Top 10 Best Virtual Vets: Veterinary Telemedicine For Your Pets
While a global pandemic may have made the need for virtual vet visits much greater, online health care for pets has been a growing industry for a while. With convenient times, options and pricing, telemedicine for pets makes a lot of sense. We’ve scoped out the best veterinary telemedicine services around.
Veterinary Telemedicine is very similar to human telemedicine/telehealth appointments in a lot of respects. Obviously, if your pet is in need of in-person veterinary care for whatever reason, you’ll want to contact your veterinarian and schedule that appointment.
But sometimes, the anxiety of the vet can be overwhelming for a pet, particularly if it’s essentially something that can be talked about or is a fairly easy-to-identify issue.
Veterinary telemedicine allows you to speak to either a veterinary technician or a licensed veterinarian over video, voice or text and that peace of mind can be priceless.
Sometimes, what you think may be a major issue is minor and a quick talk with a licensed professional (without having to go into the office with your pet) can make a huge difference for you both.
The answer to that is “Yes, they do, ” and, “No, they don’t.” True telemedicine will be able to offer (some) diagnosis and prescription services, but typically requires a vet client-patient relationship (VCPR) according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. What that means is that a vet must have seen your pet in person first, typically within a year, in order to do phone/video diagnosis or prescribing of medicine.
More and more online practices are encouraging their patients to participate–having them come in for that initial meet-and-greet and look over so that should emergency pop up, they’re able to schedule a telemedicine appointment with you at your convenience.
Telehealth services for your pet also include what is typically called Teletriage and generally speaking, that’s what most pet parents are lookng for when they feel like their dog’s poo looks a little off or their kitty seems to be eating less and hiding more than usual. Pet parents want to be able to get in touch with a professional with ease and when they need to.
That’s where Teletriage comes in handy. Most of the time, pet parents really just need triage, general advice, guidance and support from their veterinarian and vet techs, and that’s just what most veterinary telemedicine services will offer exactly when they need it. Experience speaking here, but we find that’s often at 1:00 am after Fifi has lost her cookies twice that night and your vet’s office is obviously closed.
In a nutshell? Veterinary telemedicine is a great option for the same reasons that many telehealth for human appointments are. They are typically offered on super-convenient schedules for you, which makes them easily accessible for most.
They’re an affordable way for your pet to ‘see’ a vet at almost anytime of the day or night, and can often preempt an otherwise super expensive trip to the local emergency animal hospital just to find out a teaspoon of salt may have been all your dog needed to barf up that sinus infection antibiotic of yours they scarfed off the counter. True story, and for the record, our vet said that the medicine wouldn’t hurt our dog, but it sure was nice to just be able to do a quick telehealth chat with our vet to find that out.
And most of all, though virtual vet vists can obviously replace the need to see the vet in-person sometimes, the peace of mind you can get about your pet’s well-being from the comfort of your own (and their) home is priceless. It can mean the difference between that expensive emergency hospital run or just waiting until the morning when your vet is in the office and can see your pet in-person (if needed) and is often much less stress on your pet too.
1. Vetster
2. Pawp
Pawp is both a digital clinic for pets and a pet insurance alternative, offering you on-demand, unlimited 24/7 vet care via text and video – as well as $3,000 a year for ER vet bills. This way, you’ll get both the guidance and advice that can help you discern between minor issues that don’t require a vet visit and coverage when there’s an actual emergency, so you don’t have to pay out of pocket. The digital clinic services don’t require appointments or wait times, and can be a perfect way to get quick answers about your pet’s health, behavior, and nutrition, or just get a second opinion for your pet’s treatment or diagnosis. When it comes to emergencies, Pawp will cover the bills even if the emergency relates to a pre-existing condition and will pay any vet in the US directly, even before you leave the clinic – no copay, deductibles, or credit checks needed.
What’s more, a single Pawp membership covers up to 6 pets within a single household at no extra cost, regardless of their age, breed, or pre-existing conditions. Perfect for multi-pet households on a budget! If you’re curious and would like to see how Pawp works, you’re in luck – Pawp offers a 7-day free trial to try their service before committing to a membership.
3. AirVet
4. Ask.Vet
Still, even if not free, they’re reasonably priced and in just a few minutes, you can chat with a vet who can guide you through situations and help you know when it’s time to seek in-person help for your pet. They can even help you arrange that as they walk you through, and you can have a transcript of each convo/interaction in case your in-person vet or an emergency vet needs it. Sometimes, all you need is some talking through, and Ask.Vet excels at that.
5. PetCoach
7. WhiskerDoc s
9. PetDesk
10. TelePaws
More by Lori Ennis
