What if your pets could call you?

The PetChatz(TM) allows owners to call pets during the day. (Image courtesy www.petchatz.com)

Imagine being able to phone your cat during the day. What if your dog could call you?

Occasionally when I am away, Phil’s dog sitter will put him on the phone and encourage me to talk to him. I am told this generally causes him to look, perplexed, at the phone, though I am not convinced it gives him much comfort.

But a company in the US is banking on just that – or perhaps they are seeking to sooth owners who have a touch of separation associated distress.

PetChatz is a system that allows owners to interact with pets via technology. Owners can phone their pet for a high definition audio/video chat; dispense treats and comforting scents (Phil finds some scents comforting that I’m not sure I’d readily dispense in my home); and even monitor your pet with sound and motion detection.

There is even a device called the PawCall which allows pets to contact their owner.

(Image courtesy www.petchatz.com)

I should be clear: SAT has not trialled the device. I think the concept is fascinating but all technology can be used for good and evil (or maybe just not so good).

This could prove to be great tool for monitoring companion animals, particularly those that can get up to strife during the day, or maybe older animals or those with medical problems.

On the other hand, I am not sure who it serves best – the owner, or the animal. What would be interesting to find out is whether the sudden virtual appearance of the owner in the middle of the day (or night) would be reassuring, or distressing, for animals. And if your pet didn't answer the phone, wouldn't that cause you a bit of anxiety?

"Excuse me guys, just got to take a call from home". (Image courtesy www.petchatz.com)

I’m also wondering if clever dogs (or cats) could abuse the PawCall system. Let’s say you dispense a reward when your dog “calls” you. What’s to stop a dog from constantly calling just to let you know she would like another treat? While it is designed for dogs, I am pretty sure that Hero - my very food oriented cat - would rapidly make the connection and serially harass me. (He’s already worked out pushing papers off my desk and dropping pens and highlighters on the floor are wonderful ways to get attention).

We’re living in an age where people complain that they have more contact with friends and family via devices than they do in the flesh. Could this technology assuage the guilt of some owners for not spending time with their animals, when what they need to do is go home and walk the dog?

What are your thoughts? Is this technology you would use to improve the bond with the non-human animals in your household? If so, how? If not, why not? What concerns is this technology addressing and are there alternative options to address these?

Telemedicine in veterinary practice

No, we're not making a movie. We're practising teledermatology on a dog with chronic pododermatitis.

Telemedicine is a rapidly growing area in human medicine, and it was mentioned at the Pan Pacific veterinary conference as a technology we will see more of in the future.

In case you didn’t know, telemedicine is basically the use of technology (computers, cameras, internet) to provide health care from a distance.

In human medicine it’s used for city-based specialists to log in and assess patients who are in rural and remote areas, for example. You might also use it to assess patients you can’t have contact with (for example, those in isolation, those that have been treated with radioactive substances and so on). Doctors are using terms like “teledermatology”, “telecardiology” and “telepsychiatry”. The idea is patients have increased access to specialists, doctors (especially those that are isolated) have better support, and there are other potential applications like education.

Is there a place for telemedicine in veterinary medicine? To some extent it’s already done in some large organisations and it has been argued by some authors that since the advent of computers veterinarians have practiced an informal telemedicine among themselves.

But given its success in the human field, manufacturers are listening to vets. For example, in the human health care sitting it’s acceptable to have the camera mounted in one place.

That’s a bit harder when you’re examining patients that range anywhere from less than 1kg to almost 100kg (my largest patient ever weighed 94kg). You have to be able to adjust those things! Sony has now developed a sturdy stand so you can move the camera around – and it’s strong enough not to be knocked over by rowdy patients.

Of course the first time one gets hold of new technology like this one wants to examine one's own dog! The smart phone tends to crap out when you get too close, but this technology allows me (or any interested party with access) to go extreme close up on his problematic nose - without getting in his face.

I struggled initially seeing the difference between telemedicine, a more expensive technology, and use of a smartphone or tablet to do the same thing. 

But there are some key differences. 

• Telemedicine units are designed to maintain privacy and security. You can’t access the system unless you are authorised to do so.
• As you might expect, the resolution is much higher and it utilises optical zoom (the unit we saw demonstrated uses 36x optical zoom) – you could have a remote specialist, for example, zooming in on tiny nodule or distichia. And it can also be used to view equipment in the room – from anaesthetic machines to ECGs and radiographs (though hopefully you can email those to a specialist).
• Unlike skype or facetime or whatever program or app you use, the telemedicine unit is controlled by the person logging in at the other end and the camera moves around, so they can zoom in and out on different parts of the animal.
• While I think this technology is unlikely to be taken up in inner city practices where nearby specialists abound, I can see potential veterinary applications.
• While they can’t dive in and ligate a bleeding artery for you, a specialist surgeon could log in and talk you through a difficult surgery. This would be extremely useful and potentially life-saving in rural and remote areas.
• Assessing the behaviour of patients that have already had medical complaints ruled out. There are behaviour specialists located in most cities now but people in remote areas have to travel a long way – and often can’t – for the benefit of their advice. Being able to see the patient interact with the owners and clinician and take a behavioural history may be valuable in these cases.
• Monitoring herd health between farm visits. Pig, poultry, sheep and cattle vets often have clients that are located very far apart. Being able to more accurately assess the herd will ensure that their health and welfare is maintained between visits.
• There may be specialists who just do telemedicine. They may be retired or unable to visit practices for other reasons (e.g. a medical condition, kids at home, being a full-time carer etc.) and this sort of working situation may suit them very well.

Of course you need a system where speciaists are available and prepared to help at the other end, and clients would need to pay an appropriate fee to cover costs of the specialists and the use of the technology.

The obvious downside is the specialist or consultant can't touch the animal, either for the purposes of examination or treatment (you can't palpate an abdomen without putting your hands on that abdomen) - nor can they deliver a liver treat. Telemedicine will never replace hands on practice.

It will be interesting to see how this technology is used by veterinarians in Australia and what systems it is built into.

According to one review on the subject,

Telemedicine is not a technology, a separate branch of medicine, a new branch of medicine, the preserve of computer nerds, or a mature discipline. It is an evolving field. Telemedicine will in time become an integral part of the practice of certain aspects of veterinary medicine. It is not a matter of it, but when (Mars & Auer, 2006).

Are you already using telemedicine? How? We’d love to hear from you.

Reference

Mars M, Auer RE (2006) Telemedicine in veterinary practice. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 77(2):75-8.

Brandon Cowan: entrepreneur, app-inventor and animal lover

Brandon's dog Diesel beside a suspiciously chewed up looking smartphone...

At SAT we like to live in the present, so if you wanted to know what its like to  be a teenage, app-inventing entrepreneur look no further. The best part is that this teenage app-inventing entrepreneur uses his talents to help companion animals. 

Who are you and how did you get here?

I'm Brandon, a 19 year old entrepreneur and developer of 4 top-100 apps. My first big hit was iParkedHere which hit no. 8 on iTunes when I was 17. I got to where I am by knowing and meeting amazing people who have helped me on my journey. Additionally, several key events in my life have turned me into who I am today.

What were those?

My TAFE teacher convincing me to stay in his Software Design and Development class when I only came to it to tell him that I'm quitting; seeing someone inject themself with heroin (I used to hang around the 'wrong crowd' and my life was going downhill from a reasonable person's perspective and this was probably the big turning point in my life. Watching someone destroying their life made me determined to make something great out of mine); My mum suggesting that I speak with a family friend about my app ideas. I ended up co-founding Crazy Dog Apps with him and things went great from there. If the iPhone and App Store was not invented, I wouldn't be where I am today.

You tried to work with five developers before the PetRescue app was born. Why so persistent? 

If you want something bad enough, it will happen. I simply wanted to turn one of my ideas into reality and help re-home Australian pets and there was little that would stop me. I have always been an irrational person and I like to get things done. I would have probably gone through 10 developers if I had to. My thoughts are that I had already put in a lot of time and effort and the next developer could be the right one. Wei Zheng (the developer) was number 5 and he is the amazing guy who did a fantastic job with the PetRescue app.

Brandon's cat and app-making muse Zoe.

Some argue that apps are gimmicks - but PetRescue proves that apps can save lives (by taking pets off death row). How else do you think apps can help the lot of animals?

Many apps are gimmicks and should be removed from the App Store in my 'blunt' opinion... It would be really nice if there was an app like PetRescue but for lost and found dogs. There would need to be a lot of work involved in something like that.

Do you share your life with any animals and do they aid you in your work?

Crazy Dog Apps (my Company) is named after my dog! I share my life (and bed) with Diesel, my dog and Tiger and Zoe, my two cats. Pets are great and I think everyone should have at least one. My PetRescue app is a small step towards encouraging people to own a pet and potentially saving a pet’s life by adopting a perfectly good pet from a shelter.

Tiger, Brandon's other feline companion - proving that even tech-savvy teens are prevented
from typing at least some of the time.

And finally...what is it with cats and keyboards???

I have no idea what compels all cats to walk on, and sit on, keyboards but it is very annoying, haha!

[I wanted to ask Brandon a million other questions, like when does he sleep, what's his idea of work-life balance and can I pitch my awesome app-idea, but   the responsible adult in me felt that he needed to get some sleep.]

Are smartphones replacing pets?

The irony: an iPhone 4 photo of Lil Puss, which just happens to make her look like a scary robot.

In a fabulous little book entitled How to Thrive in the Digital Age (London: MacMillan 2012), Tom Chatfield raises the question about whether we are increasingly relating to technology over people and animals we love.

In coffee shops and living rooms, personal digital devices are handled with a solicitude and frequency that might once have been reserved for a partner or favourite pet. For a generation of so-called digital natives, a mobile phone is often the first thing you touch when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you touch when you go to bed at night (p12).

I must admit this particular passage sent a shiver down my spine. I enjoy my smartphone, it allows me to catch up on work when I might normally not (ad breaks, in the bath, on the bus) BUT it also means I do MUCH MORE. I feel obliged to be connected. 

Is Tom Chatfield right, or can we continue to give our pets (and significant others) the time they need in the so-called digital age?