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Schedule OnlineA cat spay costs $255 to $587 across clinics nationally. The average lands near $322 for a healthy female under six months old. Private veterinary hospitals typically charge $300 to $500. Low-cost and nonprofit clinics often run $50 to $150. Your price depends on the clinic, your cat’s age and health, and where you live.
A spay costs more than a neuter. The female surgery is internal and takes longer.
I run The Pet Advocate, a spay, neuter, and wellness clinic in Tracy, California. I earned my DVM at UC Davis in 2015. My team and I have cared for thousands of cats. I've heard from many owners who got quotes from under $100 to past $1,500 for the same surgery.
A few clear factors explain that range. Once you know them, you can tell a fair quote from an inflated one.
The range looks wide because “spay a cat” covers two different settings. A full-service hospital bundles more into the price. A high-volume spay clinic holds the price to the surgery and a few essentials. Both use licensed veterinarians.
The national averages come from CareCredit and reflect healthy cats under six months. PetMD puts a private-hospital spay at $300 to $500 and a low-cost clinic spay at $25 to $150. Some owners report quotes past $1,500. Those are outliers tied to full-service hospitals.
A neuter removes a male cat’s testicles through a small external incision. A spay removes a female cat’s ovaries and uterus through the abdominal wall.
The spay takes more time under anesthesia and more careful surgical work. Larger and older cats can cost more for the same reasons. At my clinic, a female spay runs $130 and a male neuter runs $105.
Your choice of clinic moves the price more than any other factor. Full-service hospitals carry overhead for services a routine spay never touches. High-volume spay clinics do the surgery at scale and pass the savings on.
Older cats and pregnant cats cost more. You also pay more for a cat in heat. Each one adds surgical time or risk.
Clinics in pricier areas charge more. A spay in a lower cost-of-living area lands near the bottom of the range.
Two quotes that look far apart can both be fair. Some clinics include pre-anesthetic bloodwork, an IV catheter, and fluids. A barebones quote leaves those out.
Pain medication, a cone, a microchip, and vaccines are often separate line items. At my clinic, pain meds and a cone add $33 to $38 together.
Owners ask me this often. One clinic quotes $300, another quotes $1,200, and the surgery is the same.
Corporate groups have bought up many general practices over the last decade. From what I have seen, those groups raise prices and standardize them across every location they own.
Most general practices also require a paid office exam before they book surgery. In our area, those exams run $60 to $130. I do not charge an exam fee to book a spay.
A full-service hospital stocks drugs and equipment for cases a spay never needs. It passes that overhead to you in the price.
I keep our costs down by staying in one lane. We do spays, neuters, dentals, vaccines, and basic wellness. We do a high volume of them. That volume lets me price each surgery lower.
Nonprofit and high-volume spay clinics use licensed veterinarians and send most cats home the same day. A spay at one of these clinics often runs $50 to $150.
The lowest-priced clinics may skip bloodwork or IV fluids to hold the price down. Ask what each quote includes before you compare.
If your cat has a heart murmur or a history of seizures, I will send you to a full-service hospital instead. Some cats need a setting built for higher-risk anesthesia.
A cat spay involves more than the surgery. We start with a pre-surgical exam to confirm she is healthy enough for anesthesia. She goes under monitored general anesthesia. A licensed veterinary technician watches her vitals the whole time. A vet performs the surgery. She recovers under supervision through the day.
You drop her off in the morning and pick her up that afternoon. We take cats from four months to seven years old. You can read our full spay and neuter requirements and what to expect on surgery day before you book.
The American Veterinary Medical Association’s Fix by Five campaign supports spaying a cat before five months of age. Four to five months works well for owned cats.
Spaying before the first heat cycle prevents unplanned litters. It also lowers the risk of some cancers and infections. I recommend four to six months at my clinic (ideally before the first heat cycle). I take healthy cats up to seven years old. An older cat can still be spayed after a clean health check.
I avoid spaying a female while she is in heat. The surgery carries more risk then. I ask owners to wait about a month after her heat passes.
I built our pricing to stay in reach for working families. These are our current cat prices.
Our $130 spay runs well under the $300 and up a full-service hospital charges. There is no exam fee to book. You choose your add-ons. The deposit holds your spot and comes off your final total.
Card payments add 3%. We take cash and major cards. We do not take CareCredit, checks, or mobile pay. You can see the full price list any time.
Owners drive to us from across the region for these prices. One client from Ceres compared local quotes before she booked:
“We are from Ceres ca and drove to tracy to take our cat sleepy to be seen, it was way cheaper then our area they want 300 to 900 without medication or anything! So we paid about $189 or something with a $20 deposit with appointment”
Jessica, Google review
Another brought two kittens in from the South Bay:
“We had our two kittens spayed here, and they both came home healthy and recovering well. The staff were kind, gentle and very pleasant to work with. They also kindly accommodated us since we drove from South San Jose.”
yenchi hoang, Google review
A female cat spay costs $255 to $587 across clinics nationally, with an average near $322. A private veterinary hospital usually charges $300 to $500. A low-cost clinic charges $50 to $150. At The Pet Advocate, a female spay is $130.
Full-service hospitals carry higher overhead and often require a paid exam before surgery. Corporate ownership has pushed general-practice prices up across many clinics. High-volume spay clinics charge less because the surgery is most of what they do.
The AVMA’s Fix by Five campaign supports spaying a cat before five months of age. Four to five months works well for owned cats. Early surgery prevents heat cycles and unplanned litters.
Most cats return to normal within 10 to 14 days. Limit her jumping and keep the incision clean and dry during that window.
Neutering a male costs less than spaying a female. A neuter is a quick external surgery. A spay is internal surgery that takes more anesthesia time.
Most pet insurance treats spaying as elective and does not cover it. Some providers offer wellness add-ons that reimburse part of the cost.
A routine cat spay can cost under $100 or past $500. The clinic you choose drives most of that gap. A low-cost or high-volume clinic with licensed veterinarians can save you hundreds on the same surgery your cat would get at a hospital.
Pet owners drive to us from across the Central Valley and the East Bay, including Manteca, Stockton, and the Tri-Valley. You can see the areas we serve and find the city closest to you.
If you live near Tracy, California, you can see your full price up front. Book a low-cost cat spay online, or call us at 209-879-9367. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
Mike Wesselink, DVM, runs The Pet Advocate in Tracy, California. The clinic serves the Central Valley and the East Bay. He earned his veterinary degree from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. He has performed thousands of spay, neuter, and dental procedures for cats and dogs.