Need Advice veterinarian

Does anybody know of a good vet in the area with reasonable prices? We've been going to Stream Valley for years and have received good care, but the prices seem to be climbing. My dog had 2 procedures done during one surgery last year at about $600. Now she has a cyst (under the skin, possibly cancerous) that needs to be removed and tested. They quoted me $1100-$1200 for this. That seems rather ridiculous when it is just under the skin. Any suggestions?

 

cant they just use a needle and take a sample and test? in the spring they found a spot on my one of my dogs spleens and were able to use a needle to pull the sample and detemrine what it was. Even that's not cheap but would prob be less than going through the whole surgery process.

 

Our dog had to have a cyst removed from under his skin because it kept growing back. Stream Valley would drain the thing, but as soon as the hole closed it blew back up to the size of a softball. We opted to have the surgery to remove it as it was in the middle of his back and uncomfortable for him. Our surgery cost close to the amount they quoted you. You have to think about the amount of skin that's going to be removed as well what the recovery will be like (think Frankenstein staple stitches - see picture). I felt the quality of care our dog received was worth the amount we paid for surgery. I'd rather pay a little more for someone who truly knows my pet rather than drive out to Chantilly where we get a pet insurance discount. Plus, having the vet right around the corner made it for quick and easy follow-up visits. We chose not to have the cyst tested though because our dog's had one before and tested negative for everything but nastiness. This surgery was more so he could lay down on his side/back and not have to worry about the thing blowing open (which it did twice).

I don't disagree with you that Stream Valley is on the more expensive side, but when we did a comparison of Stream Valley to a couple other vets (our old one in Chantilly and a couple others), the difference wasn't all that much. We paid a little bit less (a few bucks) at Chantilly, but that was quickly made up in the amount of gas we'd pay just getting out there.

 

I've started going to Caring Hands by HT for my 3 cats and my dog...I've found them to be skilled, caring and less expensive than other vets in the area.

 

I second the vote for Caring Hands. I go to the Centreville location, just because Dr Dillion is great with my dogs. But the vets at the Broadlands locations are great too, ask for Dr Vechulli. (i dont think that is the right spelling) I believe she is one of the owners.
When Bella was really sick a few months ago, they did absolutely everything for her, and made me feel better about bawling like a baby in their hospital.

 

Thank you very much. I'll check it out.

Her cyst/tumor is about the size of a thumb tip, right under the skin on her belly. It moves so the doctor thought that it wasn't a big deal. She did a needle aspiration and looked at it under the microscope. She was surprised when it looked suspicious and suggested that we have it removed.