Go for online vet consultation to keep pets healthy

Bengaluru: Since the outbreak of Covid-19, several people have turned towards their furry companions to ease their boredom. Due to this, there has been a rise in pet adoption which has driven many pet care brands to strengthen their ideas. When these furry friends are capable of providing a great deal of comfort for us during these times, don't they require some undivided attention too?

Here's one such pet care brand, Supertails, a platform that supports the ever-increasing pet parent community by providing trustworthy veterinary care and a one-stop solution for pet food and supplies.

Varun Sadana, Co-founder of Supertails, speaking to The Hans India, said, "India has a huge gap in the pet healthcare space and that's what drove us to begin working in the space. The average lifespan of a dog in developed countries is 25-30% more than that of a dog in India. While the US, for example, has a vet for every 1500 pet households, the same for India is between 5-6000 pet households. We're trying to change this with the accessibility of online vet consultation."

With a team of 15 vets who come from different specialities like wildlife veterinary sciences, marine medicine, avian medicine and more, he says that the platform gets around 50 consultations a day, at par with any offline vet clinic.

Most of the health issues related to pets can be solved online, however, if the pet has been injured, or if there's anything severe, hospitalisation is necessary. "Over 85-90% of concerns with pets can be solved online when provided a dedicated 1-1 conversation with a qualified and trained vet. Our vets at Supertails go through rigorous training, not just in animal medicine but also in handling medical concerns over a video call. Parents of pets with health concerns often need a calming presence of an expert, this is where our vets shine best. Having said that, there are times and cases where a pet may need physical attention, like if there is an accident where wounds need to be treated. Or in the case where surgery or hospitalisation may be required. In these cases, we advise on first aid treatment, if required, and send them to the nearest hospital," he adds.

There are various benefits of online consultations. "With an on-demand system of booking appointments with experienced vets, you can get prompt medical attention. This cuts the need to travel to a vet clinic and wait in queues to get help. Secondly, waiting rooms are stressful, even for humans, imagine how stressful they are for our pets, vet anxiety is real. Online vet consultations help us keep the pets calm and stress-free. Even in a sanitised environment, it sometimes becomes difficult to manage the risk of infections of different diseases, fleas or ticks. Video consultations help in decreasing the likelihood of infections. Ultimately, with access to experts, an accurate diagnosis is provided," he explains.

"As mentioned earlier, developed countries like the US has 10x better vet to pet ratio than India and if you observe how they've achieved it, it is through the online vet consultation model to a large extent. That's what Supertails and our team of vets aim to achieve for the community of pet parents in our country. This model doesn't just provide prompt, expert care to ailing pets, but more importantly, makes the overall healthcare system for pets more efficient – leaving only the most essential, emergency cases to reach hospitals where they could have focused care," he concludes.