thepetbill

Diagnostics and laboratory tests

MRI scan per body part prices at UK vets

An MRI scan of one body part.

Published prices

No practice on our list publishes this price yet: vet businesses with 15 or more practices or out-of-hours centres must publish it, if they offer it, on each practice's website from 23 December 2026, and smaller practices from 23 March 2027.

What it is

The official name says the price is per body part and includes the general anaesthetic and the images.

Official price-list name: MRI scan per body part (including general anaesthetic and images) (CMA Order, Schedule 1).

What's included

  • The price is per body part and, by its official name, includes the general anaesthetic and the images.
  • Anything that is an essential part of the service, and VAT (Art. 7(2)(d) and (f))

Diagnostics and laboratory tests

Schedule 1 groups nine items as diagnostics and laboratory tests, and says all of them include interpretation: the price should cover a vet reading and explaining the result, not only taking the sample or the image.

Why the price varies

  • Whether the practice does it at all. If a practice does not offer an item but routinely sends owners elsewhere for it, it must say so on its website and at the practice (Art. 7(7)).
  • Outside providers. If part of the work is done by someone else, such as an outside laboratory or a visiting specialist, the listed price must include their fees (Art. 7(2)(k)).
  • More body parts. Each body part is priced separately.
  • Complexity. Every list must say that its prices are for the typical case and may go up in more complex or complicated cases (Art. 7(2)(l)).
  • Written estimates. From 23 June 2027 at large vet groups and 23 September 2027 at smaller ones, a practice must give a written estimate where a course of treatment is likely to cost £500 or more including VAT, and more than £100 of it (a fifth of the £500 threshold) is for costs still to come (Art. 3 and 11).

Questions to ask the practice

  • Is the scan done here or at a referral centre?
  • Is a specialist's report on the images included?
  • What would scanning a second body part cost?

We explain prices, not treatment. Ask your vet about the clinical choices for your own pet.

The rules

What the practice's price list must show, with the Order's article references

The exact name from Schedule 1, “MRI scan per body part (including general anaesthetic and images)”, with no free-text description (Art. 7(2)(a)).

As for every item: each version on its own line with the standard one marked, a cat price and five dog bands where the price depends on the animal, and VAT included, kept up to date and changed before a higher price is charged (Art. 7(2)(b), (c), (f) and (g), and 7(5)).

A price that includes interpretation of the result (Schedule 1).

Any third-party fees for parts of the work done by someone else (Art. 7(2)(k)).

Large vet groups must publish from 23 December 2026 and smaller practices from 23 March 2027 (Art. 3 and 7).

Unhappy with a bill or a price? Our guide explains how to complain, from the practice's own process to free mediation.

Questions

If my pet is referred for an MRI, whose price applies?

The referral centre's. Referral centres must publish their own price lists (Art. 7(3)(a)), and a written estimate that involves referral must include an estimate of those costs (Art. 11(6)).

Why might my bill be higher than the listed price?

Listed prices are for the typical case. Each price list must say so, and must warn that prices may go up in more complex or complicated cases (Art. 7(2)(l)). The price must still include anything that is an essential part of the service (Art. 7(2)(d)).

How up to date are the prices here?

Every price shows the date we last checked it and links to the practice's own page. We re-check weekly, and daily from 23 to 31 December 2026. If a price looks wrong, email [email protected].

Sources

How we get prices

How to compare vet prices in the UKA practical checklist for comparing vet price lists fairly, from consultation minutes and vaccine bundles to out-of-hours cover and cremation.What the CMA vet price rules mean for pet ownersFrom 23 December 2026 big vet groups must publish a standard price list. Here is what changes, when, and what you can do with it.What's included in a neuter or spay priceThe seven tick boxes every UK vet price list must show for castration, spays and dentals, and how to read them before you compare prices.