Having a doctor’s appointment via video has become an accepted means to carry out many healthcare functions. Why shouldn’t the same be true of appointments with the vet?

The definition and applications of human telehealth have been evolving since Radio News magazine predicted the existence of a “Radio Doctor” in 1924, and radiological images were transferred via telephone in 1948. By the 1990s, the Internet was becoming mainstream, and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) was founded. The exchange of electronic health information grew, as did remote access to healthcare, and was on an upward trajectory when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and telehealth became a necessity during quarantines and lockdowns. Although in-person visits have again become commonplace, the use of telehealth remains higher than it was before the pandemic, and most doctors continue using it. Telehealth is poised to “remain an integral part of medical care.”

It makes sense, then, that demand for pet telehealth similarly exploded during the pandemic. One study shows that the percentage of vets offering telehealth services more than tripled in the first months of the pandemic. In April 2020, during the initial wave of COVID restrictions, the Veterinary Virtual Care Association (VVCA) was formed: a nonprofit whose aim is to develop best practices, standards, and protocols for practicing veterinary telehealth.

The notion of pet telehealth had been germinating for years, as vets observed the growth of human telemedicine. VVCA founding member Mark Cushing has written, “Veterinarians have been debating telemedicine and experimenting with it since 2016, when the Veterinary Innovation Council and other organizations, including the American Association of Veterinary State Boards and the American Veterinary Medical Association, started to engage.” Now that it has been established, the VVCA “hopes to do for veterinary medicine what the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has done for human health care since its founding in 1993,” Cushing wrote.

Pet telehealth can overcome access and financial barriers

As with telehealth for humans, the most immediate advantage of veterinary telehealth is access. Just as people with limited transportation, or in an underserved or rural area, benefit from the option of remote healthcare appointments, so do their pets. In its 2024 Industry Report, the VVCA stated, “The need for virtual care in veterinary medicine has become increasingly apparent, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with access to care emerging as one of the primary motivators for its adoption,” later adding, “Virtual care emerges as a pivotal solution in areas unlikely to see the establishment of nearby veterinary hospitals.”

A pilot study that offered free telehealth services, led by veterinary residents, to an underserved community backs up these statements. The study found that the telehealth experience “was overwhelmingly positive” for the residents and their clients. “The use of telehealth specifically proves to be an emerging but promising means of providing basic care to underserved communities,” the study found, and it addressed “one of the biggest concerns for clients” who lived in large cities: “utilizing public transportation with their pets.” Telehealth also provided a solution to the issue of “veterinarians who were unwilling to open clinics in underserved areas.”

Another advantage is financial. While humans often have health insurance through their employers or can receive help from the government to pay for healthcare, pet insurance is not common, and those who can afford it usually can afford regular vet visits. Virtual pet care can be a lower-cost option to in-office visits and, according to the ASPCA, “Better access to telemedicine may enable pet owners to avoid expenses related to transportation, travel time, or missed work.”

Pet owners may forgo a trip to the vet altogether if transportation is difficult, the distance too great, or the cost prohibitive. Vet telehealth gives these clients a more viable pet care option and caregivers the opportunity to profit from visits that might otherwise have been canceled.

Access and affordability are two of the reasons the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) supports telemedicine. In its position statement on telemedicine, the organization states, “When used broadly, responsibly, and effectively, telemedicine has the potential to reduce animal suffering, address financial and logistical barriers to veterinary care, improve pet retention, and extend the capacity of animal shelters to serve animals and their communities by increasing their access to veterinary care.”

Clients can save themselves, and their pets (especially cats), the stress of a trip to the vet

Pet telehealth is definitely in the spotlight. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have written features about it in the past year, and both stories described how getting a pet in a carrier, in the car, and into the vet’s office can be a longer and more arduous process than the appointment itself. Both dogs and cats can be anxious in the vet’s office, but for cats, the struggle usually starts before they leave the house.

The Post article quoted a vet who said, “ ‘We get calls fairly frequently from people saying they’re going to be late, or need to reschedule, because the cat saw the carrier and went into hiding or they could only find one….Dogs — more often than cats — are happy to go anywhere, but most cats are indoors, so they’re uncomfortable with any changes in routine…it’s stressful for them.’ ”

The Times article stated, “Virtual care could also be a boon for cats, many of which are intensely stressed by trips to the vet,” and referenced “a small unpublished study” that found “cats displayed fewer signs of physiological stress — with smaller pupils, slower breathing rates and more relaxed ear postures — during remote appointments than during in-person ones.”

Transportation issues are listed as one of the reasons only 39.8% of cats visited the vet in the U.S. in 2021 (compared to 81.8% of dogs). For clients whose dogs need to be sedated or muzzled in the exam room, and whose cats go into hiding to avoid the carrier, the option of telehealth is a godsend, particularly for non-emergency check-ups and general health concerns that may not require an in-person consultation.

Telehealth is an answer to staffing shortages

A shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians has been described as “one of the starkest issues facing the U.S. pet care industry today.”

In its 2022 statistics, the AVMA tallied more than 83 million dogs and more than 60 million cats in U.S. households, and a little more than 127,000 veterinarians as of the end of 2023–more than 1,000 pets for every doctor.

And those numbers do not take into account how pets and vets are distributed across the country. The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project (VCAP) has compiled a county-level map of the lower 48 states, which assigns each county a Veterinary Care Accessibility Score (VCAS), with “possible scores rang[ing] from 0 (care is nearly inaccessible) to 100 (care is very accessible).” In determining a county’s VCAS, VCAP uses variables from several federal sources: number of households, pets, and veterinary employees in the county; how many people speak English “less than well”; how many do not have access to a vehicle; per capita income; and poverty level.

Using this map, the Virtual Veterinary Care Association (VVCA) determined more than 25 million pets are living in counties with low to no access to care. VCAP also created a “veterinary employee density” map, showing how many veterinary employees per 1,000 households existed in each county. Based on the data depicted in the map, the average number of vet employees per 1,000 households in the U.S. is 2.5 (with a range of 0-170). According to the VVCA 2024 industry report, bringing the numbers up enough so that each county would be at the average of 2.5 would require 12,000 more veterinarians and 48,000 more support staff.

When discussing these statistics in their report, the VVCA makes a strong case for expanding pet telemedicine, stating, “While virtual care is not a universal remedy for all challenges related to accessing veterinary care, virtual care represents a significant step forward. It can enhance service capacity and mitigate common obstacles to care such as provider availability, cost, and logistical difficulties in obtaining services. In essence, virtual care moves us closer to achieving equitable veterinary care access for all pets and their owners.”

A summary of telehealth’s benefits

In its 2021 telehealth guidelines, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) listed a number of telehealth applications that could benefit pets, owners, and vets. These included:

• Sharing general animal health information (teleadvice):
  “Offering more structured teleadvice services can provide an opportunity for veterinarians and their team members…to use and be compensated properly for their training and skills, and can also create unique opportunities to attract new clients…”
• Expanding access to care:
  “Excessive distances, available transportation, disability, language barriers, and financial issues are some examples of roadblocks. Today’s high-quality telecommunication tools and software applications can provide almost seamless communication between clients and veterinary healthcare teams at a distance, making it easier for clients to access veterinary expertise.”
• After-hours care (teletriage):
  “Implementing teletriage services can help meet client expectations and patient needs…while also allowing veterinarians to better manage their work-life balance.”
• Assessing client compliance and patient progress:
  Through telehealth, vets can follow up with clients to ensure they are complying with vet recommendations and medications. Access to photos and videos can also “enhance continuity of care” for pets, where the vet can evaluate and monitor a patient’s recovery and observe “the patient’s general demeanor and evidence of return to normalcy after treatment.” Using telehealth for remote patient assessment also extends to regularly checking in with a pet that has chronic health issues familiar to both the vet and owner. If a patient has a long recovery at the vet’s office, telehealth can work in reverse, to “provide clients with up-to-date information about hospitalized patients, including an opportunity to view their animal and see what progress has been made during treatment.”
• Palliative care:
  For animals with a terminal condition, “the stress of a trip to the hospital might exacerbate…already deteriorating health,” so telemedicine provides a less disruptive way to evaluate the animal’s health.
• Artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostics:
  Telehealth extends to the field of AI applications, which can “serve roles in diagnosis, clinical decision making, and personalized patient care.” Use of such applications “supports veterinarians… by better integrating information and increasing the accuracy of a diagnosis, reducing the likelihood of errors in diagnosis,” and enabling “earlier identification of subtle changes in patient health”
• Synchronous or asynchronous remote patient monitoring (RPM):
  With RPM, a microchip or similar device can electronically transmit data such as body temperature, or glucose concentrations in diabetic pets.
• Specialty consultations:
  Teleconsulting with specialists has long been an application of telehealth. Now, such consultations can include live video, and medical records and images can instantly be shared electronically.
• Education:
  Teleadvice can include webinars to generally inform owners about how to keep pets healthy, to review with pet owners how to administer medications or care for wounds, or to target a group of clients whose pets share the same condition. In addition to learning opportunities for clients, webinars are an opportunity for vets to expand their knowledge, too, giving them the ability “to participate in daily or weekly rounds and learn more about complex cases,” for example.
• Treating distant patients or patients across state lines:
  Telemedicine “collapses distances and makes it easier for veterinarians to work with patients and clients who are physically remote from the clinic.” This might be a client who is on vacation with a pet when a health issue arises or a vet whose client lives in a neighboring state. In these cases, the AVMA advises that vets be licensed “both in the state where they are located and the state where the patient(s) is located.”

Know your laws

The advantages to incorporating pet telehealth into a veterinary practice are many, but some vets might be hesitant because of regulatory or legal concerns. Vets need to know, for example, whether and how a vet-client-patient relationship (VCPR) must be established, which medications can be prescribed via telehealth, and whether their state allows only guidance-oriented services, such as teletriage, or more treatment-oriented services falling under the umbrella of “telemedicine.” As an easy initial reference, VVCA has compiled an interactive telemedicine map that summarizes, state by state, provisions of establishing a VCPR to practice telemedicine and any prescription exceptions. The AVMA also has useful information on how VCPRs are defined by the state.

Introduce your own pet telehealth offering

iDirectVet is here to get veterinary practices and pet owners engaged with pet telehealth and all its benefits. We offer a complete technology platform and software solution for managing practices and patient information so veterinarians can focus on delivering the very best in care. We believe in the VCPR and feel that telehealth practices should be held to the highest standards for optimal pet health outcomes. For more in