Why My Exam Costs What It Costs

People ask me about price all the time, and they're right to. So here's the straight version.

My exam fee is $67. I'll tell you that number before you book, not after I've looked at your pet. If you want every price in one place, here's our price list. Read it before you come in. I'd rather you know.

What you're actually paying for

An exam isn't a quick glance and a stamp. It's a full nose-to-tail physical, my time, and a real conversation about what I find and what to do next. The fee pays for the thinking as much as the touching. Twenty-six years of looking at sick animals is what lets me tell, fast, whether the lump is nothing or something, whether the cough is kennel cough or a heart, whether your dog needs a test today or a week of watching. That judgment is the product. The physical exam is how I gather it.

Why I'm not a corporate chain

A lot of the clinics around here aren't owned by the vet you see. They're owned by a corporation, often with a private-equity firm behind it and quarterly targets to hit. When a company has investors to satisfy, the math runs one direction: more tests, higher markups, growth on the bill. None of that has anything to do with your pet.

I'm the opposite of that. Solo practice. I own it, I run it, and I see every patient that walks through the door. No rotating vets, no starting over with a stranger who's never met your dog, no pricing layer set by someone in another state. You're paying me for my time and my read on your animal. That's the whole list.

Am I cheaper? More like reasonable.

I've had clients come in quoted four figures for a dental at a corporate clinic, the kind of dental I usually handle for a few hundred dollars. I won't call myself cheap, that's not the goal. I'll call myself reasonable, and I'll never charge you for something your pet doesn't need. A big part of keeping a bill sane is not padding it in the first place.

You'll see this in the places it matters most. A dental cleaning done right, under anesthesia, with the teeth actually examined and cleaned below the gumline. A LOVE Spay priced so cost isn't the reason a family skips it. Honest work at an honest number.

You'll always know the cost first

This is the part the chains rarely commit to in writing, so I will. I give you an estimate before I do anything. A test, a procedure, a treatment, you see the number first and you say yes before I start. Nothing happens to your pet without your approval. If money is tight, tell me, and we'll prioritize what has to happen now and build a plan around your real budget.

And if money is tight, say so. It's a normal thing to say and I hear it weekly. I'll tell you what has to happen now and what can wait, and we'll build a plan around your real budget instead of a fantasy one. Tight money is a planning problem, not a reason to feel bad in my exam room.