My name is Richard Gastellum, D.V.M. and my new Colorado business is called At Home Pet Doctor, LLC.  For the past 25 years I have practiced in Albuquerque, NM exclusively as a house call practitioner for dogs and cats.  Now I am bringing this business model to Colorado.  Based in Buena Vista, CO, I will be serving the greater Collegiate Peaks/Upper Arkansas Valley on highways 50, 285 and 24 servicing parts of Chaffee and Lake counties.  We will start seeing clients in mid to late October 2015.  Our website is currently under construction.  Our phone will become active September 15 and we will start answering inquiries then.  How will this concept actually work?

You call or email me to schedule an appointment for your dog or cat.  Instead of you driving your pet to a clinic, I will come to you in a custom designed and built veterinary clinic, on wheels.  My goal will be to have a "Leadville day" where I am up in the area for the day seeing patients.  Please tell others.  The more people I can get in a day, the less expensive the house call fee will be to you.  

 Built in 2014, my 26 foot, 4 x 4 mobile veterinary clinic contains all the necessary medical equipment I need to perform many medical, dental and surgical procedures you are probably accustomed to receiving from a brick and mortar veterinary clinic.  Equipped with a powerful generator, I will be able to have complete electrical power no matter where I am parked.  Contained inside the clinic is a walk-on scale, laboratory equipment for analyzing blood samples, dental equipment for cleaning teeth, a standard x-ray and dental x-ray machine both providing digitally read x-rays, two hydraulic lift tables, isoflurane gas anesthesia, LED lighting, a non-slip floor, a bathroom, a powerful furnace and extra insulation for the harsh CO winters, a spacious interior, a central vacuum to keep the clinic clean and a separate surgical suite complete with sterilized surgical packs, an oxygen generator and a very bright surgical light.  

I will be able to perform many routine procedures including wellness examinations, vaccinations, sick pet exams, lameness evaluations, basic treatments, fluid therapy, sedation, anesthesia, laboratory tests, teeth cleaning, polishing and extractions, abscess treatment, wound/laceration repairs, tumor/cyst biopsies or excisions, feline neuters & spays, canine neuters and spays (subject to weight/size), other minor surgeries and in-home euthanasia and cremation.  

Because I will not have a brick and mortar office, I will not be able to offer hospitalization or perform complex thoracic or orthopedic surgeries or other procedures requiring round the clock critical care. 

In my spare time, my wife Kelly and I enjoy hiking the tall peaks and otherwise enjoy all the outdoor activities the area has to offer.