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My 13 yr old male cat has a large cyst/bump on the outside of his ear. My vet quoted $900.00 to remove it. Is that a reasonable fee? It seems really high. Thanks in advance,Bob in Tampa
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Cat Gender: Male Age: 13 Name of Cat: Buc
Bob, Prices are going to vary GREATLY between locales. Truth is that Vets charge competitively for their area. For example, I am in Colorado. I have a colleague that practices in California (Huntington Beach). Her prices are routine about 1.5 times what I charge for the same thing. SO, hard to know for your area. BUT, prices typically depend on the age of the pet, and the size of the tumor in most cases. A very large tumor will require more time to remove due to size, potential for bleeding, possible placement of drains afterwards to limit dead space formation/seroma, and after care for the pet. A smaller tumor is usually less. In our practice tumor removals with tissue sent to the lab for biopsy typically range from about 500 upwards to 1200 for very large tumors.A helpful test that might have been done already is called a fine needle aspirate of the tumor. This might show what type of tumor it is before surgical removal of the tumor. It might also affect your decision to do surgery if for example it were a very aggressive tumor with low chance of successful treatment after removal. You might have your Vet do that if it hasn't been done. The cost of that should be much less.A cyst or bump on the ear could be a hematoma? Is it fluid filled, and kind of sopapilla like? Maybe like these? If it is it might be a hematoma. Treating underlying infection is very important. Some cats might be treated with high doses of predisone only with good results. But side effects might include infection and increased risk of diabetes. Surgical will give the best results on these hematomas (cysts). And yes, that surgery is usally around 1000 US. If no treatment is done for hematomas they often scar and disfigure the cat. That ends up looking something like this :
Experience: Over ten years practice experience in feline medicine.
The bump/cyst is filled with something and is on the outside top edge of the ear flap
Ok, so, it could very likely be a hematoma. Were you able to see my previous response?I will repost it here if you haven't :Bob, Prices are going to vary GREATLY between locales. Truth is that Vets charge competitively for their area. For example, I am in Colorado. I have a colleague that practices in California (Huntington Beach). Her prices are routine about 1.5 times what I charge for the same thing. SO, hard to know for your area. BUT, prices typically depend on the age of the pet, and the size of the tumor in most cases. A very large tumor will require more time to remove due to size, potential for bleeding, possible placement of drains afterwards to limit dead space formation/seroma, and after care for the pet. A smaller tumor is usually less. In our practice tumor removals with tissue sent to the lab for biopsy typically range from about 500 upwards to 1200 for very large tumors.A helpful test that might have been done already is called a fine needle aspirate of the tumor. This might show what type of tumor it is before surgical removal of the tumor. It might also affect your decision to do surgery if for example it were a very aggressive tumor with low chance of successful treatment after removal. You might have your Vet do that if it hasn't been done. The cost of that should be much less.A cyst or bump on the ear could be a hematoma? Is it fluid filled, and kind of sopapilla like? Maybe like these?