As veterinary telemedicine is becoming popular very fast and offering a lot of convenience to pet owners and the satisfaction of improved pet care, it greatly reduces visits to the emergency room for minor health issues. At the same time, it is highly comforting for pet owners that constant care for their pets helps avoid serious health problems that were unthinkable even a few years ago. Normally several pet issues do not warrant clinic visits and the availability of licensed vets online has considerable improved the standard of pet care. Pet owners can now take better care of their pets’ wellness and wellbeing of their pets by relying on platforms like Vetster that connects pet owners to vets.
What is veterinary telemedicine?
Since the Covid19 pandemic has turned all the focus on telemedicine, most of us are familiar with it as many people are regularly availing it even today. Telemedicine follows the same procedure of online consultation for both humans and pets. It cuts away visits to the clinics, which is necessary today to keep the novel coronavirus under check.
Telemedicine consists of consulting the vet over the phone, text chat, or video chat to get advice about what you should do about your pet at that point in time. However, telemedicine work best for some common pet ailments that are not serious and can never replace the need to visit clinics, but it can supplement the healthcare system by reducing trips to the clinics. Vet telemedicine has its limitations because most vets cannot treat pets they have not examined earlier physically. However, online vet consultations effectively take overall care of pets by addressing minor health issues and preventing them from posing serious problems later.
Stick to your vet only
According to the veterinary treatment protocols of the American Veterinary Medical Association, a vet must have some prior relationship with clients to diagnose the pet and prescribe medication. It means that unless a vet has seen an animal physically within a certain period, they are not eligible for diagnosing and prescribing medications by using the telemedicine services for a vet, which many know as relevant services. It is now clear that even when consulting online for your pet, you must choose a vet who has a previous acquaintance with the animal.
Reap the benefits of a tele-triage service
When you search for vets online, you must try to find out your regular vet to ensure that you receive the telemedicine for your pet. But if your vet is not offering online services, you can also use the tele-triage service to decide if you have some time to wait for treatment or need to run to an emergency at midnight. By consulting other vets who are available at that point in time, you can seek advice and guidance by explaining your pet’s condition so that you know the answers about whether to bathe the pet or what type of food to serve or understand what is meant by normal litter behavior.
In the absence of treatment, the advice and guidance seem invaluable to make the right decision.
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