Brisbane's dedicated surgery clinic tier publishes TPLO at $3,400 to $4,400 and performs hundreds of cruciate procedures a year, which is exactly the volume you want. Referral hospital quotes run higher; for a straightforward knee in a healthy dog the volume tier is hard to argue with.
| Option | Typical Australian range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed price and high volume clinics | $2,950 to $4,400 | Melbourne and Brisbane are the strongholds of this tier |
| General practice that does TPLO | $3,200 to $5,000 | Inclusions vary; ask about after hours cover and rechecks |
| Specialist referral hospital | $5,500 to $9,000 | Specialist surgeon, dedicated anaesthesia, ICU |
Nationally, cruciate surgery runs from $2,950 at Melbourne's fixed price clinics to $9,000 at capital city referral hospitals.
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.
Brisbane sits between the extremes: a high volume dedicated surgery clinic performing hundreds of these procedures a year at published competitive rates, plus specialist referral hospitals at the usual referral pricing. The gap between those two tiers is the main decision for Brisbane owners.
Most Queensland owners inside the south east corner are best served in Brisbane itself; the volume operators here are already priced close to the national floor.
Send the case, hear back from a surgeon with what they can do and what it costs, and only pay if you go ahead.
The operation is broadly the same; the wrapper differs: who operates, what happens at 2am, and what is bundled. Ask each clinic the same four questions, who does the surgery, how often, what is excluded, and what a complication costs, then compare answers rather than totals.
Sometimes. The saving has to survive the travel costs, the follow up x-rays around week eight, and the question of who handles a complication once you are home. Ask the cheaper clinic who does their aftercare for out of town patients; good ones have a ready answer.
Sydney · Melbourne · Perth · Adelaide · Canberra · Gold Coast · Hobart · Australia wide guide