Telus Well being launches digital pet care app in B.C.

Telecommunications supplier Telus is dipping its paws into the world of veterinary care, with the launch of a brand new app providing telemedicine for pets. 

Telus Well being MyPet features equally to Telus’s digital medication choices for people; pet homeowners obtain the app onto their smartphones at no cost and create a profile for his or her pet. As soon as that is achieved, they will schedule an appointment to see a veterinarian by video.

Dr. Koharik Arman, lead veterinarian with Telus Well being MyPet, stated this program is useful to all pet homeowners, however specifically for these in rural areas which can be missing veterinary care suppliers. 

“So many new adoptions occurred, pets and pet canines and cats in Canada and the veterinary career already was experiencing that scarcity previous to the pandemic,” she stated.

“The pandemic exacerbated an already current subject and primarily meant that individuals had been unable to entry medical care after they wanted it in a well timed method for his or her pets.”

For pet homeowners like herself who’ve very nervous pets, it additionally means they will not should take them to a clinic setting the place they will be wired, Arman added. 

“My very own cat and canine each … require sedation for visits to the clinic and so for issues that may be addressed just about from the consolation of house, that’s an absolute blessing.”

Proper now there are about 20 veterinarians which have joined this system, Arman stated. In line with the Telus Well being MyPet web site, appointments value $95, and if the vet thinks try to be seeing somebody in particular person, the appointment value is refunded. 

Telus Well being says its vets can deal with diet and weight administration, allergy symptoms, behavioural points, abdomen issues, parasites, minor infections, continual illness administration, post-surgery care and palliative care. 

Kelowna-based veterinarian Dr. Marco Veenis says whereas there’s a place for telemedicine on the planet of veterinary care, there are a lot of conditions the place that form of appointment simply would not be acceptable. 

“You’ll be able to’t get your pets spayed over the telephone, so you realize there’s a restrict to what you are able to do telemedicine-wise,” he stated.

However, he says, having extra entry to veterinary experience is not a nasty factor.

“These days there’s a nice scarcity of veterinary technicians and that has led to ready occasions going up and telemedicine may be one other approach of expediting companies and likewise making these companies a bit bit extra accessible for those who might have hassle bringing [their] canine in,” he stated.

However he cautions pet homeowners to make sure they know what sorts of therapy make sense for telemedicine, and encourages them to hunt common veterinary care when attainable.

“I believe telemedicine is certainly one other instrument in our toolbox.”

Partnership with SPCA

Telus Well being is working with the B.C. SPCA to supply veterinary care to canines and cats being cared for by the animal welfare organziation. 

Moreover, Telus is donating $2 to the animal welfare group for each obtain of the app from now till Nov. 26, to a most of $20,000. 

As a result of the B.C. SPCA depends on donations to function, the partnership is “crucial” to them, says Nathan Ramsden, senior officer, company philanthropy and partnerships.

“It is going to usher in revenue that may make it possible for we proceed to do our work,” he stated.

Anybody who adopts a cat or canine from the Alberni Clayoquot, Burnaby, North Cariboo, Prince Rupert, Quesnel, Shuswap or South Okangan neighborhood animal centres can even be supplied a reduction on Telus Well being MyPet companies.