Vet Surgery Help
Home › Procedures › Hip and elbow dysplasia › Cost in Adelaide

What hip replacement and dysplasia surgery costs in Adelaide

EMReviewed by Eben Martin, Veterinary Surgeon · Updated August 2026

In Adelaide, expect the national range of $3,500 to $16,000 for hip replacement and dysplasia surgery. Adelaide is a smaller market with a solid middle: experienced general practices doing orthopaedics, a specialist tier, and less of the fixed price competition that drags Melbourne's prices down. Quotes cluster in the middle of the national range.

Holding a quote or a diagnosis? It costs nothing to ask.

Tell a veterinary surgeon what you have been told. You will know what they can do and what it costs before you pay anything.

Next step: your name and email so the surgeon can reply. No charge to ask.

The price tiers that apply in Adelaide

OptionTypical Australian rangeNotes
Elbow arthroscopy$4,000 to $5,000Diagnosis and treatment in one procedure
Femoral head ostectomy (FHO)$3,500 to $5,500Best in lighter, muscular dogs
Total hip replacement$10,000 to $16,000 per hipOne Sydney centre publishes $14,000 fixed

Nationally, dysplasia surgery spans femoral head ostectomy at $3,500 to $5,500 through to total hip replacement at $10,000 to $16,000 per hip, with elbow arthroscopy around $4,000 to $5,000.

No charge to ask

Get a surgeon's read on your Adelaide quote

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.

  • If the surgeon can't add anything useful to your case, they'll say so and there's no charge.
  • You hear back from a surgeon within 2 business days.
  • Surgery for dysplasia runs $3,500 to $16,000 in Australia. A surgeon's read on your quote is the cheapest line in this decision.
Read by a veterinary surgeon who does these operations, not a call centre. No charge to send. You know the price before you pay anything.
By sending this you agree to be contacted about your enquiry. Privacy policy. A written second opinion is from $250, confirmed before you pay.

Worth travelling?

Adelaide owners with a straightforward case and a big quote sometimes save real money in Melbourne's fixed price clinics; it is an eight hour drive and people genuinely do it for a $2,000 to $3,000 difference.

Still deciding? It costs nothing to ask.

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 my case

Common questions

Only one clinic in Adelaide does total hip replacements. Is that a red flag?

No, it is normal. THR is concentrated in a small number of specialist hands nationally, and low provider counts are expected outside Sydney and Melbourne. The useful questions are the surgeon's annual THR volume, their complication rate, and their revision policy. A single provider with strong answers to those beats a choice of three without them.

Is FHO a permanent second best, or a real alternative?

In the right dog, a real alternative: light, muscular dogs routinely get excellent comfort from FHO at a third of THR money. In heavy dogs the compromise is real. Where your dog sits on that line is readable from the x-rays and the dog in front of you, which makes it a cheap question to put to an independent surgeon and an expensive one to guess.

Other cities

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