Cat Cataract Surgery Cost in 2026: $2,000 to $3,500

A cat cataract surgery costs $2,000 to $3,500 in the United States, and $2,250 is the typical price. Regionally the typical price runs from $1,990 in the Midwest to $3,010 in California — a 1.5x spread for the same procedure.

One publication is the entire US price record

Cat cataract surgery costs $2,000 to $2,500 for one eye and $3,000 to $3,500 for both. Every dollar figure for the operation on this page comes from a single source, MetLife's published cat eye surgery costs, and you should know that before you use it.

This is not an oversight in our research. It is the state of the evidence.

No US veterinary ophthalmology practice we could find publishes a feline cataract fee. The American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists states it is not permitted to track pricing, so there is no specialist fee schedule to survey.

CareCredit's fifty-state cataract survey — the only large price study in this specialty — covers dogs only.

What that means practically: treat the range above as one carrier's published estimate, not as a market average. A quote 40% above it is not automatically wrong, and neither is one below.

The feline price sits below the canine one

MetLife's $2,000 to $2,500 for one feline eye sits under CareCredit's canine national average of $3,782 per eye, whose surveyed range runs $2,995 to $6,845.

Most owners expect the opposite. Feline procedures are usually assumed to cost more because feline data is thinner, and here the only two published figures point the other way.

CareCredit's canine survey also shows how wide a real market is once somebody measures one: $3,034 in Mississippi to $6,758 in Hawaii, a 2.2x spread across fifty states. Nothing equivalent exists for cats, so the feline range on this page has no measured spread inside it at all.

We are not going to claim the gap is real. One of those numbers is a fifty-state survey and the other is a single carrier's estimate, so they are not measured the same way and the comparison is indicative at best.

It is in the invoice table below because a reader holding a feline quote and reading a canine page needs to see both.

Can a general practice do cat cataract surgery?

No. Cherry eye and eyelid surgery can be bought at three price tiers; cataract surgery cannot, because the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists states that only veterinary ophthalmologists, or residents in training, perform it on an animal.

The specialist fee is the floor here, not the ceiling. There is no cheaper venue to move to and no general practice that will quote against it.

That removes the single largest cost lever available on every other page in our eye set. What is left is timing, whether both eyes are done together, and what the underlying disease costs to control first.

In a cat, the cataract is usually a symptom

The Royal Veterinary College reports that in cats most cataracts follow trauma, a congenital or hereditary defect, or ongoing inflammation and infection in the eye. MedVet notes that diabetic cataracts, the standard cause in dogs, are extremely rare in cats.

That inverts the cost question. In a diabetic dog the cataract is the problem; in a cat it is usually evidence of another one.

The underlying disease has to be found and controlled before surgery, and it is billed separately from the ranges on this page. Uncontrolled inflammation is a reason a surgeon declines to operate, not a reason to negotiate.

So the examination that establishes the cause is the cheapest and most decisive money here. Eye-Vet publishes $285 for a complete ophthalmic examination of both eyes with slit-lamp biomicroscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy and tonometry.

Uveitis is the cost before and the cost after

All cataracts cause uveitis, and the Royal Veterinary College notes that cats with previous inflammation in the eye are the most likely to develop pronounced post-operative uveitis, which can lead to glaucoma or retinal detachment.

The RVC describes long-term follow-up as vital. The surgical quote is therefore not the end of the spend, and a cat with a history of uveitis carries more of that tail than one with a traumatic cataract.

The RVC's own description of the pre-operative and post-operative course is the most detailed clinical account we could source for cats, which is why it appears repeatedly on this page while carrying none of the dollar figures.

No US practice publishes a price for that follow-up. Post-operative cats also need a protective collar for two weeks and an extended course of medicated drops, and we could not source a US figure for those either.

Budget for recheck appointments and medication beyond the surgical total, and ask the practice for its own recheck schedule in writing before you commit.

Both eyes in one anaesthetic is the only discount on this page

MetLife publishes $2,000 to $2,500 for one eye and $3,000 to $3,500 for both, so the second eye adds roughly $1,000 rather than a second full price.

The Royal Veterinary College notes that bilateral surgery is recommended where both eyes are operable, partly because the patient then needs only one anaesthesia and one recovery period.

The saving is structural. The consultation, the anaesthetic episode and the pre-operative workup are shared, and only the theatre time doubles.

That workup is most of why cataract surgery costs several times what lid surgery does. Electroretinography, gonioscopy and ocular ultrasound establish whether the retina behind the cataract still works, and they are bundled into the surgical total rather than billed on top.

What a feline cataract estimate should itemise

Because there is no market average to check a quote against, the defence is an itemised estimate rather than a benchmark. Ask for the workup, the surgery, the hospitalisation and the follow-up as separate lines.

The workup is the part most often assumed rather than stated. Electroretinography, gonioscopy and ocular ultrasound decide whether the surgery can go ahead at all, and a quote that does not mention them has either bundled them or not planned them.

Ask whether the price is per eye or for both. The difference between MetLife's two published figures is about $1,000, which is large enough to explain most of the confusion between two quotes.

Ask what the recheck schedule is and what each visit costs. The Royal Veterinary College describes long-term follow-up as vital, and that is the part of the total no US practice publishes.

What we could not source, stated plainly

Every regional row on this page is indexed. The national range is scaled by CareCredit's fifty-state canine cataract index, so the geography is borrowed from dogs and is a cost-of-practice signal rather than a feline local quote.

The Royal Veterinary College publishes its own feline cataract prices in pounds sterling. That is a real published figure from a teaching hospital, but it is a different currency and a different healthcare market, so we cite the RVC for clinical detail and attempt no conversion.

Pre-anaesthetic bloodwork is estimated from a feline panel published by a general practice, because no ophthalmology practice we found itemises it.

Where the eye cannot be saved, the operation on the other side of that decision is priced at cat eye removal surgery cost, which rests on two US clinics that publish feline fees. For the canine version of this operation, and for the decision between the five different operations that share the phrase "eye surgery", the dog eye surgery cost page carries the fifty-state cataract data, and the vet cost index holds the rest.

Cat Cataract Surgery cost by region

These are the prices behind the range at the top of the page, one row per geography we could source. The basis column says how each row was arrived at.

What changes the price

Two invoices for the same procedure diverge for a small number of reasons. These are the ones that move the total most.

There is no general-practice option

The American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists states that only veterinary ophthalmologists or ophthalmology residents in training perform this surgery on an animal. Unlike eyelid or cherry eye surgery, there is no cheaper general-practice tier to shop for - the specialist fee is the floor, not the ceiling

One eye or both

$2,000-$2,500 for one eye against $3,000-$3,500 for both (MetLife). The second eye adds theatre time but shares the consultation, the anesthesia and the pre-operative workup, and the Royal Veterinary College notes bilateral surgery is recommended where both eyes are operable partly because the patient needs only one anesthesia and one recovery period

Why the cat has a cataract at all

In cats most cataracts follow trauma, a congenital or hereditary defect, or ongoing inflammation and infection in the eye (Royal Veterinary College). Diabetic cataracts, the standard cause in dogs, are extremely rare in cats (MedVet). That underlying disease has to be found and controlled before surgery, and it is billed separately

Uveitis, before and after

All cataracts cause uveitis, and cats with previous inflammation in the eye are the most likely to develop pronounced post-operative uveitis, which can lead to glaucoma or retinal detachment (Royal Veterinary College). Long-term follow-up is described as vital, so the surgical quote is not the end of the spend

The mandatory pre-operative workup

Electroretinography, gonioscopy and ocular ultrasound establish whether the retina behind the cataract still works. They are bundled into the surgical total rather than billed separately, which is part of why cataract surgery costs several times what lid surgery does

State cost level

CareCredit's 50-state canine cataract survey runs from $3,034 in Mississippi to $6,758 in Hawaii, a 2.2x spread that matches its dental and cherry eye tables to within 0.01

What the itemized invoice looks like

Clinics quote a bundled number and itemize afterwards. This is the decomposition, so you can read a real estimate line by line before you sign it.

Cataract surgery is a very specialized surgery that requires extensive training to perform so only veterinary ophthalmologists or veterinary ophthalmologists in training (residents) would perform this surgery on an animal.American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, Veterinary Ophthalmology FAQs

Does pet insurance cover cat cataract surgery?

Cat Cataract Surgery is normally covered by a standard accident-and-illness policy. Coverage turns almost entirely on the cause. A cataract that follows a documented injury or an infection contracted after enrolment is a straightforward accident or illness claim. A congenital or hereditary cataract is paid only by carriers that cover hereditary and congenital conditions and only where the eye was clear at enrolment. A cataract secondary to chronic uveitis - the most common route in cats - usually inherits whatever status the uveitis has: if the inflammation appears in the record before the policy started, the cataract is excluded as a complication of a pre-existing condition. Because feline cataracts are so often secondary, the eye examination that establishes the cause is also the document the claim is decided on.

What you would get back: 70-90% of the covered bill after the deductible, where the cause of the cataract was not pre-existing. Nothing where the underlying uveitis or injury predates enrolment.

Coverage rules differ enough between carriers that the only useful answer is a side-by-side: our pet insurance comparison for cat cataract surgery shows which policies pay for it, what the waiting period is, and what counts as pre-existing.

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Sources

1. Cat Eye Surgery Cost — MetLife Pet Insurance, 2026.
2. Veterinary Ophthalmology FAQs — American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, 2024.
3. Feline Cataracts — Royal Veterinary College, University of London, 2026.
4. Cataracts and Cataract Surgery in Cats and Dogs — MedVet, 2026.
5. How Much Does Dog Cataract Surgery Cost? — CareCredit (Synchrony), 2025.
6. Cost and Payment — Eye-Vet Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2026.