S Suguna's German Shepherd has not been keeping well for the past few days. With her house being in a sealed red zone area in Madurai, she was at a loss about how to reach a a vet, till a friend suggested a real-time video consultation with specialised veterinarians in Chennai.
Suguna reached out to the Sanchu Animal Hospital launched by industrialist C K Ranganathan that is now delivering pet care through 24X7 telemedicine. The multi-speciality veterinary hospital in Adyar is the first such centre in Tamil Nadu to start such a facility.
"We have a database of 2,500 pet owners in Chennai and on an average we have been receiving three to five queries daily ever since the launch on April 7," says Sandeep V Krishnan, business head. "Most queries are about first aid related to vomiting, diarrhoea, general dullness. Eight empanelled vet doctors offer consultations," he explains.
All pet owners need to do to avail the service is to visit telemed.sanchuanimalhospital.com or call 9445260101 and follow a six-step process. They first have to choose their preferred veterinary doctor from the thumbnail sketches provided and book an appointment from the dates and slots available. The next step is to fill up a form with details about the pet and the pet parent. Then state your preferred mode of consultation which could be whatsApp video call, Zoom or Google hangout, or quite simply on the telephone.
According to Sandeep, the services available at present are in orthopaedic, nutrition and feeding, skin and eye problems and internal medicine. The pets can walk through the entire process of examination without having to wait for an in-person appointment and the owners can also take a quick second opinion. "The telemedicine facility will help save travel, lives and money and also make it convenient for the pet parents to make their pets' lives happier," he adds.
Suguna is a relieved pet parent now. She could contact a doctor for timely prescription of medicines for her dog. “Telemedicine works even better for pets alreadyexamined by the vets before,” says Sandeep. This new system opens up new possibilities for veterinarians who will now be able to assess the pets online.
