The Influence Of Felcana On The Veterinary Industry

How many times have you taken your pet to the vet, only to be unable to accurately answer questions such as “has your pet been eating/drinking more?” or “how active is your pet usually?”. With the ongoing movement to a primarily technological world, it is no surprise that pet technology is a quickly-developing field. Felcana’s Digital Pet Health Platform not only monitors your pets’ activity but also tracks their habits – including drinking, urination and sleeping patterns – and allows you to access these activities or behaviours daily on an easy-to-use app on your phone. Meet Felcana.

As a pet owner, you naturally want to be able to provide the best care for your animal and treat their problems as quickly as possible. Equally, it's difficult to accurately monitor your pet's daily activities - after all, most of us live busy lives, which don't allow for constant pet-watching. Unfortunately, many diseases start as subtle changes in your pet's behaviour, such as a variation in food consumption or urination that are usually difficult to accurately pick up on as a pet owner. Felcana wants to change that.

Felcana’s method is straight-forward: Predict, Simplify, Treat. Identification of early changes and disease improves prognosis. Owners will not only be able to take action before medical treatment is necessary, they will be able to predict if their pet is likely to develop problems in the future – such as diabetes or arthritis. This will assist you in choosing the right insurance plan for your pet. Being able to identify issues earlier means that owners will also be able to save money on vet visits and avoid pet travel stress by speaking to one of Felcana’s veterinary professionals online. Although the average person visits the vet 3-4 times a year, even an experienced pet-health professional often cannot predict when disease processes can occur. Did you know that a total hip replacement, a treatment for late-stage hip dysplasia, can cost up to £10,000? Not only will Felcana allow you to identify disease processes like this earlier on, but it will give you the option to speak to a veterinary professional online, which will save you money on consults and late-stage treatment.

From a vet’s perspective, Felcana understands the importance of accurate record keeping in the veterinary industry and because of this, vets will no longer need to guess your pets’ habits. Felcana will help them achieve a quicker, more definitive and streamlined diagnosis. Vets will also save time on unnecessary consultations, improving time management and client satisfaction. Many diseases can be prevented with good management and a proper diet and Felcana aims to move the veterinary industry to prevention-based medicine, as opposed to treatment after disease diagnosis. Felcana will also give the vet the ability to monitor an animal post-treatment to see if it is reacting well to treatment or whether another treatment or management change is necessary.

Felcana aims to provide a simplified and quicker way to identify and treat problems for both owners and vets, ultimately creating a digitally seamless veterinary care model. Felcana will improve animal welfare and prognosis by diagnosing diseases earlier, and will reduce costs for owners, vets and insurance companies, all while making the transition of veterinary medicine into the future of modern pet care.

This blog was written by Melody Winterhalter from the Royal Veterinary College.