BOAS surgery in Australia spans roughly $1,500 to $8,500. Nostril widening alone at a general practice sits at the low end, commonly $1,500 to $3,000, often done alongside desexing. Full airway assessment and surgery at specialist centres commonly runs $5,200 for standard cases to $8,500 for complicated ones, with laser assisted turbinectomy around $6,000.
| Option | Typical Australian range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nares widening alone | $1,500 to $3,000 | Often combined with desexing; addresses one obstruction of several |
| Nares plus soft palate | $3,000 to $5,000 | The common combined procedure at experienced general practices |
| Specialist airway package (standard) | $5,200 to $6,500 | Full assessment, palate and nares, overnight monitored recovery |
| Specialist package (complicated) | $7,000 to $8,500 | Everted saccules, tonsils, revision cases and high risk patients |
| Laser assisted turbinectomy (LATE) | around $6,000 | For deeper nasal obstruction in selected dogs |
For most operations the wrapper is comfort; for BOAS it is safety margin. The riskiest hours are after surgery, when swelling peaks inside an airway that started narrow. Overnight monitored recovery, experienced anaesthesia and the ability to reintubate in seconds are what the higher quotes are buying. Whatever tier you choose, ask specifically who watches the dog overnight.
Send the case, hear back from a surgeon with what they can do and what it costs, and only pay if you go ahead.
Send what your vet said and quoted. A veterinary surgeon reads it and comes back to you with what they can do and what it would cost, before you pay anything. A written second opinion is from $250.
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Yes, as a genuine down payment: open nostrils reduce the suction driving the whole spiral. It is not the whole job for dogs with palate obstruction, and the honest framing is first instalment, not fix.
Increasingly insurers treat BOAS as breed related with waiting periods, sub limits or exclusions. If you have a flat faced puppy, read the airway wording before you need it; policies differ more here than almost anywhere.
Nostril widening (nares resection) on its own is the $1,500 to $3,000 tier, and is often done under the same anaesthetic as desexing. Before you book nose only, ask whether the soft palate has been looked at. In many Frenchies the palate is the bigger obstruction, and opening the nostrils alone leaves it in place.
Palate surgery is rarely quoted alone because the nostrils are nearly always done in the same anaesthetic. The combined nares plus palate procedure is the $3,000 to $5,000 tier at an experienced general practice. If a quote is well below that, ask how many brachycephalic airways the practice does each year and who stays with the dog overnight.