Spleen mass removal - expense of surgery - Page 1

I have an 11 year old Border Collie/Golden Retriever mix that is typically a very friendly but hyper and needy dog.  When her demeanor changed within a few hours, I knew something was seriously wrong!  She had labored breathing, wouldn't eat, acted lethargic and could not get herself up to go outside.  We immediately took her to the animal hospital in town well know for the specialized medicine vets in the entire state.  They immediately knew something was wrong and after x-rays and blood work, discovered she had an enormous mass that had ruptured.  The internal bleeding caused the anemia, which is why she was so weak and lethargic.  They immediately started a blood transfusion and said they would get her to surgery right away.  The concern was that if they opened her up and the mass was too far gone, they wouldn't be able to remove it and would have to euthanize her.  Fortunately, they were able to remove it.  All the vets seem optimistic that this tumor is benign, but everything I read suggested it is more likely to be malignant.  I am still waiting for those results to come back. 

So, when I get the news about needing surgery right away, I get an estimate that the cost will be anywhere from $2,000 - $4,000 and my response was "do whatever it takes."  I was not prepared to lose my 11 year old furry kiddo.  After the surgery, we went to see her and had a better idea of the cost.  I am excited that she has pulled through the surgery really well and that there is some probability of the tumor being benign, but wonder if my desparation might have resulted in a higher expense.  The overall bill was $3,381 with $500 being for the blood transfusion.  Also, my dog is about 70 lbs.  Does this seem normal for this type of surgery?  All of my friends who have used this animal hospital say it's quite expensive and it's worth the cost - I just have a sick feeling that my desparation might have been more costly.  With that said, my regular vet understood why I rushed her to the animal hospital instead of bringing her to the clinic, but he did say the surgery might have been cheaper if I would have called them.  Does anyone have thoughts about these costs and would you have done the same? 

Hopefully, the biopsy results come back as a benign tumor and I will feel 100% better about having spent that much for surgery! 
 

I had the some surgery performed on my 10.5 yr old GSD in Oct. Total cost was just over $1000.
There was no need for a transfusion for my dog, although I had my "volunteer" donors standing by, and as it was an emergency procedure, done at our regular veterinary hospital on only hours' notice, no complex lab tests or expensive diagnostics were performed. Had we had time to do any of that, the bill would probably have been a lot higher, an MRI alone costing $2300. I hope your dog recovers quickly and without complication, as mine did.
One thing for sure: time IS of the essence in a case like you described. If the tumor ruptures,or even begins to leak heavily, as yours did (I lost my Onyx that way) the dog will go into hypovolemic shock, often dying very quickly. Your dog is very fortunate you were right there, and so observant. Onyx's tumor ruptured on a weekend, all local vets closed in the area of PA we lived, and it was nearly an hour drive to the emergency hospital. I would have gladly spent $10,000. to save him, but by the time we got there, he was beyond help... As it was the emergency hospital charged me $600. to put him to sleep. He had bled internally to the point they could hardly even find his juglar vein, only lapsed out of unconsciousness long enough to let me quicly say good-bye.

Presuming that this also include all of the pre-surgical work (the exam, x-rays and bloodwork), that sounds about right to me for a splenectomy on a 70# dog, given that this is a specialty hospital, the spleen had already ruptured and the dog already had internal bleeding and needed transfusing; I would expect it to also include the cost to have the mass biopsied. 

As to whether your desperation may have caused you to spend more than necessary, you can't beat yourself up over that--there's no way of knowing if she would have been able to be transfused at your regular clinic, for example...most clinics don't keep blood in stock, and donor dogs are fine unless the recipient dog needs more than the donor dog can supply in a single day, whereas a specialty clinic that does a lot of surgery is usually better equipped to handle acute and severe hemostatsis in surgical situations.

Hoping the pathology report comes back with a benign verdict, too.

After testing the last was an ultra sound at $450 my total testing came to $1,300. My dog had 2 masses one on spleen and one on liver. Asked for a breakdown on price I was quoted $1,600 at the low end and $2,250 on the high end. My dog had already bloated and an injection withdrew blood from internal bleeding. No guarantees were given by the vet. Mortality rate was high and life expectancy after surgery was short. My dog died at home where he was used to and comfortable living not at some vets office, diagnosis Hermangiosarcoma. VB

You went to a specialty hospital? Prices are generally higher there to begin with. My vet would probably do that surgery for $1200 ish. I am sure the surgery took awhile to complete, hence the cost. You paid it, your dog pulled through so far, get over the cost.

Hey, if your dog didn't expire on the table you can be guardedly pleased and hopeful. Mine recovered without incident, didn't even fool with his incision. (I could have skipped ordering the no-bite collar I had shipped overnight, LOL) Hopefully yours will too.
I do wonder whether the embolism that lodged in his spine in April might have broken off the internal wound site, but we'll never know. I'm just grateful to have my boy for as long as he is enjoying life. The splenctomy seems like a walk in the park compared to what he went through 6 wks ago.

How is the dog doing? Update?

I have a soon to be 13 year old shepherd who was 11.5 at the time.  Cyst on the spleen, was not sure if cancerous or not and would not be able to tell until after surgery and biopsy.  I took him to the best here in NYC.  He was there for two days, due to his age, blood transfusion, MRI, CAT, and they neutered him while he was there.  They found small cyst on his liver as well.  Total cost about $4,300.  All came back negative and he had full recovery.  It was a large surgery with a weeks recovery time.  Worth every penny

My 7 month old had an intersusseption operated on that didn't involve cutting the bowel, & subsequent plicating of the bowel, a whole lot of stapling....the cost of the surgery, surgeon, & 2 days of observation at the surgical center....$3,700.00. The initial diagnosis at my local vets.....$375.00. A healthy, happy goof-ball.......priceless! jackie harris

Just had to put down our 14 yr old terrier mix last week due to hemangiosarcoma on spleen and liver which caused a lot of internal bleeding and seizures.  Very sad.  She was a rescue and we loved her dearly. 

Hope your dog recovers well.