The Tech That Can Help Keep Your Dogs Happy and Healthy
Dogs are not very high tech. Dogs inspire us to put our phones down. They live perfectly and completely in the moment. Even so, as our lives have become more technologically advanced, so has our relationship with our dogs. Advances in technology have provided the opportunity to give our canine best friends longer and healthier lives and given us opportunities to better understand them. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.Advances in Veterinary Medicine Lead to Longer, Happier LivesThe same way human medicine has evolved thanks to advances in medical technology, so has veterinary medicine. A trip to the vet doesn’t mean just vaccinations and getting neutered anymore.Kelly Johnson, a board-certified veterinary surgeon at NorthStar VETS emergency, trauma, and specialty center in New Jersey offered several examples of how developments in medical technology have improved the lives and quality of life of our companions: “Our surgery team is performing arthroscopic and laparoscopic procedures on pets. On the orthopedic front, they’re performing total hip replacements and cruciate repairs. The radiology team diagnoses pets through radiographs, ultrasounds, CT, and MRI scans. We have an interventional radiology team that can, for example, pull bladder stones out, leaving a pinhole incision behind.”Much of this technology wouldn’t have been available to veterinary specialists in the past, and even if it were, it would be prohibitively expensive for most pet owners. Specialists use these new technologies to develop treatment plans, to 3D-print bones, and to aid in planning a surgical intervention. While these lifesaving veterinary advances might seem invasive (and some are), they also have contributed to lower stress for our dogs.“The internal medicine team can now remotely monitor a pet’s blood glucose level at home without them having to come back to the hospital for multiple blood draws … We also use continuous blood glucose monitoring that can be read with a smartphone and sent to the clinician automatically,” says Melanie Puchot, a board-certified veterinary internal medicine specialist at NorthStar VETS.Wearables Add Security and Early Warning
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