Castration Prices

S

Spacejet

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 October 2012
Messages
77
Visit site
I have an 11 year old, 15.3hh cob stallion, who I am very interested in getting gelded, for both his and my sake.
I recently got a quote from the Royal Veterinary College for £650, which includes castration and 3 days stay on site.
This seems abit extortionate, I know he's not exactly young and being gelded later in life has more complications, but surely £650 + 3 days stay is abit much? Or is this what I should be expecting? If not, could someone point me in the right direction? We're based at Brookmans Park, between Hatfield and Potters Bar.
Thank you! :)
 
Spacejet said:
I have an 11 year old, 15.3hh cob stallion, who I am very interested in getting gelded, for both his and my sake.
I recently got a quote from the Royal Veterinary College for £650, which includes castration and 3 days stay on site.
This seems abit extortionate, I know he's not exactly young and being gelded later in life has more complications, but surely £650 + 3 days stay is abit much? Or is this what I should be expecting? If not, could someone point me in the right direction? We're based at Brookmans Park, between Hatfield and Potters Bar.
Thank you! :)
Click to expand...

Sounds about right at his age and size however no doubt you could ask for the students to do him and it should cost a lot less. They all have to learn and they are supervised
 
I was quoted £150 by the RVC including the 3 days for two 18month old colts to be castrated. Maybe it's cheaper as they were babies, although don't quite see why so much difference - can you ring back and double check?

They originally quoted me £750 when one of them was cryptorchid (one testicle hadn't dropped). Has he got both down?

Chiltern Equine were doing a special offer of £120 plus drugs and they came here and did it - was less hassle as both colts were relatively unhandled and saved them the long journey to RVC. I would ring around.
 
Sounds about right to me, I would think that he would need a GA, given his age and the likely size of his testicles, which would make the price what it is.
 
We paid £150 for a yearling, two vets came to us, gave full, knock-down anaesthetic, did the surgery, woke him up, made sure he was steady and ok and we chucked him in a field for a few weeks on some bute etc to keep him comfortable. It might be different due to age but I would speak to one or two other vets and see what they thing
 
A standard field castration for a yearling i was quoted £100.........however because he has a retained testicle its costing £560 including an over night stay - any drugs he needs afterwards are added on. This is the cheapest i found as most placed where from £800 up to £2k!!:eek:
He is booked in at the end of the month :D
 
Just cost me £280 to have a 7 month colt done standing. Was given anti biotics as a precaution as I seem to be unlucky! Still on mum, apart from swelling it did,nt affect him at all and he was hooling around field hours later. One week of swelling, but again he was,nt bothered. Glad it,s over though, vet was more concerned about me worrying!
 
That is incredibly reasonable given his size and age but more importantly his type. Cobs are renowned to suffer more complications (excessive bleeding) than other breeds. Obviously the Vets having him for the 3 days is the correct way of dealing with your boy.Good luck, hope all goes well :)
 
i think that sounds very reasonable if you consider the risks of doing castration at that age. they may well be doing it under GA and stitching the wounds because of the risks of bleeding etc .id be happy to pay that as the risks will be greatly reduced by doing it in the hospital rather than a field.
 
Grey_Arab said:
Sounds about right to me, I would think that he would need a GA, given his age and the likely size of his testicles, which would make the price what it is.
Click to expand...

I gelded a 6 year old, 17hh ID stallion in the field a couple of years ago - on the same day we did two yearlings. The yearlings were about £100 - the big lad was £40 more becauseof the extra dope needed.

And when I was at the BHS, we gelded 3 stallions - 1 aged 13, 2 in their 20s. They were done in the field. The 13 year old was a bit rough for a week after, the old boys were fine.

I can see NO reason why he'd need 3 days 'in' (it would just make him swell!)
 
They must be planning to do him under General Anaesthetic which would allow them to ligate the arteries and stitch him up as opposed to leaving the wound open to heal by second intention.... which would explain the price.

Standing or field castration would be cheaper but carry more risks with the castration older animals has an increased rate of complications post surgery particularly bleeding out.

I would imagine that thats why they will want to observe him post op as well...to watch for complications.
He should still get plenty of exercise while in the hospital he will have students with instructions on how to mind him post op as well as the equine nurses.

Retained testicles in a horse involves a General Anaesthetic and opening into the abdomen so its a very serious operation hence why its always so expensive.
 
Thank you so much everyone for responding. I am going to go for it, just the matter of saving up now :)
I have been thinking about it, and for the op and 3 days stay I realise the price isn't as bad as I first thought. Oh and he doesnt have a retained testicle, both are happily hanging (not for long though!!)
One more question, how will this affect my insurance? Will it decrease it as he would be a gelding, or increase it as he's just had surgery?
Again thank you everyone!! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top