Bringing home a puppy is a little like signing up for an extremely cute subscription service whose pricing is disclosed one chewed shoe at a time.

There is the food, the crate, the leash they will immediately try to eat and, if you live in New York City, the realization that apparently even a puppy needs an appointment calendar.

The veterinary costs arrive quickly. New puppies generally need a series of exams, vaccines and parasite tests rather than one neat annual visit. Based on prices currently observed in Vetted's New York City database, I would budget about $1,200 for routine veterinary care during a puppy's first year, before adding spay or neuter surgery, medications, preventives or an unexpected sick visit.

That is not a universal quote, and your actual total could land considerably lower or higher. But it is a more realistic starting point than budgeting for one $100 checkup and hoping your puppy handles the rest.

Using current median prices in Vetted's database, I built an illustrative first-year care basket that includes:

I would round that up to at least $1,200 to $1,300 when setting a first-year veterinary budget, because actual schedules and charges will vary by clinic.

That estimate covers preventive veterinary care only. It does not include food, supplies, grooming, dog walking, training, pet insurance, flea and tick prevention, heartworm medication or emergency care.

This is an illustrative model, not a prescribed care plan. The number and timing of appointments depend on the puppy's age, prior records, lifestyle and veterinarian's recommendations. Vetted medians are based on the current cleaned comparison data and will change as more bills are submitted.

Puppies do not generally receive one round of shots and graduate.

The American Animal Hospital Association recommends at least three doses of the combination distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus vaccine between six and 16 weeks of age, spaced two to four weeks apart. It also recommends two initial leptospirosis doses, while rabies vaccination follows applicable law. Bordetella may be recommended based on exposure risk, including boarding, daycare or frequent contact with other dogs.

AAHA updated its guidelines in 2024 to treat leptospirosis as a core vaccine for all dogs, noting that even urban dogs can encounter the bacteria outdoors. For a New York City puppy whose daily routine may include sidewalks, parks, puddles and the occasional deeply questionable curb snack, that is not a particularly abstract risk.

Vetted's current observed medians are:

The sample sizes are still modest for rabies and DHPP, so I would treat those figures as early benchmarks rather than fixed citywide prices.

The largest category in my sample budget is not an exam or vaccine. It is fecal testing.

The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends testing puppies for intestinal parasites at least four times during their first year because young dogs are more susceptible to infection.

At the current Vetted median of $76.75 per fecal test, four tests would total approximately $307.

That does not mean every clinic will recommend or bill four separate tests at that exact price. Some services may be bundled, and a puppy's health history can change the schedule. But it illustrates why a first-year budget built around vaccines alone can come up short.

A single 4Dx test adds another observed median of $149. CAPC recommends annual heartworm testing in dogs and annual testing for tick-transmitted pathogens, particularly where those diseases are endemic or emerging.

Not necessarily.

Vetted's current median for a routine dog exam is $112, while the median technician visit is $35.50. Some clinics may schedule vaccine boosters with a technician after a veterinarian has established care, while others may require an examination.

That difference matters.

Four appointments billed as full $112 exams would cost $448 before a single vaccine or test. A schedule containing two full exams and two technician visits would cost $295.

This is one of the easiest questions to ask before booking:

It is also worth asking whether a quoted vaccine price includes the appointment fee or sits on top of it.

Vetted's researched NYC clinic-pricing data currently includes male-dog neuter quotes ranging from $225 to approximately $2,000.

The enormous spread reflects more than simple markup. Quotes may vary based on:

At the low end, adding a $225 neuter to the preventive-care estimate would bring the veterinary total to about $1,439.

At the upper end, adding a roughly $2,000 procedure would bring it to about $3,214.

Those figures apply only to the male-dog neuter pricing currently represented in Vetted's research. I would not use them as a proxy for spay surgery, which is a different and generally more involved procedure.

Read Vetted's full guide to NYC neuter prices

This estimate does not include several major first-year expenses:

It also assumes a relatively uneventful first year.

One walk-in exam in Vetted's database cost $150, while observed emergency exam fees ranged from $150 to $335 before diagnostics or treatment. X-ray charges in the current database run around $380 to $420, and that may not include sedation or a separate radiology review.

This is why I would keep a separate emergency cushion even if you buy pet insurance.

Before the first appointment, ask the clinic for an itemized estimate covering the puppy's expected vaccine series.

Specifically ask:

A package is not automatically cheaper. Compare the included line items with what your puppy still needs.

How I calculated the estimate: I used current median prices from Vetted's cleaned Airtable comparison data for routine exams, technician visits, DHPP, leptospirosis, rabies, Bordetella, fecal testing, 4Dx testing and medical-waste fees. I then applied an illustrative first-year schedule informed by current AAHA vaccination guidance and CAPC parasite-testing recommendations. The result is a budgeting model, not medical advice or a guarantee of what a particular clinic will charge. Vetted's database is still growing. Sample sizes differ by service, and most of the current dog data comes from Brooklyn and Manhattan. I will update the figures as more New York City pet owners submit bills.

Your receipts can help the next person budget for theirs.

Upload a New York City veterinary bill to Vetted. I remove personal information before adding approved prices to the public database, and contributors who provide an email can receive a private comparison of eligible charges.

Every additional bill makes these estimates more useful, especially for services where the current sample is still small.

Browse NYC Vet Prices