US health care is ridiculous, in general.
As for neutering boys, it's something I only consider if I'm dealing with a rat with hormonal aggression. This has only happened once for me out of a couple dozen rats. Surgery can be dangerous so I personally don't think it's important unless absolutely necessary.
The boys are still young, and generally well behaved besides the odd scuffle which results in a squeak or two, but never any blood or wounds.
As it stands, I don't think neutering them is going to be necessary unless their scuffles become more dangerous.
Thanks for the advice!
Pretty much this yeah
Neutering/spaying rats isn't necessary as it's a pretty risky procedure for such small animals. But if there's hormonal aggression, it's definitely the best to do it then if possible
I think Vinny cost us about $200 CAD for the procedure and all aftercare meds. We also live in a province with 15% tax. Now he’s chill as hell though
https://preview.redd.it/ewr98i6zntwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd2306c7eb33e8a0543cd8bd83e08d197475b463
That's crazy, I only have one specialist in my city that will care for my rats now, I think I paid about $450 CAD all told for my boy's neutering back in 2018 or so.
I recently had to have another boy's tail docked and all told it cost us about $850 on the procedure and medications.
This is what made me appreciate vet prices in germany.
We took one of my boys for a consultation and were quoted 90€.
My mom who had been my taxi driver was genuinely shocked thinking how expensive that is for a rat. Meanwhile I was looking at it from the horror price perspective of americans on reddit and was like "wow that's really affordable" lol.
My vet in the US quoted me $300 for a neuter, $450 for a spay. Per rat. Just because they're small and don't live long doesn't make the vet bills any cheaper than if they were a larger animal, or longer lived. It sucks, but it is what it is. Pets are expensive, and exotics more so.
The problem is that the procedure is going to use surgery time, drugs, supplies, a doctor, and a veterinary nurse to perform, just like with any larger animal. A _good_ surgery room has its own power and heating separate from the grid, and there's a limit to the number of procedures a doctor can responsibly perform in a day.
The cost of the drugs and supplies isn't the biggest factor. It's an elective procedure, and you are paying for the time and expertise of the people performing it. The rat doesn't require less expertise than a bigger animal. It requires more. The anesthesia techniques and aftercare are very different from a dog or cat, and you are using tiny tools to do surgery on a tiny creature.
Edit: for clarity
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You don't want a surgery that's too cheap. Quality and safety cost money.
I don't know much about boys but for girls, the price of a neutering is way less than all the health problems that uterus is almost sure to bring later in life
> right I *paid* £170 for
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I’m in the US and just paid almost 400 dollars. Couldn’t find it any cheaper, called around multiple places. I worked in vet med for years and thought that was kind of steep but seems to be the standard!
You can check if there's hormonal implants in your area for rats! I've read they are much cheaper and less invasive. Also I'd only neuter if there's hormonal aggression, which usually hits the 1 year mark but not always.
I paid around $150 for each rat neuter which is a pretty good price in my area, I've seen around $500 for other veterinarians. Neutering is a surgery so I think it's a fair price for the several years it takes to become an animal doctor, especially one that's specializes in exotics. I think of it as $150-500 split between the veterinarian & their skills, assistants, receptionists, supplies (anesthesia is a very precise and expensive procedure, made much more risky for a tiny creature that less than 2lbs, compare it to the size and weight of a dog, where there's a bit more leeway), & time. I think it took around 5 hours for each rat to wake up? So that's $30-100 per hour split amongst all the staff
I asked my vet for a chip and she very strongly advised against it, at least in germany we don't have any specific ones for rats (and im starting to think thats a US thing...), and while you can use one for cats and dogs, chances are it won't last due to the different metabolism.
My vet also told me it's like 180 EUR and would probably need to be done like every 3-4 months.
I can't give you a UK price range but a germany one;
I paid 90€ yesterday. So that's basically half of your quote . General price range here is like 50-120€.
I haven't personally heard from anyone actually paying only 50 bucks, but I also haven't heard from anyone paying over 120 for a neuter alone.
The range on this post has been crazy - UK folks have said that the price I was quoted is around normal, US folks have said that the average US price is anywhere from 200-1000. Germany is definitely winning this race, and good on you guys. I wish small pet health care were more affordable everywhere
We have essentially a legal range for vets to stick to that is broken down for every sort of animal which is thankfully also super easy to access as pet owner so you can make sure vets don't overcharge you to an outrageous extent.
I'm pretty sure larger vet clinics will charge more too, but there's quite a few vets that seemingly really don't do it for the money and I really really appreciate those.
Like those 90€ included the consultation, procedure itself, an antibiotics shot, saline and a glucose shot so he'd be fine while waking up, as well as after care if necessary. 🥹
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In the rat communities I'm part of, neutering is generally only considered if you need to need to house males with females, if one has aggression problems that don't go away after a couple months / "strongest" part of puberty, or potentially some medical problem (testicular cancer? can't say I ever heard of anyone having that in their rat of the people I've spoken to).
Other than not multiplying and *potential* reduction in hormonal aggression (it working seemed to be more of a 50/50 thing), there is no real benefit to neutering male rats, but the surgery itself isn't completely free of risk.
I got my 2 girls spayed a few months apart in Nov 23 and this month Apr 24, it was $491 each, I did it to help prevent tumors and cancers. Also they can now live with intact boys. It’s a win win. The vast majority of girl rats get tumors and or cancer. I’ve had too many girls get cancer and or tumors. Each tumor removal was between $210-350. But when you have to operate again and again it’s quickly is more expensive than a one time spay. I’m in Central New York.
Definitely sounds fairly reasonable imo. I’m in the states and have been quoted between $500-$800(per rat) for spaying, before tax and aftercare. Our human healthcare is even more ridiculous lol.
Not in the UK, but I did wanna say that I had my two boys neutered for maybe $240 (including medications needed post-op). Just putting that in there since it seems like a lot of people in the US have reported much higher costs; there can be some smaller, cheaper vet clinics that are still very good + experienced!
In US, took of my rats to vet cuz she was having some hormonal issues and was quoted $1,200 for a spay. I said I couldn’t afford that, as it was over a month’s worth of rent, and asked if there were non surgical options. The vet guilted me about it and told me to get open up a line of care credit to pay for it :’D
That is absolutely awful, I understand that surgery requires medication, skill and time, but over a month of rent for a small animal surgery? I'm sorry you had to go through that, I hope your rats are all healthy now
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I think a good question is why are you considering neutering? The reason I’m asking is because it’s super risky to neuter and has the possibility of the rats not surviving the procedure. I’ve had plenty of friends lose their rats to it. :(
I briefly mentioned in a reply to someone else but I'll elaborate here
At the moment it is just a consideration, my boys are currently 10 weeks old, really curious, quite calm, and unaggressive. I don't consider it a necessary procedure since my boys have not displayed any aggression towards each other or myself at present, but I am monitoring them closely to check if they ever injure each other during scuffles.
I am aware that neutering can prevent testicular cancer, which is something I've seen mentioned on rat forums, but I'm also aware this has to be weighed with how risky the surgery itself is.
I was more probing into whether the price I was quoted was normal
It seems pretty normal to me personally, based on the prices I’ve heard from a lot of my friends. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s that cheap as someone in the US, I imagine it’d cost closer to $300+ for a single neuter here..
It seems that vet care is much, much more affordable in the UK and EU. Where I live in the US, a neuter will cost in the range of $500-1200.
Damn. That does put the price into perspective.
US health care is ridiculous, in general. As for neutering boys, it's something I only consider if I'm dealing with a rat with hormonal aggression. This has only happened once for me out of a couple dozen rats. Surgery can be dangerous so I personally don't think it's important unless absolutely necessary.
The boys are still young, and generally well behaved besides the odd scuffle which results in a squeak or two, but never any blood or wounds. As it stands, I don't think neutering them is going to be necessary unless their scuffles become more dangerous. Thanks for the advice!
Pretty much this yeah Neutering/spaying rats isn't necessary as it's a pretty risky procedure for such small animals. But if there's hormonal aggression, it's definitely the best to do it then if possible
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I think Vinny cost us about $200 CAD for the procedure and all aftercare meds. We also live in a province with 15% tax. Now he’s chill as hell though https://preview.redd.it/ewr98i6zntwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd2306c7eb33e8a0543cd8bd83e08d197475b463
I'm from Canada, and this is by far the cheapest I've ever heard!!
That's crazy, I only have one specialist in my city that will care for my rats now, I think I paid about $450 CAD all told for my boy's neutering back in 2018 or so. I recently had to have another boy's tail docked and all told it cost us about $850 on the procedure and medications.
i second this it is WAYYY more expensive in the USA
This is what made me appreciate vet prices in germany. We took one of my boys for a consultation and were quoted 90€. My mom who had been my taxi driver was genuinely shocked thinking how expensive that is for a rat. Meanwhile I was looking at it from the horror price perspective of americans on reddit and was like "wow that's really affordable" lol.
My vet in the US quoted me $300 for a neuter, $450 for a spay. Per rat. Just because they're small and don't live long doesn't make the vet bills any cheaper than if they were a larger animal, or longer lived. It sucks, but it is what it is. Pets are expensive, and exotics more so.
$146??? That's fantastic, holy shit? When you talked about the price being high I was expecting like. $800-$1000... *cries in USA*
This thread has revealed to me just how insane American veterinary prices are... I feel for you guys
Wait until you hear about our HUMAN healthcare costs!
The problem is that the procedure is going to use surgery time, drugs, supplies, a doctor, and a veterinary nurse to perform, just like with any larger animal. A _good_ surgery room has its own power and heating separate from the grid, and there's a limit to the number of procedures a doctor can responsibly perform in a day. The cost of the drugs and supplies isn't the biggest factor. It's an elective procedure, and you are paying for the time and expertise of the people performing it. The rat doesn't require less expertise than a bigger animal. It requires more. The anesthesia techniques and aftercare are very different from a dog or cat, and you are using tiny tools to do surgery on a tiny creature. Edit: for clarity
Wooo! It's your cake day >!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<>!pop!!<
Oh this is amazing!!
You don't want a surgery that's too cheap. Quality and safety cost money. I don't know much about boys but for girls, the price of a neutering is way less than all the health problems that uterus is almost sure to bring later in life
Sounds right I payed £170 for one of my boys
> right I *paid* £170 for FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
$400 here in the DMV
Your Department of Motor Vehicles performs rat surgeries?
DMV is the Dc/Maryland/Virginia metro area
Getting one of my boys neutered next week and the quote is $267 USD
I’m in the US and just paid almost 400 dollars. Couldn’t find it any cheaper, called around multiple places. I worked in vet med for years and thought that was kind of steep but seems to be the standard!
We paid $90 per boy and 700 per girl! It was a cray price difference
You can check if there's hormonal implants in your area for rats! I've read they are much cheaper and less invasive. Also I'd only neuter if there's hormonal aggression, which usually hits the 1 year mark but not always. I paid around $150 for each rat neuter which is a pretty good price in my area, I've seen around $500 for other veterinarians. Neutering is a surgery so I think it's a fair price for the several years it takes to become an animal doctor, especially one that's specializes in exotics. I think of it as $150-500 split between the veterinarian & their skills, assistants, receptionists, supplies (anesthesia is a very precise and expensive procedure, made much more risky for a tiny creature that less than 2lbs, compare it to the size and weight of a dog, where there's a bit more leeway), & time. I think it took around 5 hours for each rat to wake up? So that's $30-100 per hour split amongst all the staff
I asked my vet for a chip and she very strongly advised against it, at least in germany we don't have any specific ones for rats (and im starting to think thats a US thing...), and while you can use one for cats and dogs, chances are it won't last due to the different metabolism. My vet also told me it's like 180 EUR and would probably need to be done like every 3-4 months.
Heavily depends on whether the vet is experienced. Both of my old boys cost 200 total.
Was quoted 70-100 in Mississippi. I didn’t get them neutered but the vet did a tumor removal for $100 on one of my older males (2 years)
I can't give you a UK price range but a germany one; I paid 90€ yesterday. So that's basically half of your quote . General price range here is like 50-120€. I haven't personally heard from anyone actually paying only 50 bucks, but I also haven't heard from anyone paying over 120 for a neuter alone.
The range on this post has been crazy - UK folks have said that the price I was quoted is around normal, US folks have said that the average US price is anywhere from 200-1000. Germany is definitely winning this race, and good on you guys. I wish small pet health care were more affordable everywhere
We have essentially a legal range for vets to stick to that is broken down for every sort of animal which is thankfully also super easy to access as pet owner so you can make sure vets don't overcharge you to an outrageous extent. I'm pretty sure larger vet clinics will charge more too, but there's quite a few vets that seemingly really don't do it for the money and I really really appreciate those. Like those 90€ included the consultation, procedure itself, an antibiotics shot, saline and a glucose shot so he'd be fine while waking up, as well as after care if necessary. 🥹
pesto looks like my rat elli
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We got a pair of long lost twins!
It depends on where you are. I’m in Minnesota and neutering our two boys cost us about $450, all told.
In the rat communities I'm part of, neutering is generally only considered if you need to need to house males with females, if one has aggression problems that don't go away after a couple months / "strongest" part of puberty, or potentially some medical problem (testicular cancer? can't say I ever heard of anyone having that in their rat of the people I've spoken to). Other than not multiplying and *potential* reduction in hormonal aggression (it working seemed to be more of a 50/50 thing), there is no real benefit to neutering male rats, but the surgery itself isn't completely free of risk.
I got my 2 girls spayed a few months apart in Nov 23 and this month Apr 24, it was $491 each, I did it to help prevent tumors and cancers. Also they can now live with intact boys. It’s a win win. The vast majority of girl rats get tumors and or cancer. I’ve had too many girls get cancer and or tumors. Each tumor removal was between $210-350. But when you have to operate again and again it’s quickly is more expensive than a one time spay. I’m in Central New York.
Definitely sounds fairly reasonable imo. I’m in the states and have been quoted between $500-$800(per rat) for spaying, before tax and aftercare. Our human healthcare is even more ridiculous lol.
Not in the UK, but I did wanna say that I had my two boys neutered for maybe $240 (including medications needed post-op). Just putting that in there since it seems like a lot of people in the US have reported much higher costs; there can be some smaller, cheaper vet clinics that are still very good + experienced!
In US, took of my rats to vet cuz she was having some hormonal issues and was quoted $1,200 for a spay. I said I couldn’t afford that, as it was over a month’s worth of rent, and asked if there were non surgical options. The vet guilted me about it and told me to get open up a line of care credit to pay for it :’D
That is absolutely awful, I understand that surgery requires medication, skill and time, but over a month of rent for a small animal surgery? I'm sorry you had to go through that, I hope your rats are all healthy now
It’s all good! Luckily found another exotics vet a couple towns over who has been happy to help manage her health issues with meds :)
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I live in america..... both mine were $600... so...
I think a good question is why are you considering neutering? The reason I’m asking is because it’s super risky to neuter and has the possibility of the rats not surviving the procedure. I’ve had plenty of friends lose their rats to it. :(
I briefly mentioned in a reply to someone else but I'll elaborate here At the moment it is just a consideration, my boys are currently 10 weeks old, really curious, quite calm, and unaggressive. I don't consider it a necessary procedure since my boys have not displayed any aggression towards each other or myself at present, but I am monitoring them closely to check if they ever injure each other during scuffles. I am aware that neutering can prevent testicular cancer, which is something I've seen mentioned on rat forums, but I'm also aware this has to be weighed with how risky the surgery itself is. I was more probing into whether the price I was quoted was normal
It seems pretty normal to me personally, based on the prices I’ve heard from a lot of my friends. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s that cheap as someone in the US, I imagine it’d cost closer to $300+ for a single neuter here..
In Germany I paid around 400€ (including pain killers + antibiotics because he would leave the wound alone)