Australian dysplasia surgery spans a wide range: elbow arthroscopy commonly $4,000 to $5,000, femoral head ostectomy roughly $3,500 to $5,500, and total hip replacement commonly $10,000 to $16,000 per hip, with one Sydney specialist centre listing THR at $14,000 fixed.
| Option | Typical Australian range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing management | $500 to $2,500 per year | Weight programs, physio, arthritis medication eras |
| Elbow arthroscopy | $4,000 to $5,000 | Diagnosis and treatment of selected elbow lesions in one procedure |
| Femoral head ostectomy (FHO) | $3,500 to $5,500 | The salvage option that suits lighter, muscular dogs best |
| Juvenile procedures (JPS, DPO) | $2,500 to $6,000 | Only possible in young growing dogs caught early |
| Total hip replacement | $10,000 to $16,000 per hip | The definitive rebuild; specialist only |
Management looks cheap and surgery expensive until you multiply. A large dog managed from age two spends on medication, physio and vet reviews every year for life, with a joint that still deteriorates underneath. A successful THR at three is a large single number that buys a decade of near normal function. Neither answer is automatically right; the point is to do the multiplication before defaulting to the smaller monthly number.
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.
Sydney · Melbourne · Brisbane · Perth · Adelaide · Canberra · Gold Coast · Hobart
Often one hip is clearly worse and doing it first changes the whole dog; a good number never need the second side done. Staging with reassessment beats booking both up front.
Implant systems, the surgeon's caseload, hospital level and what is bundled, imaging, revision cover, rehabilitation. With numbers this size, an itemised quote and a direct question about the surgeon's THR volume and complication rate are entirely reasonable.