Many things had changed when the COVID-19 pandemic started, from food shopping behavior, working setups, healthcare, and now telehealth for pets.

Human healthcare is not the only thing that adapted to these changes with the introduction of telehealth.

It is no surprise that veterinary services and animal healthcare also changed during this new normal.

Dr. Paula Yankauskas, practice founder and owner of Lamoille Valley Veterinary Services in Hyde Park, Vermont, changed her practices when the pandemic started.

Yankauskas started using telehealth on a limited basis before the COVID-19 pandemic. But they began increasing the number of appointments.

Yankauskas said that they had been doing some telehealth for pets in people who would send videos and photos of their pets and describe the issue.

How Telehealth for Pets Work

Dr. Laura Pletz, scientific services manager at Royal Canin, said that telehealth for your pets rely "on a good history from the pet's owner and any other assessments of your pet,"

This includes a visual inspection and some auditory input through telehealth for pets platforms.

Dr. Derek Paul, vet advisor for Rocco and Roxie, a pet supply company based in Provo, Utah, said the main difference between telehealth for pets and humans is the patient's ability to describe what the specific complaints might be.

"While we can ask a human patient a series of questions to determine the problem, we can only ask a pet's owner similar questions to determine the problem. A pet's behavior can be interpreted in many different ways, which represents a challenge in making a diagnosis via telehealth," Paul was quoted in a report.

Is Telehealth for Pets The Next Big Thing?

About two-thirds of U.S. households own a pet, and Americans are seen to spend about $75 billion on their pets this year.

Pet owners had fewer options other than the traditional visit to the vet before COVID-19 pandemic.

But when the Food and Drugs Administration lifted its requirement on in-person veterinary examinations, telehealth for pets has boomed.

Airvet recently announced a $14 million Series A funding round and is delivering on-demand virtual care to pet parents everywhere.

Airvet is one of the many online platforms that has seen an increase.

Daily downloads of telehealth for pets' apps rose by 40 percent in March.

VCA Animal Hospitals have added a video consultation to their menu as a way to adapt to the changing landscape of animal healthcare.

Is Telehealth for Pets Reliable?

Questions like the reliability and efficacy of telehealth for pets are being asked, with pets' inability to describe what they are really feeling.

However, Pletz says that vets are really good at figuring out a problem with just a few clues.

"Since our patients can't talk to us, veterinarians are quite skilled at asking the right questions to learn as much as possible about the situation," Pletz was quoted.

Telehealth for pets has helped practices keep up with some of the changes. But Yankauskas said that vets do not use it for everything.

Yankauskas said that it is only good for certain things.

Yankauskas said that some of their sensories are missing, such as touch and feel and smell.

Pletz said she liked to look at the telehealth for pets as another communication tool with veterinarians to give proper advice.

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