Cost Of Vaccinations/ Screenings

[Guest badderh]

Pretty easy question here (or at least I'm hoping ), just trying to prepare myself for when I call my pup's vet on Monday to confirm his appointment for vaccinations and screenings.

 

This is my first time getting a round of vaccinations/screenings for him, he is getting his rabies vaccination, DHLPP vaccination, an annual heartworm test, and a heartworm prevention and intestinal worms screening done.

 

I've been told by other grey owners that my vet is expensive, but no one has really been able to give me a comparison that shows me otherwise.

 

Can anyone give me a ball park range of how much this should cost and break it down for me?

[Finnsliz]

At my vet which was on the North Shore of Massachusetts that visit would have been around the 150$ range. This is a pretty expensive area of the country in general.

[Guest kess]

don't know about in the US but in Australia all vets seem pretty pricey to me

 

costs a lot more to take animal to vet than for me to see my doctor for just a consult

[cleptogrey]

generally $30 per shot, looking at the bill right now-bortadella was $32. i don't check for heartworm since my dogs are on a preventative all year long and i skip a fecal check unless there are signs of worms- the heart worm preventative takes care of that. make sure get get parvo vaccine!

 

the only time i get a check for heart worm is if we are trying to uncover a medical mystery and there is a possibility of hw(tests have ALWAYS been negative- that stuff really works)

Edited October 13, 2012 by cleptogrey

[Feisty49]

Annie Bella had her annual in April with shots. Costs were:

 

Office visit w/annual physical exam: $47.50

Canine 4DX test: $49.00

Bordetella (annual): $25.00

DP2PP Vaccination (3 years): $28.00

Rabies Vaccination (3 years): $25.50

 

That totals about $176, give or take (I added it in my head).

[Cynthia]

Heartworm test is advisable regardless of whether the dog has been on preventives. Medications sometimes fail, and you need to catch it early. Defintely worth the small cost. Most vets will not prescribe more meds unless a test is done annually to ensure the dog is not positive.

 

On the DHLPP, reminder that this is needed only every three years, not annually. (Some vets are still giving annually and this is NOT recommended by the AAHA). So if the group you adopted from had him vaccinated, he is covered. You can titer if any concerns. I titer my dogs annually and have never had to redo the DHLPP. Titers are slightly more costly than than vaccinations but there is no benefit in over vaccinating (risk in fact), and then you can vaccinate only if the antibodies are too low.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Cynthia

[Hubcitypam]

My vet -

Office visit - $45.50

Rabies - $12

DHLPP - $20

Snap test - $38.50

Bordatella - $20

------------------------------------

Shot clinic vet -

Office visit - $0 during 3 times a week clinics, $10 tech fee for just shots/HW testing other times

Rabies - $7

DHPP or DHLPP - $10

Heartworm test - $18

Bordatella $8

In Texas rabies has to be given under the supervision of a licensed vet so if you go in non shot clinic hours the vet will pop in just long enough for the tech to give the rabies shot. It is totally worth the $10 fee to avoid the cattle call during shot clinic hours. What is $53 there is over $150 at VCAs in Dallas.

 

Since Poodle is 13 or 14 all he gets is rabies and we just work that in on one his trips around the time it is due. My vet tests for HW every two years if the dog is kept on prevention year around.

 

don't know about in the US but in Australia all vets seem pretty pricey to me

 

costs a lot more to take animal to vet than for me to see my doctor for just a consult

My people doctor charged me $38 for a brief office vist when I didn't have insurance. The vet is more expensive.

[Newgreymom]

I also live in GR. what vet are you using? There is a vet in Byron Center thar is good and has a greyhound herself. Is this your first greyhound?? Good luck with the office visit...

[PatricksMom]

Call your vet, they should be used to answering the question about how much this stuff costs.

[RedHead]

Just to get an annual checkup (which isn't very thorough...maybe a minute or two) and vaccines costs me around $150. I don't need heartworm here, but where I used to live I got it and the bloodtest for it was around $100, not including the actual meds. So...probably around $250-300 depending.

[greytpups]

Just to get an annual checkup (which isn't very thorough...maybe a minute or two) and vaccines costs me around $150. I don't need heartworm here, but where I used to live I got it and the bloodtest for it was around $100, not including the actual meds. So...probably around $250-300 depending.

 

We always have to give heartworm meds...wonder why you don't since we're only a couple of hours away. Our office visit is $79 so we start at $158 before any vaccine injections. Plus we pay 14% tax. Our last bill was over $400 but also included 2 small bottles of prednisone, no rabies shot required this visit.

[Guest WhiteWave]

I just paid $46 for Keenan's puppy visit.

 

Included exam, DHLPP, Fecal, worming

 

Rabies are $25, Heartworm I think are around $25, but mine were always free with yearly bloodwork. Bordetella were $20 last time I got one.

[Guest badderh]

I also live in GR. what vet are you using? There is a vet in Byron Center thar is good and has a greyhound herself. Is this your first greyhound?? Good luck with the office visit...

 

Yes this is my first greyhound, that is actually the vet I am currently using. It was mentioned that she might be a little pricier than another grey vet in the area. But if her prices are about average then I'm not going to worry about it

[Hubcitypam]

You certainly don't need a "grey savvy" vet for routine shots and HW test.

[TwiggysMom]

Office visit: $62

Fecal: $49

Rabies: $37 (+$18 Cook Cty tag fee)

Intranasal Bordatella: $31

Bloodwork: (CBC + Heartworm test): $101

Distemper Combo (Da2P/CPV): $35

 

Some of the above costs are from a few years back - Twiggy doesn't get vaccinated anymore due to her cancer. I know prices have gone up significantly in recent years, so I'd probably have to tack on about 10% if I were to do all of these today. Chicago is fairly pricey though, it may be less expensive elsewhere. (also, my vet is fairly expensive even for Chicago, I pay less for bloodwork and office visits at the e-vet!)

 

They give me a prescription for the heartworm meds (Sentinel), and I buy those from a Vet-VIPPS certified online pharmacy. It is far less expensive to buy them that way, and still safe (although ordering them from out-of-country online pharmacies is not necessarily - prescription drugs sold in one country and shipped to another are not subject to either country's regulations).

[NeylasMom]

As of the last time I had these done (so a year or more on some), my vet charges the following:

 

exam $60

snap test (hw/tbd) $56

vaccines $17 on avg - some are more, some are less

 

I also do annual blood work, which includes a u/a and that runs me $145. A fecal would run me somewhere around $30-35 I think, but I don't run them routinely.

 

I do recommend you do a full blood panel at least on this visit so you have a baseline if he ever gets sick done the road. I've always done them annually, but given the cost, I think I may switch to doing them every other year unless we need one for some reason. I did find it useful to have a series of "normal" blood results to go back to when my first greyhound, Neyla got sick.

 

Anyway, for what you were asking about - exam, 2 vaccines, heartworm screening, and fecal - I would pay about $185. I'm near DC so vet costs here are fairly high although not as bad as in some cities like Boston.

[Guest badderh]

Thanks for the help everyone! I called them this morning and then let me know that it was going to be $125 for all of it (minus the boardatella now since we don't usually board him), based on what everyone has said I think that's pretty average/good!

[GeorgeofNE]

I rarely leave the vet spending less than $200.

 

And I don't buy either heartworm or flea/tick from them directly because their prices are insane. In fact I don't buy any drugs from them unless they're needed immediately.

 

Vets are very expensive around here--which I find odd because there are SO many of them with the vet school in the area! Guess they have to pay off those student loans!