Vaccines
We carry the full range of vaccines you will need for your pet. This includes the newest Feline Leukemia vaccine via VetJet with recombinant vaccine technology. Prior to any vaccinations, we conduct a full physical exam to ensure your pet’s health prior to vaccination. This will allow the immune system to respond effectively to the vaccine providing the highest level of immunity.
Canine Vaccine Guidelines
To assist veterinarians with making vaccine decisions, AAHA has released a new set of canine vaccine guidelines for veterinarians.
Leptospirosis ("Lepto") and Your Dog
- Bacterial infection seen in Boulder/Denver metro area
- Transmitted by raccoons and contaminated water
- Causes kidney and/or liver disease
- Treatment involves hospitalization, IV fluid therapy and antibiotics.
- Vaccine available
- For More Information about the disease
Boarding Services
Know your cat or small pet is safe while you are out of town. We have over 20 deluxe boarding condos located in two different areas of our facility. 
The front boarding condos face the lobby where interaction with clients can be fun.
For the more introverted, condos in a quiet part of the hospital are preferred. Each cat will get two adjoining rooms with a shelf and kitty bed. Both boarding areas utilize Feliway diffuser.
We serve Science Diet foods: Kitten, Adult, Adult Light, and Senior. If your cat is on a special diet, we prefer you bring it along to decrease the stress of boarding. They must be current on vaccinations and have a full physical exam within the last year. Our Technician staff takes care of all boarders even on the weekends.
They have full capabilities to administer any medications your cat is currently taking. For convenience, we can update your cat on any medical services while here, if you wish.
Surgery
It is our goal to provide our patients with the safest anesthesia possible using the most quality equipment on the market. We offer the option of using our Carbon Dioxide laser for all types of surgery. 
This gives your pet the benefit of less bleeding during surgery, less swelling after surgery, and less pain during the recovery stages. It also gives our doctors more precision when operating in difficult to reach areas. Prior to any anesthetic procedure, we feel it is important to complete pre-anesthetic blood work to assure your pet can handle the anesthesia safely. We also provide intravenous fluids for all of our patients during anesthesia. 
This helps give us immediate IV access during an anesthetic emergency as well as assist in recovery. Our monitoring equipment carries a high standard. We monitor our patients closely with EKG, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, capnograph, and body temperature.
ELECTIVE OPTIONS FOR SURGICAL PROCEDURES
Propofol
Propofol is an induction agent that is very rapidly metabolized in the liver and excreted by the kidneys. Patients tend to "fall asleep" more quickly and wake up faster with fewer side effects. Propofol is widely used in the human medicine field for "out patient" surgeries. Depending on your pet’s current condition (senior, geriatric, health compromised), Propofol maybe required for their procedure.
Additional Pain Medication
While pain medication is administered just prior to surgery, additional supportive pain medication may reduce stress and help speed recovery. If you choose, we can contact you regarding your pet’s pain management needs following their procedure.
- Studies have shown that animals feel pain much like humans do, but instinctively hide it or delay showing signs of pain. Animals show pain in a variety of ways that differ from humans. Studies also show that pain medication given preemptively (before surgery) decreases the pain that animals feel post-operatively. Instead of having to control pain that has been caused, we have pain medication in place to deal with pain that will occur from the surgery or procedure.
- Other benefits to preemptive pain management are reduction of anesthetic drugs used for your pet’s procedure, quicker post-op recovery time, decrease in hospitalization time, and reduction in drugs needed after the procedure to control pain.
- Pain comes from different receptors along the nervous system. Electing additional pain medication may help manage pain more effectively. The different drugs will work at different pain receptors and ‘work together’ with a greater result than if they are used individually.
Carbon Dioxide Laser Surgery
A surgical laser generates an intense beam of coherent light that cuts, seals or vaporizes tissue. This invisible beam of light vaporizes the water normally found in the skin and other soft tissue. The doctor precisely controls the laser beam, resulting in a thin layer of tissue being removed. The surrounding areas are unaffected. In many cases, using the laser instead of a regular scalpel blade is left to your choice, but in some cases, the doctor may require the use of the laser for your pet’s procedure. Please ask one of our health care team members if you have any questions.
The Benefits of Laser Surgery
- Less Pain: The laser seals nerve endings so your pet feels less post-operative pain.
- Less Bleeding: The laser also effectively seals small blood vessels, which allow the doctor to have better precision and may reduce the time of anesthesia.
- Less Swelling: The laser does not tear or bruise the tissue and seals the lymph vessels that are responsible for swelling.
Life Stages
| Pet’s Age | Cat | Dog 1-20 lbs | Dog 21-50 lbs | Dog 51-90 lbs | Dog >90 lbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 40 | 42 |
| 6 | 40 | 40 | 42 | 45 | 49 |
| 7 | 44 | 44 | 47 | 50 | 56 |
| 8 | 48 | 48 | 51 | 55 | 64 |
| 9 | 52 | 52 | 56 | 61 | 71 |
| 10 | 56 | 56 | 60 | 66 | 78 |
| 11 | 60 | 60 | 65 | 72 | 86 |
| 12 | 64 | 64 | 69 | 77 | 93 |
| 13 | 68 | 68 | 74 | 82 | 101 |
| 14 | 72 | 72 | 78 | 88 | 108 |
| 15 | 76 | 76 | 83 | 93 | 115 |
| 16 | 80 | 80 | 87 | 99 | 123 |
| 17 | 84 | 84 | 92 | 104 | 131 |
| 18 | 88 | 88 | 96 | 109 | 139 |
| 19 | 92 | 92 | 101 | 115 | |
| 20 | 96 | 96 | 105 | 120 | |
| Legend | Senior | Adult | Geriatric | ||
The Life Stages of your Cat
The Life Stages of your Dog
Pain Management
Is Your Pet in Pain?
Animals naturally hide their pain. Pets may be suffering even though they don’t show obvious signs. AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines have decoded signs of animal suffering and ways to relieve it. Learn More.
What You Should Know About Your Pet’s Pain Medication
Dentistry
Twelve Step Periodontal Treatment
- The 12-step cleaning procedure is the foundation from which proper diagnosis and treatment flow. The procedure involves:
- Patient history and Physical exam – Process in which the veterinarian will exam the patient in order to note any abnormalities that might affect the anesthetic procedure.
- Initial oral survey – Survey done prior or immediately after anesthetic induction. It allows the veterinarian and the technician to have an idea of what the case might entail.
- Supragingival Calculus removal – Removal of calculus build-up above the gum line with use of hand instruments and the ultrasonic scaler.
- Sub gingival cleaning – Removal of calculus build-up below the gum line with use of hand instruments.
- Polishing – Removes small defects and irregularities that occur during the cleaning process.
- Sulcus irrigation – Removes debris to prevent irritation of tissues.
- Fluoride application -Helps strengthen the enamel and helps decreases sensitivity.
- Complete charting – Notes the presence or absence of teeth, gum disease, extractions, gingival pockets, and any other abnormality seen during procedure.
- Radiographs – X-rays allow us to see tooth and tooth root abnormalities below the gum line
- Treatment plan – Develops a plan for treatment if any additional treatment is required. Additional treatments include: Extractions, bonded sealants, root planning, Doxirobe treatment etc.
- Home care -
Reviews with the owner the recommended things that can be done at home to help maintain healthy oral disease on their pets. - Annual or bi-annual oral exams, along with complete physical exams.
Dental Radiographs – Essential diagnostic tool in which the veterinarian can visualize relevant dental anatomy below the gum line. This is anatomy that cannot be visualized by the naked eye, such as tooth roots and surrounding bones.
Closed Root Planning- Technique which is used when a patient
has periodontal pockets of 6mm or less. The surface of the root is first scaled and smoothed without a surgical procedure. The pocket is lavaged and Doxirobe gel is applied.
Open Root Planning- Technique which is used when a patient has periodontal pockets greater than 6mm. This process does involve a surgical procedure to help smooth the surface of the root.
Doxyrobe Gel Application- Helps improve gingival health by reducing periodontal pocket depth, and providing local antimicrobial effect.
Bonded Sealants- Seals fractured teeth that do not have pulp exposure, helping decrease pain, prevent infection, and speeds up the healing response in fractured teeth.
Extractions- The removal of a tooth from its socket in the bone.
Surgical Extractions- Procedure in which the gum is gently retracted from the bone in order to extract the tooth. Surgical extractions allow the Veterinarian to extract larger teeth in your pet. It is vital that all of the tooth and roots be removed.
Consil Placement-A synthetic material that helps strengthen fragile oral bones
Local Anesthesia-Gives local pain control for several hours in areas of the oral cavity where surgery has been done.
Gingivectomy- Surgical removal of excessive gum tissue.
Oral Mass removal
Definitions and tooth anatomy:
Crown – The visible part of the tooth.
Root – The part of the tooth located below the gum line. Different teeth have different numbers of roots. For example the incisors have only one root where as the carnasials have three roots.
Pulp – The pulp is located at the center of the tooth. The pulp consists of connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels that nourish the tooth.
Dentin – A hard tissue that surrounds the pulp. Dentin helps detect things such as touch, heat, and cold.
Enamel – although it’s the hardest tissue in the body, the enamel is brittle and prone to chipping. The enamel stops growing and is lost gradually over the life of the tooth. The enamel covers the dentin.
Alveolar Bone – The bone that forms the jaw and the sockets into which the roots of the teeth extend.
Periodontal ligaments – By attaching to the cementum and the alveolar bone, the
ligaments help the tooth stay in place.
Cementum – Calcified tissues that cover the root of the tooth and help support the tooth in the jaw as well as supporting root repair.
Lateral Canal – A very small channel that connects the root pulp to the periodontal tissue in which small vessels run.
Gingiva – Soft tissues that covers the alveolar bone, periodontal ligaments, and cementum. It is commonly known as the gums.
Gingival Sulcus – An area of potential space between a tooth and the surrounding gingival tissue.
Gingival hyperplasia -An increase in the size or overgrowth of the gingiva.
Periodontal Pockets – Abnormally deepened gingival sulcus as it contacts a tooth.
Feline Resorptive Lesions – A common disease in cats characterized by resorption of the tooth by odontoclast. They appear as erosions of the surface of the tooth at the gingival border.
