlin's problem and decide upon the best course of treatment - and we will then give you a full and accurate estimate of the costs involved. VERY roughly costs may or may not include;
A referral re-check appointment costs £92.93 but I could not say at this stage how many re-checks would be required
An anaesthetic for a bird costs £85.09 per 15 mins (this is usually discounted for lengthy procedures) but I couldn't guarantee how long surgery would be - it could be half an hour to 2 hours or more
The referral cost for this type of surgery is normally £582.05 (but again I would need Neil to confirm if this is the surgery that would be done) and
Hospitalisation and fluid costs (without drugs - which would certainly be required) would be in the region of £71.86 per day

112.85
92.93
85.09 x2-8
582.05
71.86 xprobably a few days.
+ then more for medication and possibly more checks.

So we're looking about 2k/2.5k GBP. (Not including travel and possibly staying over, which is around £70 for a return train ticket from where we are to the vets. & I would have to make a few of those journeys for dropping him off, picking him up and any pre-surgery checks etc)

After all that I'd have to consider the after care he'd need and any long term problems that could arise with that. I know with Merlin we'll be looking at arthritis meds in the future (a while off yet I hope!). & that will cost us a small fortune each and every month.

I'd suggest insurance - or a credit card, or large savings (I'd go for $5,000 - especially with multiple birds. What happens if one gets a bacterial infection and your whole flock gets sick!). Like Weco(?) said, with insurance make sure it covers everything you want and is on a rolling basis - not a 'X ailment not covered after Y years'.

We haven't gotten insurance for Merlin because his complications are likely to be 'leg related' which they just won't cover. Instead we have credit cards a-waiting for anything to happen. We'll look into insurance for Charlie, but might just have him with credit cards too.

So, to sum it up, $5,000 would be my savings goal.

 

[U2gal]

$1000 is average I think.

One of my cockatoos needs corrective lazer eye surgery on his lens in his left eye. Will cost $5,000.

 

[SandyBee]

This really depends on the type of injury.
I know of an indian ring neck who had her beak ripped off by a cockatoo and surgery was 8000.00, but that is not typical. I would say if you have 2500.00 available you should get through most things.

 

[Jayyj]

I've gone down the insurance route - costs about £16 a month and covers me for up to £3500 a year in vet's bills and insures the bird itself (I know, not nice to think about).

My elderly cat is uninsurable and I had to pay out big money for her to have an operation a few years back. I had to borrow money to pay for it, and it's not a situation I would like to find myself in again. I'd do it again if I had to but insurance seems a safer option.