Preventative Pet Care in Colorado Springs

A Red Rock wellness exam includes a full nose-to-tail physical (heart, lungs, lymph nodes, abdomen, joints, eyes, ears, mouth, skin), a behavioral and lifestyle review, weight and body condition scoring, vaccinations appropriate to your pet's age and lifestyle, parasite screening, and a personalized care plan for the year ahead. For pets age 7 and older we highly recommend senior bloodwork and urinalysis screening. Routine visits run about 30 minutes for established patients and 45 to 60 minutes for first-time visits.

For most adult dogs and cats (1 to 6 years), once a year is standard. Puppies and kittens visit every 3 to 4 weeks until at least 16 weeks of age, with the final puppy vaccine often given between 16 and 20 weeks (per AAHA 2022 guidelines). Mature pets (cats 7 to 10, dogs 7+ for medium and large breeds, 5+ for giant breeds) typically benefit from annual wellness exams paired with senior bloodwork screening as the pet ages. Senior pets (10+ for cats per AAFP guidelines, 7+ for most dogs) usually shift to twice-yearly wellness visits because age-related changes can develop quickly and early detection makes a meaningful difference in outcomes.

Our standard exam fee is $79 (a same-day urgent exam is $109), in line with other independent veterinary hospitals on the Westside. Add-ons like vaccines, fecal testing, heartworm testing, and bloodwork are itemized separately so you see what each component costs. For straightforward wellness visits we will give you the total before any service is performed, no surprise charges.

A puppy's first comprehensive visit at Red Rock includes a thorough physical exam (our standard $79 exam fee), the first round of core vaccines, any lifestyle vaccines your puppy needs, a fecal test, intestinal deworming, and a behavioral evaluation if you would like one. We also set up a personalized vaccine and wellness schedule for the first year and talk through nutrition, socialization, and microchipping. Vaccines and tests are itemized so you see the cost of each component, and we strongly encourage owners to bring their new puppy in within the first week of adoption.

We do not sell wellness packages or subscription plans. We do offer wellness discounts on dental cleanings, but we do not bundle care into one-size-fits-all packages, because every pet is unique and that kind of packaging is something corporate practices commonly push. Instead, we give you a clear, personalized annual care recommendation at every visit so you know exactly what is recommended and what each component costs. For most clients this works out to a predictable annual spend without locking into a contract.

Core vaccines for every dog at Red Rock are distemper, parvovirus, and adenovirus (given together as the DAPP combination), leptospirosis (a core vaccine here given Colorado's wildlife exposure, especially in foothill neighborhoods where deer, raccoons, and rodents are common), and rabies (legally required). Lifestyle vaccines we may recommend based on your dog include Bordetella (for dogs that board, attend daycare, or go to dog parks), canine influenza, Lyme (worth discussing if you travel with your dog or live near foothills with deer or elk activity), and rattlesnake (for dogs that hike or live where rattlesnakes are active).

Core vaccines for every cat in Colorado are rabies (legally required) and FVRCP (feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia combo). For cats that go outside, are exposed to other cats, or live in multi-cat households, we also recommend FeLV (feline leukemia). We do not vaccinate against everything available, we tailor the protocol to your cat's lifestyle to avoid unnecessary vaccines.

Bring any prior medical records (rabies certificate, vaccine history, previous exam notes), your pet's current food (or a photo of the bag and a few days of feeding amounts), a fresh stool sample if possible (a tablespoon-size in a sealed bag is plenty), a list of current medications and supplements with doses, and notes on anything you have observed at home that you want us to know about. If your pet has had a difficult experience at a previous vet, please tell us at booking.

Yes. Our calm, unhurried approach benefits every pet, not just anxious ones. Easygoing dogs and cats get the same advantages: more accurate vitals, more thorough physical exam, more time with the doctor, clear take-home instructions, and a team that knows your pet over years rather than rotating staff. Many of our routine wellness patients are not anxious at all, they just want a good, locally-owned vet who pays attention.

Annual or semi-annual bloodwork in healthy adult and senior pets is one of the most reliable ways to catch problems before they cause symptoms. Kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid disease, and early diabetes often show up on bloodwork months or years before a pet shows clinical signs. We highly recommend senior labwork starting at age 7. Our standard wellness panel includes a complete blood count (CBC), a 27-value chemistry panel, a urinalysis with urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPC), thyroid testing (T4 and free T4), a cardiac proBNP, a pancreatic test (fPL for cats or cPL for dogs), a 4Dx test (heartworm and tick-borne disease), and a fecal. For senior pets especially, baseline values from healthy years make it much easier to detect a change later. We do not require the full panel on every visit; we recommend testing based on age, breed, and risk factors.