every vet is different, especially in different parts of the country/world. we’ve got people here from california to new york to australia to the uk.
in texas, where i am, the costs range hundreds of dollars between vets!

you sound like a very responsible pet owner i would recommend that you put more money into preventative care (good quality hay and pellets, exercise, regular check ups) instead of putting so much money for emergencies. it is DEFINITELY good to keep some money set aside for unexpected costs, but a lot of basic bunny care can prevent many things that require surgery. of course, in many of our members’ cases, like bunnytowne’s bun cotton who has a lip invasion, nothing can really be done preventative-ly for that. but i would say most things can be protected against.

sorry that was ridiculously long.

You do sound like a very responsible pet owner.

I agree with Katie too – the costs vary so much from area to area and from vet to vet. Have you looked into Pet Insurance as well? Katnip had a post earlier on her experience with vet insurance that might be something you might consider as well.

While it’s always a good idea to do the preventative care there are many things that come up that even with the best care are not something you could have prevented. For instance I have a rabbit who has to have regular molar trims and his bills are around $150.00 every time he goes in which is frequently. I also have many aging rabbits with various issues including bladder sludge and a rabbit who know has a mobility issue. I unfortunately do not have vet insurance so I have to use my own money with no reimbursement.

I would be interested to see how much is a good basic suggestion to put away for vet funds too! Right now my vet funds are a credit card, so I am hoping to set aside some money for vet costs instead/as well.

Another thing to keep in mind is how some vets handle different payments. For instance, some vets charge less if you have lots of things done at once, some vets charge less if you bring in more than one animal, etc.

I keep $1000 set aside in a savings fund for any emergencies, but I am an accountant so I may be overly conservative I figure that it is good to have it for an emergency, but its good to have savings regardless of what they are for, so it doesn’t hurt to put some extra aside. I didn’t start out with $1000 right away, but I set aside $100 per month for awhile, and now I just keep that amount in the bank, and keep the interest earnings in the emergency fund as well.

I’d also suggest you look into pet insurance, it’s a low monthly premium (typically about 10-15 dollars a month) but they will reimburse you a large portion of your vet bills.

What you may want to do then is to talk to your vet and see if they can give you some prices for x-rays and popular medications to help you decide how much an emergency could be. Normally with stasis a vet will do an x-ray and then some common medications are pain medications, metroclopramide (reglan) and cisapride – also sub-q fluids.

Of course there are many other ailments out there.

You might also ask them the cost of blood work.

Yes, that is not helpful :~) Perhaps they can give you a range though.

I would imagine things like basic bloodwork and x-rays would not vary too greatly. Medications possibly depending on dosage but I don’t find many of the basic medications to be too pricey (of course if your rabbit must take more than one, well then it can add up).

Some prices that I can think of for my vet are $25.00 to administer sub-q fluids but if you purchase the sub-q fluids and administer them on your own, the price for the bag is $20.00.

My rabbits tooth trim is about $75.00 but that does not include the anesthesia and medications – the total bill is usually around $150.00 but she does not charge me for an exam any longer (thank goodness) since it’s an on-going problem with him.

I am having x-rays today on my rabbit Maxine so I will try to remember to post the cost for these tomorrow for you.

i think the tooth trim you ar thinking of is the incisors – they are relatively cheap compared to molar work
we were paying about £150 – 200 for molar work
just shy of £100 for incisor work

We went to see a specialist, and paid about £70 for an hour consultation
They’ve got Gizmo at the moment as they needed some X-rays, they charge £52 for 2 x-rays on a small animal
And the receptionist said that anaesthetic was about £90
(although they were the Vets prices not the specialists)

We’ve easily spent well into 4 figures on her over the last year with no insurance, spending out for molar work almost monthly
but we wouldnt have it any other way

The work that we were hoping to have done to help her would have cost another £500 – £1000, but she’s no longer able to have that work done

I ditto the pet insurance tip.  The best time to get insurance is when your pet is young.  Both my rabbits have insurance and it’s about $12-15 month.  My Leo has bad teeth, likely congenital.  His tooth trims require sedation, since they are rear molars as well as incisors.  B/c of the sedation, trims are about $150, sometimes higher if his teeth also require filing. Pet insurance will not pay for your yrly exams & I’m in the process of getting reimbursed for exploratory bloodwork.  The bloodwork was more preventitive since they are getting older.

B/f pet insurance I’ve had some expensive acute episodes.  Jessica was injuried in a bunny fight.  I easily spent nearly $700 for her emergency care, meds, critical care, follow-up, etc.  Leo’s first tooth episode cost me about $600.  These were both urgent/emergency care situations.  Jessica also had some exploratory issues from blood in her urine.  She got tx, fluids, cc, and a sonogram….$350. 

My most recent emergency was for Cocoa Puff, he had no insurance b/c he was new.  He was a young rabbit, likely about 1 yr.  His emergency tx that ended in his death cost about $375.  I paid for a private cremation, which cost almost as much as his tx.  That hit me really hard since I had just paid for his neuter $250.

I’ve become a believer in pet insurance as well. To me, it’s the equivalent of a cheap meal ($12) once a month. The first injury a bunny has, the first lasting illness, as well as the numerous visits that can happen with an older bunny will make it so worthwhile. And with an old car and a tight economy, it’s worth it to me to have a small bill over time than an unexpected one when I least expect it. I was very, very lucky with Spockie who was quite healthy for 7 years, but I don’t feel comfortable enough to take a chance with Samantha. She’s very young and I hope I am wasting my investment since I am trying to do better with her food and needs, but I feel such peace of mind knowing I can take her when I need to and have some financial help.

I wanted to give you the cost for the x-rays that I had done on my rabbit yesterday.

A radiograph for 1 to 2 views was $136.20. She actually did 3 but only charged me for the 2…I was grateful :~)

Dexter had Stasis over the weekend and it cost me $210 for the visit which included 2 x-rays, exam, and the meds and then $20 for a follow up visit and $40 for another x-ray but I would suggest to keep at least $300 – $500 for emergencies. The emergency vet is not cheap just in case it comes to that. That would probably be about $100 for just the visit plus whatever else they would have to do.

Hi Taurus!
That is so responsible of you to save money for vet bills and look into it ahead of time! Like other’s said, it definitely varies depending on where you live, and if pet insurance is available can be a big saviour for emegency/large vet bills.

In my area, what I’ve paid is 350$ spay, 190$ neuter, 75$ exam, 600$ spay with xrays, 350$ exam with xrays, 25-45$ antibiotics, and 25$ antibiotic eye drops.

If you are checking out vets and what their costs are-inquire about what’s included. Sometimes a vet is cheaper because they aren’t thorough, or because they charge for each little thing they do so the 100$ bill becomes 250.

I think it all depends on your age and “place” in life. My first bunny, Pumpkin, that was all “mine” I got when I was about 9 years old. At that age of course my parents would help me with emergency bill when he got sick (and they helped pay for his food and hay) but I put money aside each month into an emergency fund ($3 went into the food fund and $2 into the emergency fund each month) from the time that I got him until 4 years later when he got sick and had to be put down. Even though this wasnt enough to pay for all his bills it was a big help when the big vet bill came (and the vet actually gave us quite a discount because I was “paying” for it and he was impressed).

Now that I am older, finished with college and living on my own with a better job, creditcards, etc. I still once again have an emergency acct. I only have $1000 in that account and havent used it for normal vet visits, or when they were neutered, but if something big ever came up I know that I have that money there (plus I can put the bill on a creditcard and eat ramen for the next 6 months while paying it off)

Anyways what I am trying to say is that the amount of money that you have set aside for your bunnies in an emergency really does depend on where you are in your own life. I would put some money on the side just in case, but the amount can vary depending on how much you can “borrow” from other areas of your budget.

Also ask around at vet’s prices in the area. The three things I checked when I was looking into two different bunny vets (after making sure they were both bunny-savy) were:
1)x-rays $200 vs $450
2)neuter $75 vs $350 (the 350 included bloodwork and used a lazor to cut rather than scapel but still!!)
and 3) exam $25 vs $30

I met with both vets and felt comfortable with both so I went with the place that was cheaper. So even within the same town two vets 20 min apart can have huge differences in price!!

I want to first off thank you for being a responsible pet owner. Having a fund in case your bun(s) get sick is a wonderful idea.

I don’t know how much emergency vets cost where you are but the E-vet in town (there is only one unfortunatly that is open 24/7) there is a $75 emergency fee plus any treatments they do. If my vet were open during an emergency it would only cost about $40 plus treatments.

I agree with the other people who posted. It varies. It would also be a good idea to take some money out of your check each week and add to your savings account.

I want to first off thank you for being a responsible pet owner. Having a fund in case your bun(s) get sick is a wonderful idea.

I don’t know how much emergency vets cost where you are but the E-vet in town (there is only one unfortunatly that is open 24/7) there is a $75 emergency fee plus any treatments they do. If my vet were open during an emergency it would only cost about $40 plus treatments.

I agree with the other people who posted. It varies. It would also be a good idea to take some money out of your check each week and add to your savings account.

Taurus, please take this from someone who has learned the hard way… Get pet insurance!!!
I don’t know how much it will cost on the USA, but I live in London, and it costs me £11 a month per bun.
Seriously, I never even considered getting insurance until two days ago when my 4 month old baby-boy broke his leg running in the garden! (See the thread “Barnaby broke his leg”)

Insurance works out less than £300 a year for both my bunnies, and if I had the insurance last week, I could have saved myself over £300 already! The op to fix Barnaby’s leg is costing me £600! Yikes! I didn’t know ANY kind of vet care for a rabbit could cost so much! And I thought I’d researched well before I adopted my fluffy friends!

Obviously it’s your choice, but the way I see it, if you’re looking to put money aside in the event of an emergency anyway, why not give that money to the insurance company who will cover you for up to £2,000 a year?! It makes good sense to me. I WISH someone had told me to do it a week ago!

Lesson learned! (The oh-so-hard way!)

Taurus – you said that it cost around $50 – $80 dollars to reduce your bunny’s oversized teeth. Since bunnies teeth continue to grow, any malloclusion will continue so it won’t be a one time thing, so it’s a good thing you will be saving. How often does your bunny have to get his incisors trimmed and does the vet check for spurs which are typical of bunnies who also have malocclusion (Spurs are jagged edges that can develop on the molars and cut into the cheek)

Insurance wouldn’t help you with that only because it would considered a pre-existing condition.

The other thing you have to worry about is if he doesn’t eat alot of hay, he is more susceptible to GI problems and that can get expensive as well. So hopefully you will be able to get that worked out soon.

It’s good though that you will be saving because even the best bunny parents will most likely have to deal with some type of emergency or illness (mites, to eye infections to abscesses, etc) at some point.   And countless times bunny parents have had to deal with just a “scare” – their bunny stops eating and/or pooping and they don’t know why.      As my rabbit-savvy vet always says…it is just the nature of owning a rabbit – they are fragile in many ways even when you do everything in your power to prevent it.

Oh, I misunderstood somehow I thought you said your bunny had “oversized teeth”. I’m glad to hear Romes is doing great right now.

I recently took my 1.5 yr old rabbit to the vet in the Dallas Fort Worth area. He’s not had any health issues in the past, so this was our first visit. He was acting very lethargic and wouldn’t eat. I learned that not all vets treat “exotics”, so I had to drive an hour to a vet that treats rabbits. He was diagnosed with GI Stasis and treated with pain medications, metroclopramide (reglan) and cisapride, and was administered sub-q fluids. Below is a breakdown of the cost of our visit.
– Visit – $74
– Meds – $100
– x-Rays – $300

They gave us the option of running blood work which would have been an additional $275. We opted not to get blood work even though the x-ray didn’t show us much. I’m glad we didn’t. We are 3 days post visit and our Cookie is back to being his rambunctious self. I felt this vet was priced a little high, but I knew we needed Cookie seen right away, and I didn’t have time to call around. I had called this vet for neutering prices a year ago, and they quoted me $475 for each of my males. I got a tip from a friend and ended up taking them to the Texas Coalition for Animal Protection (TCAP) and paid $45 each. They took great care of my bun babies and recovery was quick. My two males now get along beautifully and don’t spray at all. Highly recommend neutering and looking around for affordable care. My next mission is to call vets to price services and check ratings so I can make an informed decision while both rabbits are healthy. I hope this helps!