The Burrow
Jun 10, 2022
There’s a belief among many pet owners that pet surgery costs exceed human surgery costs.
Which means you and your furry friend could have the same surgery, and their bill is bigger.
But is it true?
Well, as experts in both pet insurance and health insurance, we did some digging to find out the numbers; we’ve researched five common pet surgeries and the human equivalent to uncover the cost differences:
Which pets are we comparing against humans?
For this comparison, we focused on Australia’s most popular dog and cat breeds – the Labrador Retriever1 and Ragdoll respectively.2
Where did we find these costs?
Human surgery costs are sourced from the Australian Government’s health.gov.au Medical Costs Finder (except where stated).3 Thanks to Medicare, surgeries in a public hospital as a public patient are free. Therefore, below are typical (median) costs for private patients in private hospitals when all specialists, procedure and other health provider fees are combined. Commentary surrounding human health, additional costs and recovery time is sourced from the Australian Government’s Health Direct website.
For pet surgery costs, we contacted three vet clinics per Australian state and territory to establish an average cost for each treatment. All vet clinics contacted were within a 20km radius of the state’s capital city.
For the amount typically covered by pet insurance, we applied the average cover percentage (up to 80%) of three comparable comprehensive pet insurance policies:
This is based on half of the brands we currently compare but within the market there are in excess of 25 products, with various levels of cover, exclusions and conditions.
Our figures do not take into account excess payments. Commentary surrounding pet health, additional costs and recovery time is sourced from collective conversations with veterinarians.
N.B. Additional costs such as anaesthetist bills, rehabilitation fees and medications are included in the tables and will also vary from case to case. What’s more, the following costs are estimates only. Costs vary according to the size of the animal, type of procedure, the severity of the ailment, who performs the treatment and more.
Additional costs and recovery time:
The verdict: When it comes to pulling teeth, typically it’s more expensive for humans than dogs and cats.
Additional costs and recovery time:
The verdict: The average price of cataract surgery for dogs and cats surpasses human surgery costs – more than doubling human surgery costs in most states.
Additional costs and recovery time:
The verdict: Human ACL reconstructive surgery costs slightly more than the dog and cat surgery equivalent or substantially more if you reside in NSW and ACT. When you include human physio costs and time off work, the gap can widen even further.
Additional costs and recovery time:
The verdict: Human cancer surgery costs far exceed pet cancer surgery costs.
Associated costs and recovery time:
The verdict: It’s more expensive to remove a skin lesion from a human than a pet; it’s almost double the cost in some states.
Brought to you by Compare the Market: Making it easier for Australians to search for great deals on Pet Insurance and Health Insurance.