What BOAS airway surgery costs in Sydney

EMReviewed by Eben Martin, Veterinary Surgeon · Updated August 2026

Sydney's specialist tier publishes fixed BOAS pricing: around $5,200 for standard airway surgery and $8,500 for complicated cases, with laser assisted turbinectomy around $6,000 for selected dogs. For a breed where the recovery window carries the risk, the monitored overnight care in those packages is worth understanding before choosing a cheaper tier.

The price tiers that apply in Sydney

OptionTypical Australian rangeNotes
Nares widening alone$1,500 to $3,000Often combined with desexing
Nares plus soft palate at GP$3,000 to $5,000Experienced practices only; ask their brachycephalic caseload
Specialist airway package$5,200 to $8,500Assessment, surgery and monitored overnight recovery

Nationally, BOAS surgery spans $1,500 to $3,000 for nostril widening at a general practice through to $5,200 to $8,500 for full specialist airway packages with monitored overnight recovery.

The Sydney market

Sydney has the deepest specialist bench in the country: multiple referral hospitals, published fixed price lists at some specialist centres, and experienced general practices that do orthopaedics with surgery guarantees. The spread between a GP quote and a referral hospital quote is wide, and both ends are legitimate for the right case.

Worth travelling?

Sydney owners rarely need to travel, but the fixed price surgical clinics in Melbourne and high volume operators in Brisbane can still undercut a Sydney referral quote by thousands on a straightforward case.

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Common questions

Is the cheaper GP palate surgery in Sydney safe for my frenchie?

It can be, in a practice that does brachycephalic airways regularly and keeps the dog overnight with someone actually watching. The risk in BOAS surgery is concentrated in the first two nights while swelling peaks. Whatever tier you choose in Sydney, ask one question: who is physically with my dog overnight, and what happens if the airway swells at 2am.

When in the year should we book it?

Before summer, deliberately. Airway dogs fail in heat waves, and an operation chosen calmly in winter beats one forced by a 40 degree emergency. If your dog struggled last summer, this is the sign to book the assessment now.

Other cities

Melbourne · Brisbane · Perth · Adelaide · Canberra · Gold Coast · Hobart · Australia wide guide

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