Pricing
Every fee, published
You should be able to work out whether you can afford a vet before you pick up the phone. So here is the whole list: what each appointment costs, how long it runs, and what sits outside the fee.
Almost no behaviour or mobile vet service in Australia publishes its prices. We think that is backwards. Ringing around for quotes while you are already worried about your pet is a miserable way to spend an afternoon, and a price you have to ask for is usually a price someone is uncomfortable with.
Our cost-per-minute is on par with most clinics. The appointments are simply longer, because that is what actually gets results.
The numbers
Consult fees
All prices include GST. Every fee below is a starting point for a standard case, and we will give you a tailored estimate for your pet before anything is booked.
Veterinary Consult
Mobile GP veterinary care (Adelaide / SA).
- Extended Initial Consult45-60 minfrom $440
- Revisit - Complex30-45 minfrom $330
- Revisit - Simple15-30 minfrom $225
Behaviour Counselling
In-depth behaviour consultations (Adelaide & Melbourne).
- Extended Initial Consult90-120 minfrom $680
- Revisit30-45 minfrom $330
- Fear Free Training30-45 minfrom $330
At-Home Euthanasia
A peaceful goodbye in the comfort of home (Adelaide / SA).
- Euthanasia OnlyAllow up to 60 minfrom $440
- Euthanasia & CremationArranged on your behalfPrice on request
All consults are Fear Free and inclusive of GST. Out-of-hours appointments, travel, prescriptions, medications and pathology testing are quoted separately. We prefer to give you a tailored estimate for your pet's exact circumstances. Travel is charged from $135.
The one everybody asks about
Why a behaviour initial is from $680
It is the biggest number on the page, so it deserves a straight answer rather than a shrug.
A standard vet appointment runs 20 to 40 minutes. A behaviour initial is 90 to 120 minutes face to face, and the appointment is only the middle of it. Add the questionnaire and history review beforehand and the written treatment plan afterwards, and a single behaviour case is 3 to 4 hours of veterinary time.
You are not paying for a longer chat. You are paying for the work that makes the chat useful.
Before we meet
You complete a detailed history questionnaire, and we review it alongside your pet's clinical records and any video you send. Half the useful information in a behaviour case is in what happened months ago, not in the room on the day.
90 to 120 minutes together
In your home or by video, so we see your pet as they actually are. Time enough for a physical examination, for your pet to settle, and for the long conversation about what is really going on.
Your written plan
Written after the appointment, not scribbled during it: what we think is driving the behaviour, what to change at home, what medication is or is not appropriate, and what to do when it goes sideways.
The fair comparison
A trainer and a behaviour vet are not the same purchase
It is a reasonable thing to weigh up, and plenty of people book a trainer first. A good trainer is worth their fee and we work alongside them happily. But the two jobs are different, and only one of them can rule out a medical cause.
A dog who suddenly snaps at the children may be guarding. They may also have a painful elbow, a gut problem, or a thyroid that has gone quiet. A cat weeing on the bed may be unhappy about the new kitten, or may have a bladder full of crystals. No amount of training resolves a medical problem, and months of training that was never going to work is the genuinely expensive option.
What the veterinary part buys you
- Examine your pet and find the pain that is driving the behaviour, from sore hips to a rotten tooth
- Order and interpret blood tests, urine tests and imaging
- Diagnose the medical conditions that masquerade as behaviour problems
- Prescribe and monitor behaviour medication where it is genuinely warranted
- Say plainly when medication is not the answer
What the fee does not buy
We will never promise to fix your pet
Anyone promising to fix your dog is selling bull-dust. Behaviour is not a broken part that gets replaced, and a practitioner who guarantees an outcome is telling you something about their sales process, not about your pet.
What you get for the fee is an honest assessment, a plan built for your household rather than a handout, and someone who will tell you when something is not working and change course. Some pets improve quickly. Some need months. A few have a prognosis nobody wants to hear, and we would rather say that at the first appointment than take your money for a year.
Membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists is earned by examination, but it is not a specialist qualification. Australia has only a handful of registered veterinary behaviour specialists. Where a case needs one, we will say so and refer.
No surprises
What sits outside the consult fee
These are quoted separately, and quoted before they happen. Nothing on this list turns up on an invoice you have not already seen.
- TravelFrom $135, quoted with your appointment
- Out-of-hours appointmentsQuoted on request
- Prescriptions and medicationsCharged at cost of dispensing
- Pathology testingQuoted before we run it
All consults are Fear Free and inclusive of GST. Out-of-hours appointments, travel, prescriptions, medications and pathology testing are quoted separately. We prefer to give you a tailored estimate for your pet's exact circumstances.
Before you book
Which service is available where
This matters more than the price, because two of these services do not cross the border. In-home GP vet care and at-home euthanasia are South Australia only.
In-home GP vet care
South Australia only
Vaccinations, skin and ear consults, lumps, senior checks and pathology at home. Adelaide and South Australia, and nowhere else.
At-home euthanasia
South Australia only
A private goodbye at home, with cremation arranged on your behalf. Also South Australia only.
Behaviour consults in person
Adelaide and Melbourne
In-person behaviour appointments run across Adelaide, with regular visits to Melbourne.
Behaviour consults by telehealth
Australia-wide
The same consult and the same written plan, by secure video, wherever you live.
Paying for it
Insurance and payment plans
Good care should not depend on what is in your account on the day. Both of these are set up and ready to use.
We are a GapOnly clinic
If your pet insurer offers GapOnly, your benefit is assessed on the spot, usually in under 10 minutes. You simply pay the gap - the amount your policy does not cover - and that is it.
Payment plans with VetPay
Payment in full is due at the end of each consult. If that is hard right now, VetPay lets you spread the cost into manageable fortnightly payments, so your pet still gets the care they need.
Questions about cost
Common questions
As a Fear Free certified, mobile service it costs a little more than a standard clinic GP, but our cost-per-minute pricing is on par with most clinics. We always prefer to give you a personalised estimate for your pet's exact circumstances - travel is charged from $135.
Because it is a much longer piece of work. A behaviour initial is 90 to 120 minutes with you and your pet, on top of reviewing your questionnaire and your pet's clinical history beforehand, and writing your treatment plan afterwards. That is 3 to 4 hours of veterinary time per case, against 20 to 40 minutes for a standard appointment.
Yes, travel is charged from $135 and it is quoted with your appointment, not added afterwards. A mobile visit means your pet is seen at home rather than sitting in a waiting room, and the travel fee covers the time on the road and the vehicle stocked to work out of.
Payment in full is due at the end of each consult. If that is difficult, VetPay lets you spread the cost into fortnightly payments. If your insurer offers GapOnly, your benefit is assessed on the spot and you pay only the gap.
Yes. We are a GapOnly clinic, so if your insurer offers GapOnly your benefit is assessed on the spot and you pay only the gap. We also offer VetPay payment plans to spread the cost into fortnightly payments.
Yes. When you enquire we will give you an estimate for your pet's exact circumstances, including travel, before anything is booked. If the plan changes during a visit, for example if pathology would help, we talk through the cost with you before we do it.
Get an estimate for your pet
Tell us what has been happening and where you are, and we will come back with the appointment we think your pet needs and exactly what it will cost, travel included. Every enquiry is read personally, usually within a week.