Free Vaccines for life

We at Ventana Animal Hospital take your pets' health seriously. We know that we are a part of a nationwide decline in veterinary visits. We know that some of this decline is due to the rising costs of veterinary care, and we know that some of this decline is due to a perception that visibly healthy pets do not need well-care.

While costs are something we work on every day, we know that the only way that we can continue to provide your pets with the care that they need is to keep our hospital well-stocked, our equipment up to date and our staff well-trained. We think that all of these are vital aspects to excellence in veterinary care, and as much as we desire to keep costs low, we will not skimp on any of these.

Therefore we must tackle the other aspect of this nation-wide decline — the lack of necessity of well-care visits in seemingly healthy pets. We all know that diseases caught early are more cost effective to treat, less risky to the pet and less stressful to the owner. We also know that according to research released in recent months, preventable illnesses are on the rise in our pet population.
These two issues go hand in hand. Declining veterinary visits lead to ill-informed owners which leads to preventable disease numbers rising.We want to break this cycle.  For all it's seeming briefness, a  physical exam is a very detailed look at your pet — from teeth to tail and everything in between. We can hear heart murmurs before there is a cough, feel organs that may be changing in shape or size, see redness in gums that may be the start of dental disease. We are free to discuss things with you that may point to illnesses, such as increased or decreased appetite, increased thirst, restlessness, slowness or inability to climb stairs. All of these are signs of issues that we can largely get ahead of if given ample time.

So, after months of debate on how we can express to you how important regular exams are, we have decided on a radical new approach. We will put our money where our mouth is: if we don't want our pet parents to only think of us a place to get vaccines, we will stop putting vaccines first.

Vaccines are important to pet health, but they are in no way the most important aspect of well-care. So here's what we've come up with. If you bring your pet in twice a year for well-care visits (not because of a cough, or ear infection, but a healthy pet exam) we will provide all of your core vaccines for free.

Core vaccines in dogs are Da2pp (+/- C) also called Distemper-Parvo, or Annual Vaccines, Rabies and Parvovirus. Bordetella is not a core vaccine, nor is Lyme or the rattlesnake vaccine. Those three vaccines can still be purchased if you and the doctor feel that they are necessary when you come in.

For cats core vaccines include RCP and rabies. Due to our costs, we are unable to include the Feline leukemia vaccine, which is recommended for indoor/outdoor cats, or cats at risk of encountering indoor/outdoor cats or recently outdoor cats - such as adoptions.

We believe in twice-yearly exams so much that if you come in every six months with your healthy pet for a check-up — we will throw in your core vaccines for free.

The program will have a contract to explain the details and rules. There is a minimal one-time enrollment fee per pet of $29 to help pay for the added book-keeping. Once you have paid this fee, as long as you keep bringing your pet in for biannual exams (every six months) you will never pay it again.

We've tried to make this as easy for you as we can, both for the sake of simplicity and to lower the risk of undue confusion. The program is simple. Bring your pet in for an exam every six months (with a one-month flex period to accommodate people's schedules). We will send out reminders and call you when your appointment is due. If you skip an appointment, no problem, you can either pay the enrollment fee again, or pay for your vaccines along with your exam like always.


Our goal is to create a habit of well care for your pet that can last his or her whole life. As long as you bring in your pet for well-care visits every six months, all core vaccines will be free. This program can start after the initial puppy series is satisfied until your pet is grey around the muzzle.

Our own pets are seen regularly by our veterinarians -  they listen to their hearts check their teeth, feel their abdomen, counsel us on their weight and discuss food, and habits. We want to provide our pet owners the same freedom to know that we are always there to see your healthy happy pet - take our word for it, it's way better than the alternative.

Please call the hospital for additional details and contract information.