When Ronit Berdugo moved to Steamboat Springs from Florida, the longtime veterinarian had hopes of continuing the business she had started in Key West.

“I had a house call and boat call practice for almost 20 years,” Berdugo said. “It’s all small animals and some exotics, and I practice alternative and conventional medicines.”

Berdugo opened Pampered Pet Home Vet shortly after moving to the Yampa Valley a year ago, offering physical exams, laboratory tests, allergy diagnostics and treatments, multimodal pain management, diagnosis and treatment, vaccine and titer blood tests, health certificates for pet travel, acupuncture, laser therapy, microchip implantation, rehabilitation techniques and end-of-life care.

She said she offers most veterinarian services, but said she doesn’t offer dental procedures, surgeries, radiographs, ultrasounds, emergency treatment, and spays and neuters. She recommends her clients have a relationship with a local animal hospital in the event their pet needs a service she cannot provide.

Berdugo said she is among the few veterinarians in the area who offer house calls and is currently waiving the additional $75 house-call fee for first-time customers. The initial exam for new clients is $200, and a complete list of fees can be found at PamperedPetHomeVet.com.

“Mobile is like a unit that you think of where you can do surgery — that’s not what I do,” Berdugo said. “I go to people’s homes to provide care and convenience in bad weather, for people who don’t have cars and for people who don’t want their pets at risk for getting sick in an animal hospital.”

She said the model allows her to spend more time with the pets and owners and provide more personal care.

“I show up on time and allot an hour for appointments,” Berdugo said. “We’re not rushed and I can evaluate everything that’s going on at home too, which at times plays into whatever we’re treating, and the animals are calmer.”

Berdugo earned her degree in 2001 from the Ross University School of Veterinarian Medicine in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis islands that border the Caribbean. She spent her clinical year at Louisiana State University and Oklahoma State University. She received her Chinese Acupuncture certification from the Chi University and her Animal Rehabilitation training from the Canine Rehab Institute.

Before moving to Steamboat Springs, Berdugo ran a house-call veterinarian service in the Florida Keys.

“I had a practice called Island Paws and serviced up and down the Florida Keys,” Berdugo said. “We just wanted something different, to be honest, and that’s how we ended up here. We wanted seasons, and to ski, so we gave up the fishing and the boating for the snow.”

After she completed her studies, which included animal rehabilitation and Chinese medicine, she was looking for ways to open her own practice. She soon realized there were not enough animal hospitals to meet the needs of residents, and many in the Florida Keys didn’t have traditional transportation, so she started offering a home-care concept.

“I tried it and have to admit I was uncertain if it would take off, but it did, and it was huge,” Berdugo said. “I enjoy and really loved the relationships. I’m still in touch with a lot of the (Florida Keys) clients today, and they’ve become friends. I never expected that it would be something I was doing for almost 20 years.”