Hospital FAQs

VetCare does not offer finance plans. However, we do offer CareCredit®. CareCredit® offers health & wellness financing for you, your family, and your pets. Approval is fast and easy through the CareCredit® website (link below), allowing you to apply, get approved, and pay your bill, all at the time of service.

VetCare offers a 6-month free financing option. If you pay CareCredit® the minimum each month and pay the total amount in full by the end of the 6-month period, no interest will be applied. To find out more, click here.

We do not accept walk-in appointments. Scheduling an appointment allows us to plan for your arrival, resulting in very little wait time. If your concern for your pet is urgent, we will make every attempt to see your pet, even if our doctors’ schedules are full. We slot times for emergencies and offer “Day Admissions” for just those instances.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Please call us and select emergency when you reach our phone tree. If it is off hours and you can’t reach us immediately, please call:

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Phone Number: (888) 426-4435

Click here to learn more

Note: A consultation fee may apply. Fees allow for expert medical advice (DVMs and nurses) and continued communication with your veterinarian until the problem is resolved, even if it is over several days.

Having your pet properly prepared for her veterinary visit may alleviate stress and save you valuable time and money.

So, what does the preparation involve? It’s a great question we get regularly. The short answer is… it depends on the testing being performed.

Procedures & Surgery

If your pet is going to be sedated or anesthetized for a procedure, no matter how routine, no food should be given to them after midnight the night before the procedure. Water is fine to provide. Usually, medications can be given as usual, but it is crucial to follow your veterinarian’s instructions regarding medication administration before the procedure. If you have any concerns or questions about your pet’s care, please contact us for personalized advice tailored to your pet’s health and specific circumstances.

Bloodwork

Having your pet properly prepared for a blood test helps to ensure that the results are as accurate and reliable as possible. Sometimes test results are abnormal only because the pet was not properly prepared. If your veterinarian suspects the results are unreliable, you may need to have the blood tests repeated.

• Routine Testing

Wellness checks with routine bloodwork provide a great deal of information about your pet’s general health. These tests are performed for a variety of reasons and can be ordered for healthy pets (e.g., seniors) and sick pets alike. In fact, any visit to your veterinarian could include a routine blood test, and having your pet properly prepared often prevents the need for repeated testing.

Preparation

Gentle fasting: If possible, do not feed your pet for about 6 hours before your appointment. Fasting helps to clear the blood of lipemia, fat droplets that appear after eating. Lipemia can interfere with some blood tests and make the results difficult to interpret.

Provide water: Even mild dehydration may change the test results, so be sure your pet has access to water before you visit the veterinarian.

Avoid exercise: Physical activity can cause changes in test results.

Minimize stress: Stress elevates temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. It also elevates the production of glucose and certain hormones in the blood, like cortisol. In addition, our feline friends can present with lymphocytosis, an elevated measure of a certain type of blood cell, making diagnosis tricky.

How can I help minimize stress?

Always keep your dog on a leash to avoid surprising encounters in the waiting room. Bring your cats in carriers with something that smells like home. This helps your cat feel more secure and eliminates the risk of escape. Always handle your pet calmly and quietly – talking in a soothing voice.

If the waiting room is crowded, you may wish to wait in your car with your pet to reduce excitement. Or, when scheduling your appointment, feel free to ask our receptionists to book a time when the clinic tends to be quieter.

• Specialized Testing

Specialized tests are ordered to investigate or monitor a specific problem. For example, veterinarians will want to monitor blood sugar in a diabetic pet or test drug levels in a pet on medication. Proper preparation for special tests is essential for accurate results.

Preparation

The preparation for a special blood test depends on the test. For example, you may be asked to:

• Fast your pet strictly for 12 hours or more.
• Give medication at a specific time before your visit.
• Withhold medication before the blood sample is taken, even if it means delaying or skipping a dose.

Your veterinarian will give you specific instructions before your appointment. It is important that you follow these instructions exactly to ensure accurate test results.

All medications come with some level of risk. Your veterinarian is always assessing if the relief from your pet’s condition outweighs these risks. Some medications can have side effects. Many medications are processed by one organ and can cause stress on organ function over time.

Periodic blood work while your pet is being treated can find problems early and allow your veterinarian to make necessary changes. When your pet first starts a medication, blood tests may be needed to ensure the dosing is appropriate. Similarly, over time, pets can build up resistance to certain medications. Regular blood work will indicate if dosing and/or timing need adjustment.

Physical exams and bloodwork are essential tools in your veterinarian’s toolbox regardless of your pet’s life stage. They help not only assess your pet’s general health but provide assurance that her body’s response to medications remains safe and stable.

Vaccinations are divided into two categories: Core and Non-Core.

Core vaccines are either required by law or highly encouraged for all pets of that species. Rabies and Distemper are such vaccines. However, other vaccines (i.e., non-core) should also be considered “required” for animals whose lifestyles increase their susceptibility to certain diseases. For this reason, vaccine plans are personalized and based on risk, evolving science, and sound clinical judgment.

VetCare recommends year-round heartworm and flea/tick prevention.

“Pathogens that cause heartworm disease, Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis continue to spread throughout the United States in 2022. Risks have increased due to the rehoming of pets, changes in distribution and prevalence of vector populations, changes in wildlife populations and their incursion into newly developed and reclaimed areas, changes in habitat due to natural or human-induced processes, and the short and long-term changes in climatic conditions. Ticks and mosquitoes remain the principal transmitters of pet and human vector-borne pathogens.

“The 2022 forecasts, supported by ongoing research, highlight areas where we can do more to lower the risk of exposure of companion animals to vectors of disease. The best preventive measures that veterinarians and their clients can take is to prevent contact between companion animals and these vectors. The foundation of these prevention strategies are recommendations of products that kill and/or repel mosquitoes and ticks, and the practice of year-round heartworm prevention.”

— The Companion Animal Parasite Council

Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) statistics on Colorado reveal that heartworm and intestinal parasites are prevalent in Colorado. Many of these diseases are zoonotic* (i.e., can be transferred from animal to human, thereby posing a health risk to people).

2022 Prevalence Data for Colorado Revealed:

Heartworm & Intestinal Parasites (worms, protozoa)

• 1 in 200 dogs and cats tested positive for heartworm, a deadly disease with an incredibly risky cure.
• 1 in 100 dogs and cats tested positive for roundworm*
• 1 in 50 dogs and 1 in 200 cats tested positive for hookworm*
• 1 in 300 dogs tested positive for
• 1 in 10 dogs and 1 in 20 cats tested positive for giardia* (1 of 2 strains is zoonotic)

Tickborne Diseases

• 1 in 200 dogs tested positive for Lyme Disease
• 1 in 100 dogs tested positive for Anaplasmosis
• 1 in 50 dogs tested positive for Ehrlichiosis.

When your pet comes into VetCare for an annual exam and heartworm test, VetCare tests for heartworm and the tick-borne diseases Lyme, Anaplasmosis, and Ehrlichiosis. A fecal test is also recommended to detect intestinal parasites.

Prevention

Heartworm & Intestinal Parasites

As the adage reminds us: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Currently, there are no treatment options for cats with heartworms, besides surgery, which can cost thousands of dollars. For cats, diagnosis is deadly. For dogs, the average treatment cost is estimated at $2700 or more, if surgery is required. Meanwhile, heartworm and intestinal parasite prevention for the largest of dogs costs less than $150 per year.

It takes 6 months to detect heartworm in an animal from the time it’s bitten by a mosquito. The baby heartworm (microfilaria) passes through many life stages as it travels through the body to the heart where it becomes a detectable, adult heartworm. Various preventions attack only one life stage. If one dose of prevention is missed, the opportunity to kill the heartworm can be lost. Many cite the mosquito’s sensitivity to temperature as a reason not to treat year-round. However, contagious forms of intestinal parasites, also covered by prevention, can remain in the soil, regardless of temperature, for 1-3 years.

Fleas

According to Colorado State University, there are approximately 80 species of fleas in Colorado, the greatest number found in any state. However, flea problems around the home and on pets are not as common as in other parts of the United States. Colorado’s dry climate is unfavorable for flea development, particularly in the immature stage.

For more information on fleas, click here.

Ticks

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) can survive and thrive in extreme temperatures—hot and cold. As a result, your pet should be on a flea/tick preventative in addition to a heartworm (and intestinal parasite) preventative year-round.

Below are common myths and misconceptions surrounding ticks courtesy of Trupanion. For more information on ticks, including how to remove them, visit their page here.

Tick Myths and Misconceptions

Ticks, like many parasites, carry with them a lot of misconceptions. While they make good stories, these three “facts” about ticks are actually fiction.

Seasonal survivors
One of the most common misconceptions about ticks is that they are solely summer creatures who don’t survive beyond the fall. This is not the case. Unlike fleas, ticks can survive and thrive in extreme temperatures and will last through even the harshest winter. Your dog can catch ticks all year round, so they should be checked all year round too.

Tree dwellers
A lot of people believe that ticks fall from trees. This is likely to be down to the fact that—in the case of humans-they are often found on the head, so must have come from above. In fact, ticks are talented climbers and will seek out the most discreet and hidden parts of the body to feed on. In humans, this happens to be the hair. Your dog is most likely to catch a tick from grass and vegetation, but certainly not from an overhead tree.

Give it a drink
If you ever had a tick as a child, your parent or grandparent may well have soaked the critter in alcohol before removing it, under the notion that this makes the tick lame and easier to remove. In fact, this is not true. You should place the tick into alcohol after removal, but all you need to relieve your dog of a tick is a clean pair of tweezers and a steady hand.

A microchip provides secure, reliable, and permanent pet identification so that if your pet is ever lost, there is a far greater likelihood that they will be returned home to you. To work effectively, a microchip must be registered with up-to-date contact information in a pet recovery database.

At VetCare, we partner with PetLink®, a leader in pet identification and reunification. We can microchip your pet at any age, but we recommend microchipping as early as possible and typically perform the painless procedure during your pet’s spay or neuter. The chips we use are barely larger than a grain of rice, and we use the smallest needle on the market for implantation.

Even better, there’s no long, drawn-out registration process. The staff at VetCare will register you at the time of the chip’s implantation, ensuring a quick and smooth process for a lifetime of security.

If you have any concerns about your pet’s health, it’s always best to call the clinic and/or make an appointment with the doctor.

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

VetCare Animal Hospital – 560 S. Holly Street, Denver Colorado, 80246

Office: (303) 329-9162        Fax: (303) 329-9736

Our receptionists are trained to ask specific questions regarding your pet’s condition to gauge the seriousness of the situation and the time frame in which they need to be seen. Depending on the issue and under very specific circumstances, our nursing staff can make recommendations as first steps, like feeding a bland diet and dropping off a fecal for diarrhea, or submitting a urine sample for a suspected UTI. However, if the problem is not resolved within 24-48 hours, you will be asked to make an appointment.

In more urgent scenarios, our staff may recommend a day admission where our doctors have more time to get your loved one stable and assess the situation. We will have you sign a form, get a complete history regarding the concern, and ask for current contact information so we may call you with updates and a discharge time.

All calls and appointment requests coming into the clinic are prioritized to provide timely and appropriate care for your pets.

Adapted from “Why is My Pet’s Dental Cleaning So Pricey?” written by Dr. Rex Riggs, DVM.

Your pet’s dental care is an involved medical procedure that takes a great deal of time to complete. There are many ways in which your pet’s dental is different from your trip to the dentist. First and foremost, to ensure a safe and thorough procedure, including cleaning under the gumline, your pet must be placed under anesthesia.

Preparation

After your pet is dropped off, our doctors will examine your pet to ensure they are healthy enough to be placed under anesthesia. If we haven’t conducted bloodwork in a previous appointment, our surgical technician will run a panel to check levels and assess the health of the liver and kidneys, two organs that metabolize the anesthesia. If the blood work is satisfactory, the technicians will administer a pre-sedative or calming agent to eliminate stress and decrease the amount of anesthesia that will be needed. Next, an IV catheter is placed so the technician can later administer an induction agent and provide fluids to maintain blood pressure quality.

Anesthesia

Next, the surgical technician will insert an endotracheal (breathing) tube, and your pet is attached to an anesthesia machine. Once your pet is safely on anesthesia, they are connected to monitors that help the technician measure temperature, blood gas levels, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, etc. Lastly, we cover the pet with a Bear Hugger warm air circulating blanket to maintain body heat, a major factor in allowing the animal to metabolize the anesthesia correctly and wake up from the anesthesia quickly.

The Dental Procedure

Cleaning: The surgical technician uses special instruments to chip large pieces of tartar off each tooth. Once that is completed, an ultrasonic handpiece is used to clean the small material off the teeth. Now, the technician uses special instruments to clean under the gums, removing tartar and plaque that is not visible. This is a time-consuming step, but absolutely necessary in preventing infection. Lastly, either the doctor or the technician will examine the gumline, carefully probing around each individual tooth, to detect pockets and measure gum recession.

X-Rays: Following the gum examination, the team will take dental X-rays. Dental x-rays are imperative since many issues, such as abscesses, may only be evident in X-rays. The vet will now examine the teeth using the radiographs as a guide. It is at this point that the doctor determines if extractions are necessary.

Extractions: Removing teeth in dogs and cats is much more difficult than removing human teeth due to the root structures involved. Many times, a veterinarian must remove a tooth in segments. If that is the case, the doctor uses a surgical procedure to create gingival flaps and access the tooth’s roots. In some instances, sutures are required. A dental cleaning, without extractions, can normally be completed in 60 to 80 minutes. Adding extractions can extend the procedure much longer.

Polishing: After the cleaning, X-rays, and any extractions, the surgical technician will use a special instrument to polish all sides of each tooth with a special paste, finishing with a fluoride treatment. The procedure is now complete.

Recovery

Injections are administered for pain relief and antibiotics, if necessary. While others may be moving on to another procedure, your pet’s surgical technician remains with your pet, tapering her off anesthesia and gently urging her to wake so the breathing tube can be removed. Then, the technician safely moves your pet to an enclosure where she is kept warm and monitored closely as she fully awakens.

Preparing for Mom & Dad: The doctor prescribes any pain medications and/or antibiotics, and the technicians fill the prescriptions. Then, they record all medications in your pet’s file and print discharge instructions to give to you at the time of pickup.

Dentals are time-consuming and skill-intensive, but we do them because dental health is crucial to the overall health of our animals. It’s a necessary cost to help them live long, pain-free lives.