The Cost of Floyd's ACL Surgery

Floyd

When the receptionist at the BluePearl Vet passed me Floyd’s surgery estimate, I blanched: $3458. It went way beyond my worst-guess scenario. In 2008, our eldest dog, Dessie had similar ACL surgery at the same establishment and it cost $1672. The price more than doubled in six years.

For some reason, staring at that astonishing estimate, I didn’t think about Floyd’s injury or the turmoil it would cause my budget – all of which would hit me later. Instead, I thought about my friends.

For the most part, my inner circle consists of blue-collar workers: janitors, hospice assistants, waitresses, and factory workers. Four thousand dollars is two to three months of pay for my peeps. Hell, I know one twenty-five- year- old server that works seven days a week and still struggles to send $200 a month back to her mother in China.

I remembered a friend’s sage advice and asked the receptionist if they gave a discount for cash pay. Not happening.

They offered credit care, six months same as cash, then 14.9% after the grace period.

When I inquired about what low-income people did if their animals needed knee surgery, she acted sheepish, shrugging her shoulders, lowering her eyes.

She didn’t have to say what we both knew. Poor dogs didn’t have surgery. They just spent their whole life limping.