We ranked surgeries by what owners actually paid, using real vet bills in our data. For dogs, fracture repair surgery has the highest typical bill: most fall between $2,300 and $4,000. In vet quotes, TPLO surgery comes out on top, with most quotes between $4,500 and $7,750. For cats, urinary blockage treatment or surgery carries the highest quotes, most between $2,900 and $6,500. A surgery is ranked only when we have at least 8 bills for that species.
For comparison:
Most bills fall in the range shown. Not enough paid bills yet to rank: TPLO, spinal, hip, spleen removal, foreign body, pyometra, hernia, bloat (GDV) and C-section. A surgery needs at least 8 bills to be ranked.
For comparison:
Most quotes fall in the range shown. Not enough quotes yet: hip, pyometra, spinal, spleen removal, hernia and bloat (GDV). A surgery needs at least 8 quotes to be ranked.
For comparison:
Most bills fall in the range shown. Not enough paid bills yet to rank: foreign body and abdominal surgery, mass removal, wound repair, fracture repair, amputation and eye surgery. A surgery needs at least 8 bills to be ranked.
Most quotes fall in the range shown. Not enough quotes yet: amputation, foreign body surgery, fracture repair and pyometra. A surgery needs at least 8 quotes to be ranked.
A quote usually covers the whole planned stay and often lists the top of the vet's range. Paid bills can be split — a deposit and a final invoice, or one invoice per day in the hospital — so one paid invoice is sometimes only part of the full cost.
The surgery fee is often the smaller part of the total. Nights in the hospital, a specialist or emergency hospital, imaging like X-rays, CT or MRI, implants such as plates and screws, and after-hours fees are what push a bill into the thousands.
Every number comes from real vet bills in our data, with personal details removed. Each bill is counted once, under its main surgery, using the full bill total. Paid bills and vet quotes are kept separate. A surgery is ranked only when we have at least 8 bills for that species, and prices are shown as rounded ranges. Test uploads and non-US bills are left out. Updated October 2026.
In our data, fracture repair surgery has the highest typical paid bill, with most bills between $2,300 and $4,000. In vet quotes, TPLO surgery is the most expensive: most quotes fall between $4,500 and $7,750. The largest single dog surgery bill we have seen was over $20,000, for spinal stabilization surgery.
Urinary blockage treatment or surgery has the highest vet quotes in our data, with most between $2,900 and $6,500. Among bills owners actually paid, dental extractions (oral surgery) has the highest typical bill, most between $800 and $2,200. Some of the largest cat bills we have seen were abdominal and foreign body surgeries, but we have fewer than 8 of those, so they are not ranked yet.
A quote usually covers the whole planned stay and often lists the top of the vet's range. Paid bills can be split, for example a deposit followed by a final invoice, or one invoice per day in the hospital. So a single paid invoice is sometimes only part of the full cost.
The biggest swings come from where the surgery happens and what comes with it. Specialist and emergency hospitals charge more than general practices. Each night in the hospital, each scan and each implant adds to the bill. Prices also vary by city and state.
They are far cheaper. In our data, most dog spay bills fall between $400 and $1,000 and most dog neuter bills between $300 and $850. For cats, most spay bills are $175 to $450 and most neuter bills $250 to $950.
We rank a surgery only when we have at least 8 paid bills for it, per species, so one unusual bill cannot move the list. TPLO and spinal surgery do not have 8 paid bills yet. TPLO does have enough vet quotes, so it appears in the quotes table.
From real vet bills uploaded to Vet Receipt, with personal details removed. Each bill is counted once, under its main surgery, and we use the full bill total. Test uploads and non-US bills are left out. Paid bills and vet quotes are kept in separate tables.
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