Coming Soon: Chewy Veterinary Clinics
Chewy-branded veterinary practices will open in Denver and Plantation, Florida, in 2024. The online retailer announced that its first two Chewy Vet Care hospitals will provide routine services, urgent care and surgery. “We partnered with hundreds of veterinarians and customers to design an in-practice and post-visit experience which we believe will be unlike anything in the market and appreciated by both communities,” said Mita Malhotra, the president of Chewy Health.
Medical Illumination Acquires Isolux
Medical Illumination International, a manufacturer of lighting equipment for human and veterinary health care, acquired surgical headlight maker Isolux. Terms were not disclosed. Medical Illumination is based in Chatsworth, California.
KeraVet Gel Deters Licking
KeraVet Bio Inc. introduced KeraVet Gel, a wound care product formulated to deter licking and reduce the use of Elizabethan collars. The prescription product is available from MWI Animal Health.
AVMA Seeks Veterinary College Site Visitors
The American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education is looking for veterinarians to serve as site visitors at veterinary medical colleges. Applications are due by Jan. 15, 2024, at bit.ly/3NuQ7cc. “Site visitors review a college’s self-study, verify its information during a comprehensive visit to the college and submit a report to the AVMA COE,” the organization reported. “They make recommendations to the council but do not attend council meetings, discuss findings or otherwise participate in accreditation decisions.”
Vetcove Offers Embark DNA Test Kits
Embark DNA Test Kits are available through Vetcove, an e-commerce platform used by over 19,000 veterinary hospitals. Embark Veterinary Inc., a canine genetic testing company, developed the test kits.
Packaged Facts Explores Pet Services
“Pet Services in the U.S., Second Edition,” a new report from Packaged Facts, found that over 2,500 franchised pet stores and service providers are open or in development in the United States. “Several franchisors offering grooming services appear to be going gangbusters, all with national aspirations and solid investment backing,” said Packaged Facts analyst David Lummis. More information is at bit.ly/48rXut7.
Virginia-Maryland Opens Equine Center
The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine held a ribbon-cutting for the Jane and Stephen Hale Equine Performance Evaluation Center. The 21,000-square-foot facility features an indoor arena, two jogging strips and two lunging areas.
Dr. Treat Expands Outside San Francisco
Dr. Treat, a membership-based San Francisco veterinary practice, will open a clinic in nearby Burlingame, California, in January 2024. Dr. Treat reported receiving $10.5 million in seed capital in 2022 “from many Silicon Valley-based investors who recognized the potential of the company’s tech-focused approach to veterinary care.” All Dr. Treat team members are Fear Free certified.
NaVetor Software Reaches Canadian Market
NaVetor veterinary cloud practice management software is now available in Canada. Veterinarians can purchase NaVetor through Kane Veterinary Supplies.
JustAnswer Offers Vetted Pet Advice
JustAnswer, an online platform connecting visitors with human experts, launched Pearl for Pets GPT. According to the developer, the ChatGPT add-on “enables people to have verified and vetted human veterinarians and animal behavior experts review and rate the accuracy of AI-generated, pet-related query responses.”
AAHA Partners With Chewy on Benchmarking+
The American Animal Hospital Association partnered with Chewy Health to provide the AAHA Benchmarking+ analytics platform for free to all members and practices using certain Chewy Health tools. Learn more at bit.ly/3RLVZAu.
Fear Free Recommends WellVu Thermal Imaging
WellVu Veterinary Thermal Imaging is now a Fear Free Preferred Product. “Their innovative thermal imaging technology aligns seamlessly with our mission to reduce fear, anxiety and stress in pets, providing veterinarians with crucial tools for a Fear Free experience,” said Randy Valpy, the CEO of Fear Free LLC. Digatherm changed its name to WellVu earlier this year.