Petriage launches ‘pet symptom checker’

Petriage, a business-to-business veterinary telehealth company, has received a patent for a new virtual tool that tells pet owners when to seek veterinary care.

The Pet Symptom Analysis tool allows owners to input information about their pet’s symptoms, then tells them how urgent it is to get care. According to Petriage, the tool works with 97% accuracy.

“The pet symptom checker ‘thinks’ like a veterinarian reviewing a sick pet’s complaints,” said Dr. Allon Freiman, one of the tool’s creators. “What’s more, with the machine learning component, Petriage continues to ‘learn’ and will have richer and richer data to draw upon with each additional use of the app.”

Pet owner Erica Becker used the app to contact her veterinarian about her dog’s gastrointestinal problems. “I just logged in and described my dog’s symptoms,” she said. An alert went to her vet and she got an immediate response asking how the dog’s gums looked. She was then asked to snap a photo and upload it.

The company says it’s developing additional telehealth technology, including wearables and enhanced data analytics capabilities.