On-Demand Vet House Calls Ready To Launch In Dallas
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DALLAS (KRLD) - They've been dubbed the "Uber of veterinarians," and they're ready to come to Dallas. VetPronto works with local veterinarians to arrange house calls for pets. They operate in 10 cities already including New York and Los Angeles.
"We've been looking forward to coming to Dallas," said VetPronto co-founder and CEO Joe Waltman. "It was just a matter of finding the vets we wanted to work with. Now that we've done that, we're ready to go."
When booking an appointment through VetPronto, clients can choose the vet they want. If they're a new customer, VetPronto requests the pet's previous records and the house call is arranged.
"Our vets can do most every procedure except for surgery within a client's home," said Waltman. "We can do examinations, do blood tests, give medicine. Pretty much 90 percent of everything that happens in a clinic can be done at the client's home."
Over 7,000 dogs and cats across the country have been helped by VetPronto since they launched in 2015. Waltman said that taking pets to the clinic is so stressful -- for both them and their owners -- that it's one of the reasons people don't take their pets to the vet immediately.
"Taking them to a clinic can leave them more traumatized than any procedure they could have done," he said. "And with our clients, we notice that they get their pets checked up more than once a year. It's less stressful when you can have checkups done within the comfort of home."
VetPronto charges $150 for every house call, no matter what. There's additional fees of $25 to $50 depending on the specific complaint, whether the pet needs medicine, and how long the medicine is needed for.
"We wanted to make sure our costs are transparent," said Waltman. "Sometimes with vet clinics, you don't know how much you're paying for until the end. Sometimes they don't even know how much they're charging you until the end."
VetPronto clients usually make appointments through the website, but they also have a mobile app for iPhone and Android. They're expected to launch in Dallas on February 20.
