I took my dog here to see Dr. Jay Schuff. She had a lump on her side that I wanted removed. A vet…read morein San Francisco had aspirated some fluid from it and the cytology came back without a definite diagnosis.
The vet in SF was leaving his practice that week, but I asked him what the approximate cost would be to have it removed there and he said around $500 under local anesthetic. My sister, who lives in Grass Valley, and has taken her dog to Dr. Schuff for several surgeries, had just paid $60 to have a lump removed from her dog's paw under local.
She told me Dr. Schuff loves doing surgery and I figured if someone loves doing something, they are probably good at it, plus $60 sounded a whole lot cheaper than $500.
I made an appt. for Monday afternoon and took her up. Dr. Schuff agreed it should be removed, although after reading the cytology report, he wasn't sure what it was either. He said no way could he remove it under local though, he said she definitely would not like having that done while she was awake. He quoted me about $400. He was able to do the surgery the next day. She needed to stay at the hospital all day and have IV fluids as she has had a problem with kidney function and he wanted to make sure she was well-hydrated. She also had a discolored tooth he would check out while she was under.
The next day, he called me to say the lump looked suspicious and he needed to take a wide margin and send it for pathology. Also, her tooth was cracked and he felt it needed to be pulled.
When the pathology report came back, it turned out her little lump was fibrosarcoma. The report said excision was complete. I was so glad Dr. Schuff recognized it as being suspicious and did an extensive removal.
I took her for a follow-up visit to Dr. Rodriguez, an oncologist at SF Veterinary Specialists, and he also told me Dr. Schuff did a really, really, really good job.
The total bill came to $609.20, but this included the office exam which was only $42, the IV fluid was $98, pulling her tooth was $25, a blood test for her kidney function was $22, a heartworm test which I decided to do because she hadn't had one in a while was $32, the anesthesia was $100, the surgery charge was only $90, (I had paid $60 in SF just to have the tumor aspirated), The pathology was $82, an antibiotic shot was $18, a painkiller shot was $19, and antibiotic pills were $81.20, they were an expensive kind because the cheaper more widely used ones make her get the runs.
I know if I had had this done in the city it would have been well over $1000, probably closer to $1500.
Grass Valley is a bit of a way to go from SF, but it's an alternative to paying the high prices here and the treatment was excellent. I will definitely take my dog back to Dr. Schuff if she needs any more surgery. He did all the right things, I had pointed out that discolored tooth to the vet in SF, she had been acting like food was getting stuck in there, and he had said it looked fine. Dr. Schuff noticed it without me even pointing it out, and he was right about that too.
He is also a really good photographer, check out his web site, jayschuff.com.
