Remote animal health monitoring

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 07:56:17 GMT

I bumped into a vs friend of mine over the weekend. I'd been a bit surprised by the muted/negative reaction to remote health monitors on here, so I asked him what he thought, in particular whether it would be useful to be able to monitor patient activity levels remotely, say post op or after treatment for OA; whether resting heart/respiratory rate (if accurate) would be useful, and whether aggregated data of this sort would be helpful (to provide breed/species-benchmarks).

He said: 'definitely'. 'Of course it would'. 'No question'.

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]All this technology is a load of crap[/quote]

My weakness is that because I'm not a vs myself, I'm in no position to argue. But I strongly agree with:

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]I agree that the one diet that works every time is to eat less and do more, whether you are a human or an animal. It would be very arrogant to suggest that this was easy. It has been shown that people do better when helped and supported - I think embracing technology and apps does help that.[/quote]

Aside from being an aid to improving client compliance, I also think that these things could be a good marketing tool (practice-branded monitor strapped to dog is (for the moment at least) a talking point for owners).

I think it would be a fascinating subject for a trial.

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Virginia Campbell — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 16:02:58 GMT

I agree with Michael- Martin is of course right but humans aren't always logical. The health app that came free with my phone decided it wanted me to do 60 minutes and 6000 steps per day. Of course I could just look at my watch but somehow when the phone is telling you that you've done 46 minutes that seems more of an impetus to do another lap of the park just to get the ping of "target achieved". Pathetic, but effective....I'm a good deal fitter now than when I started using the app.

OTOH I don't know about the scales. People are surprisingly crap at weighing their animals.

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Michael Woodhouse — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 12:27:50 GMT

Martin - I have an almost unique feeling where I strongly disagree and agree with your post at the same time! Maybe this is what the middle star rating is for..

I agree that the one diet that works every time is to eat less and do more, whether you are a human or an animal. It would be very arrogant to suggest that this was easy. It has been shown that people do better when helped and supported - I think embracing technology and apps does help that. My wife has a fitbit and if she's had a quiet day she takes the dogs for an extra walk. It's a form of motivation, perhaps a different form to what gets you off your arse, but that's ok.

I don't think technology is the easy answer, but I'm sure it can help. It is more wrong just to write these people or their pets off.

My worry is if you had scales at home connected to an app then the results would be meaningless. I'm sure we weigh as many people as animals on the ones we have at work....

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Martin Atkinson — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 12:02:32 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]I was wondering that when I wrote the post, and thinking there must be a set of scales on the market which allows weight data to be shared with veterinary surgeon / nurse from home.[/quote]All this technology is a load of crap which gives the owner some sort of discharge of responsibility in deluding themselves they are doing something instead of concentrating on real issues like feeding a suitable diet and giving the animal correct exercise. It parallels issues in themselves like fad diets, 'fitbits', detoxing, gastric bands, liposuction etc etc which just give people an excuse to carry on with a poor lifestyle with a clear conscience. What they need is a reality check not a gadget: get off your arses, do some exercise and eat sensibly, it cost you nothing and apply the same rationale to your pets.

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Rob Loxley — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 00:00:03 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Of course, nothing to stop owner weighing animal on a normal set of scales / attending the practice in between, but maybe it would be an aid to client compliance / a marketing tool (ie add to the obesity clinic service, for which one could charge a bit more).[/quote]

Would be easy for someone to produce a weight loss app I'd have thought

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Arlo Guthrie — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 07:49:16 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]The only really useful equipment needed is a pair of scales.[/quote]

I was wondering that when I wrote the post, and thinking there must be a set of scales on the market which allows weight data to be shared with veterinary surgeon / nurse from home.

If they were cheap enough, would it be a good idea for a practice to own a few and to lend them to clients for duration of a weight loss programme with instruction to weigh animal once a week (weight data then shared with practice remotely and automatically).

Of course, nothing to stop owner weighing animal on a normal set of scales / attending the practice in between, but maybe it would be an aid to client compliance / a marketing tool (ie add to the obesity clinic service, for which one could charge a bit more).

[quote user="Marie Kubiak"]I'm interested yet skeptical so would only look at getting one that was trusted (or able to be blagged for free )[/quote]

Well, if you spot one that looks like it has potential, and you want to try it out, let me know. I might be able to blag one free for you (for editorial review purposes), or - if not prohibitively expensive - VetSurgeon might fund it (again for editorial review purposes).

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 18:18:20 GMT

I'm intrigued by these and they might have a decent role in zoo animals where actual examination can be tricky. Monitoring activity post-injury or looking at specific parameters e.g. temperature over a longer period of time seems potentially useful.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience of any of these monitors? I'm interested yet skeptical so would only look at getting one that was trusted (or able to be blagged for free )

Marie

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Clive Ansell — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 17:10:00 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Would it be useful, for example, to have your obese patient hooked up to one of these and for you to be able to see calories burned? Or an OA patient to measure the impact of medication on activity? [/quote]

What would be more useful is an appointment to see a veterinary surgeon or RVN for a lifestyle and weigh consultation. The only really useful equipment needed is a pair of scales. If dogs are overweight they are consuming too many calories - simple as that. Folk just need to feed them less and feed them less sh1te.

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 13:35:14 GMT

Way ahead of you with cows on this.

Tags that pick up early signs of fever in calves:

http://www.fevertags.com/

Want a text to your phone when your cows is calving?

https://moocall.com/

Want to know if your cow is cudding?

http://www.scrdairy.com/news-events/media/scr-news/it-works-scr-s-rumination-tags.html

Feeling horny?

http://moomonitor.dairymaster.com/

What about her rumen pH?

http://www.ecow.co.uk/

Some will even tell you whether she is standing up or lying down or where she currently is on the farm!

http://www.trackacow.co.uk/

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 13:24:48 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]These devices are at best a poor estimate of average calorie burn.[/quote]

OK, let me put it another way, which parameters would provide a useful insight and possibly help with client compliance?

I'm wondering whether, for example, with movement tracking, if you had a baseline for a dog's activity pre-surgery, it would be of value to see if/when they had returned to normal activity levels. Or whether activity levels improved after medication for OA.

As per:

http://voycepro.com/

RE: Remote animal health monitoring

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 12:45:28 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Would it be useful, for example, to have your obese patient hooked up to one of these and for you to be able to see calories burned? [/quote]These devices are at best a poor estimate of average calorie burn. There is no way you can accurately measure this from distance, heart rate and respiration rate alone there are far too many variables from norm. You need to measure blood lactate, CO2 and a host of other parameters to get a reasonably accurate figure of metabolic rate for each individual. There are plenty of keep-fit apps and monitors which delude their users into believing they are burning more calories than they are and give them the excuse to over-indulge. I can't see dog owners dealing with the information any more responsibly.