Frequently Asked Questions

Veterinary advancements have come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. But despite the technological wonders we have at our disposal, there are some elements of care that will always be done best sitting on your living room floor in the comfort of their own home. And there are few times when that’s more important than when you’re caring for a senior pet.

White Whiskers is a mobile veterinary practice that focuses on navigating the challenges associated with age, pain, frailty and end-of-life. We are not a full service veterinary practice. We don’t offer vaccines, dentals or neuters. Nor do we offer advanced diagnostics such as ultrasound or radiology. As a result, we aren’t meant to replace your primary care veterinarian, but instead to supplement them. This is by design.

By streamlining our services to hands on care and consultation, you can trust our recommendations for advanced diagnostics or treatments because we’re not trying to sell them to you. Our approach is to never nickel and dime our clients or to impede their access to optimized care. Rather, we work with you as a guide to problem solve and mitigate challenges to your pet, whether they be physiologic, environmental or psychological.

Traditional veterinary medicine is great at getting your pet through the hurdles of youth and adulthood, but can often fall short in providing the time and guidance needed to ensure that your dog or cat’s senior years are golden. We’re honored to pick up where they leave off.

White Whiskers has been designed as a supplemental veterinary practice. We’ve chosen to not do everything, so that we can focus on the things that we do extraordinarily.

We work with your primary care provider to build out your care team which allows us to fill in for those aspects of care that are difficult for the traditional model to provide. Understanding the complications of your senior pet takes more than 10 minutes of doctor time. That’s why our model of care gives you access to our doctors for a minimum of one hour per visit. Each visit generates a report that is communicated back to your primary care veterinarian so they’re never left in the dark as to your pet’s care.

Not yet! For now, White Whiskers is a 100% mobile practice where appointments take place in the comfort of your own home (unless other arrangements have been made).

Coming in 2025, we are excited to expand into a building which will allow us to offer a brand new range of services including new rehabilitation treatments and lower cost end-of-life care. However,  White Whiskers was founded on and will always provide the mobile, at-home experience for our clients and their pets. Some appointments will simply always call for the comfort of home.

There is not a singular definition of “senior pet.” An animal’s life stage is determined based on size, breed, and what (if any) health conditions or injuries they may have. A chihuahua may not show signs of aging until 12 years or older, while a St. Bernard could be slowing down by age 5. The aging process for our cats can look different and depending on their health, some can live into their 20s while others may decline more quickly.

If we determine that it’s a bit early for your pet to come see us, we’ll have recommendations of other practices that might be a better fit for that younger chapter of their life. Some of our younger patients sadly need help with palliative care or a terminal diagnosis and in those cases, we’re here to help at any age. Our amazing care staff can help ensure that you find the care that you and your pet need.

We’re so sorry that you’re facing the loss of a younger pet. No matter how much time we have with our pets, it can never be enough. And yet, when they need us to be their advocates, at any age, it’s our responsibility as their people to honor them with just as much grace and dignity as we do our seniors. We would be honored to help you with that journey.

Our focus on senior pets at White Whiskers also addresses aspects of palliative, comfort and hospice care of terminal disease at any age. While we will always defer to the medical management of your primary care veterinarian, we look for ways to make your pet more comfortable in the time they have left and to assist them with a peaceful transition when the time is right.

F or the purpose of travel, our visits are split into two categories: routine appointments and special appointments.

Routine appointments are our regularly visited clients who engage in our Sunrise Visit with follow-up visits. Because these appointments are scheduled in advance and often grouped by area, we limit our service area to the Colorado Springs area, extending as far west as Woodland Park, east to Peyton, south to Fountain and north to Palmer Lake. This helps prevent us from ever spreading ourselves too thin, sacrificing the care of our patients and their people.

Special appointments include the Sunset Visit and the Crossroads Visit. These visits are scheduled differently to provide a greater access to more people who need care. Our service area for these visits can be very broad, but in order to provide this service, we do need to charge a travel fee for those locations outside of the Colorado Springs city limits, based upon total driving time.

If you live outside of Colorado Springs and would like to know if we can provide end-of-life services to your area, please enter your zip code in the field below. Please be aware that for extended travel times, advance scheduling notice is often required. While we do our best to maintain a flexible schedule for these appointments, our ability to see you may depend on calling at least 48 hours in advance.

W e are not an emergency clinic and as a small family practice, cannot regularly supply after hours care.

If this is an emergency outside of regular business hours, please contact your nearest emergency clinic (information below). If you are pursuing a time-sensitive euthanasia request during business hours, we may be able to help, but please be aware that our doctors may be assisting other patients during a time when your pet needs immediate care.

Emergency Veterinary Clinics

Northwest: North Springs Referral Center (719) 920-4430

Northeast: Tender Care Veterinary Center (719) 413-8282

West: Animal ER Care (719) 260-7141

East: Powers Pet Emergency (719) 473-0482

South: Uintah Pet Emergency (719) 633-3214 (Closes at Midnight)

Our clients are like family and we make it a priority to be as available as possible for when they are in need. Because we are sometimes called to triage emergencies for our current patients, we deeply appreciate the understanding from our other clients who may be inconvenienced by a rare, last minute appointment change.

Sunrise and Follow-Up Appointments: 

When you pay for a Sunrise or Follow-Up (Whole Pet) Visit, you’re paying for your doctor’s time, expertise, and our support staff that make everything we do possible. This also includes the background work of documenting your pet’s condition in a manner that’s meant for you to be able to understand, as well as communicating with your primary care veterinarian so your extended veterinary team is never out of the loop.

If the doctor has a modality that’s appropriate to ease your pet’s pain, she’ll use it at no extra charge. Consumables, one-time treatment devices and medications are charged separately per usage, but at minimal mark-up. We prefer to charge based on time rather than on service so as to never introduce an impediment to making your friend feel the best they can.

Crossroads Visits

Crossroads visits are an hour long consultation with your doctor. While we do not include a treatment regimen in this visit, our fees address the time spent in the appointment, reviewing your pet’s medical record prior to the appointment and the report that both you and your primary care veterinarian receive after our visit.

Sunset Visits

Sunset Visits are slightly different in that most of our clients are billed for our services as well as the services of the aftercare facility in a single invoice. Our services are billed based on the weight of your pet and your location and our up-front pricing means that there are never any surprises for your bill. Aftercare pricing is based upon your aftercare selection, your pet’s weight and your choice of urn and memorial items. While we aren’t in charge of the pricing model at our aftercare facility, our special clinic pricing discount is passed along to you. We don’t believe in charging you for work we don’t do.

Our pricing may look a little different from other vet practices. When you pay for a sunrise visit you are paying for more than the hour and a half our vet spends with you and your pet.  Included in this price are the time our technicians spend compiling all of your pet’s records as well as the time our veterinarian spends studying your pet’s veterinary records and your rehab personal rehabilitation assessment.  It also includes the time that we spend creating a completely unique plan that is tailored to your pet’s unique needs and circumstances.  Finally, once a plan has been established, our care team spends a significant amount of time helping you find the best price on prescriptions, following up on how both you and your pet are doing and communicating with our veterinarian about when your pet needs to be seen.  It takes a team effort to provide the kind of support we think that you and your pet deserve and we work hard to make the most out of every penny you spend.

We’re proud to partner with Scratch Pay to provide additional financing options to our clients.

Click Here to Apply

Get the care you need today, and pay for treatment costs overtime with a payment plan.

Benefits of a payment plan:

• • • Split treatment costs into smaller monthly payments
    • Not a credit card
    • No deferred interest or membership fees

Scratch Pay plans in the US are issued by WebBank, while in Canada, they are issued by ©Scratch Financial, Inc. ©Scratchpay (NMLS ID#: 1582666). Eligibility is required for these loan products, and Scratch Pay plans may not be available in all states.

Most clients have name recognition with Care Credit and we are frequently asked if we accept it. We’ve opted not to engage with Care Credit for a variety of reasons. For our part, Care Credit claims a much larger percentage of our billing than any other service. On our clients’ part, while the service allows for immediate care in many circumstances, we’ve seen too many people hurt by what we consider to be predatory interest rate hikes if our clients can’t pay off the balance within the allotted period. That doesn’t feel good.

In addition to Scratch Pay, we’ll soon offer a PayPal Pay in 4 program to offer our clients another option. And in special circumstances, we will find creative solutions to help ensure that those who need our services can find access to them.

L ike senior people, senior dogs and cats often have multiple medical conditions, often with overlapping symptoms.  Often these are not “curable” conditions, but rather life-long conditions that must be managed with various treatments or medications.  Things can get even more complicated when the treatment for one condition makes another condition worse.  Situations such as these require time and often complex reasoning to determine the best course forward for you and your pet.

At White Whiskers we specialize in “quality of life” and pain management.  This means that while we are not always set up as the ideal diagnostic center for some of these conditions, we do have the time and expertise to explain test results in language you understand, to consider the ways that various treatments or diagnostics could impact yours and your pets quality of life and to help you find novel solutions to the unique challenges that go along with this time of life.

It would take more space than we have to list all of the conditions we help with.  Rather than list them all, we recommend you call and ask.  If we are not ideally set up to diagnose or treat your pet’s condition, we can certainly offer support and send you in the right direction.  We work closely with many local primary care and veterinary practices.  For those of you with pets who have trouble leaving the house, we also regularly team up with a stellar team of mobile technicians who can come directly to your home for many diagnostics and treatments.  We would never claim to be an expert on every condition or to be able to solve every problem, but at a minimum we are always here to offer support and guidance through it all.

T he American Veterinary Medical Association defines a board-certified veterinary specialist as a veterinarian who has completed additional training in a specific area of veterinary medicine and has passed an examination that evaluates their knowledge and skills in that specialty area.  In strict terms of this definition, we do not claim to be board certified specialists as such a board specialty for senior pets does not yet exist.

That said, Dr. Kelly Hutchison has sought out extensive training in several areas that are not considered in the purview of general veterinary practice.  She is a CCRT (Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist) and a cVMA (Certified Veterinary Medical Acupuncturist).  She has completed the coursework necessary to become a Senior Dog Certified Veterinarian and is in the process of becoming a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner.

Dr. Robert has been performing in-home end of life care for the last 6 years with a focus towards making this experience safe, painless and peaceful for people and their pets.  Every pet is unique, both in temperament and biological make-up, and so there is no way to foresee exactly how each patient will react to any medication or situation but Dr. Robert has a unique way of guiding clients through this experience, giving them enough information to understand everything that is happening.  We know exactly how crucial it is to feel confident, in these final moments, that your veterinarian has yours and your pets’ best interests at heart.

T he classic definition of palliative care is “a specialized approach to medical care that focuses on improving the quality of life for patients and their families who are facing a serious or life-threatening illness. It aims to relieve suffering, provide support, and empower patients to live as fully as possible until the end of their lives.”  Hospice care is essentially the same thing but people tend to associate it more with those who are nearing end of life.

In the scope of our practice we choose to see palliative care as a change of focus from “curing” to “living with” a disease or condition.  This looks different in every case but often involves asking questions and having conversations where we weigh the costs (literal and figurative) and benefits of specific diagnostics or treatments.  It means that if you have limited funds, like most of us, discussing where you should focus those funds to make sure that you look back on this time without regrets.  It means that if in the words of Dr. Kelly, “if treatment becomes torture,” talking about when is it okay to stop. In short, it means prioritizing quality over quantity when it comes to your pet’s life and having someone with experience to help you feel more confident that you are making the right choices for you, your pet and your family.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In eget bibendum libero. Etiam id velit at enim porttitor facilisis. Vivamus tincidunt lectus at risus pharetra ultrices. In tincidunt turpis at odio dapibus maximus.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In eget bibendum libero. Etiam id velit at enim porttitor facilisis. Vivamus tincidunt lectus at risus pharetra ultrices. In tincidunt turpis at odio dapibus maximus.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In eget bibendum libero. Etiam id velit at enim porttitor facilisis. Vivamus tincidunt lectus at risus pharetra ultrices. In tincidunt turpis at odio dapibus maximus.

T here’s no perfect formula for determining when your pet will need help passing over that rainbow bridge. Every animal, condition and circumstance is unique. Nor can we always rely on them to communicate hard things to us no matter how much we wish that they would.

Nobody knows your animal like you do. But some of the things you see you may lack the context for. That’s why pairing your expertise with our understanding of age, disease and decline can offer assist in bringing clarity that might be elusive on your own. In the meantime, we welcome you to make use of our free Crossroads Assessment Form which can help bring the abstract into focus.

We’re never ready to play this role for them, no matter how many times we’ve been through it before. Know that you don’t have to go through it alone.

T here’s nothing comfortable about losing a beloved pet. It is a process that often evokes a deep, personal grief. But it’s also a process that can give the gift of peace to an ailing family member.

Each family has their own familiarity, understanding and comfort level with decline and loss. Each family should feel comfortable to set whatever boundaries they need for their children. That said, being present for the passing of a pet under controlled and optimized conditions can bring as much peace to the humans in that pet’s life as it does to the pet itself.

It’s not easy being a parent at the best of times. It’s especially difficult to be a parent during hard times. Sometimes being a parent means delaying your own grief process in order to tend to that of your children. It can be a lot to juggle all at once. The doctors of White Whiskers are parents too. We take pride in talking to and providing context for children who might be present during the visit as well as supporting them however we can to help provide you space to grieve. For that reason, we always welcome your children to be present, if that’s right for your family.

It’s hard to say how our animals process loss, but you can be assured that they do process it in their own way. The mourning process is often aided by context and that is as true for our other pets as it is for us. For that reason, we always welcome the other household pets to be present as much as is comfortable for their family.

Like younger children, sometimes a younger animal’s youthful exuberance can be a distraction from the pet your doctor is there to see. In their goofy way, they can sometimes position themselves to be the center of attention. Our process of pre-sedation is a gentle and relaxing time which is made less so when you’re getting stepped on by a furry sibling. In those cases, we recommend that the more rambunctious pets go to a back room until the procedure is complete. At that time, when the doctor has packed up their belongings and stepped out to give everyone a chance to say their goodbyes, it’s usually best to allow everyone to come out and sniff and process however they need to understanding that processing and grief is as unique to them as it is to us.

W e offer cremation services through Lasting Paws Pet Memorial Service. Their cremation options are detailed on our Sunset Visit page. White Whiskers is happy to facilitate your aftercare needs through Lasting Paws, even for those times when your pet might pass on their own.

For those who are cost conscious, White Whiskers does not believe in large mark-ups on services that we don’t provide. That’s why, despite our travel and transportation fees for our time and labor, booking with White Whiskers instead of directly engaging with Lasting Paws is often the less expensive option as we are provided clinic discounts that we pass along to our clients.

W e live in a richly talented community of local artists who are available to help immortalize your best friend through commissioned artwork whether they are still with you or whether they’ve passed on. We do not charge referral fees for putting you into contact with our artists. Helping you celebrate your pet is reward enough for us.

Our aftercare facility, Lasting Paws Pet Memorial Service, offers a variety of custom memorial items for those who wish to pursue aftercare through us. These include:

For those who choose a self-directed aftercare, we sell terracotta clay paw print kits directly to our clients who wish to pursue the creation of their keepsake on their own.

F irstly, you have our deepest condolences. There are times when an event or their rapid deterioration happens before we have the chance to get them help. We want you to know that if that has happened to you, you’re not alone. We can facilitate the transport and aftercare services for your pet even if we weren’t present for a euthanasia service. Give us a call and we can arrange the details with you.

T here are different reasons why we sometimes wish to say goodbye outside of the home. Some pets have a special trail or park that’s meaningful to them. Some of our pet parents just need a bit of spatial separation from where the euthanasia takes place. In these cases, we’re happy to help.

Destination Sunset Visits are special appointment types that are arranged at the location of your choosing. We do offer this service for an additional charge as it generally requires a bit of leg work on our part to help schedule and facilitate the visit. Please be aware that due to the added complexities of providing Destination Sunsets, same day appointments are often unavailable so please plan ahead if you think this option might be right for you.

W e know how much this hurts. Everyone at White Whiskers has felt their own loss as well. In these moments of grief, it’s easy to feel alone, but we promise you that you aren’t.

Our hope is to build local in-person resources for our grieving pet owners in the future. Until we are able to realize this goal, please explore the following links for folks who have devoted themselves to providing this kind of support for others just like you.

Since creating White Whiskers, we have continued to see a need for additional accessibility to veterinary care for our patients and their owners, whether they are senior pets who struggle with stressful car rides or  owners with their own accessibility issues. In order to address this need within our community, we’re proud to provide care from our incredible veterinary technicians who carry out the treatment plans given by your veterinarian. 

Doctors Kelly and Rob have partnered with Registered Veterinary Technician Ashley Miller to bring you our new service, Roaming Veterinary Team (RVT). Our priority is engaging our community of passionate pet owners with an empathetic understanding of their needs. We hope you will follow along @roamingvetteam Keep an eye out in the coming days for their services, pricing, and how you can join the schedule.