Startup Vet2Pet provides app to foster vet-client communications

By Arlene Weintraub Sep 29, 2016 8:26am

Colorado veterinarian Stacee Santi went searching online a few years back for an app that would allow her to remind clients about important health-related tasks, such as giving their dogs heartworm and anti-tick medications each month. She came up empty.

So, Santi decided to build her own app, and in 2013, she launched a company to market it to other veterinarians. Now the app, called Vet2Pet, has 230 users in the U.S., Canada, Portugal and Norway, according to a profile in the Source from Colorado State University. Santi’s goal is to attract 2,500 subscribers to the app.

Vet2Pet is a customizable app that veterinarians can use to take orders for medication refills, send appointment notices and other reminders, and set up loyalty programs for their clients. After vets order the features they want on Vet2Pet’s website, they can sign up for the service at fees that start at $149 a month. The company recently added an optional feature called PetSynch, which integrates with four different practice-management software packages, allowing vets to offer their clients an app that auto-loads information such as appointment reminders onto their smartphones.

Santi hopes the app will help foster closer relationships between veterinarians and their clients. “Everyone hates Dr. Google, but when are we going to be better than him?” she told the Source. “When people know more, they do better. If you can provide information to help your clients be better pet owners, they’ll listen.”

Vet2Pet is the latest entry in the market for veterinary apps, which has been forged by startups and large animal-health players alike. Last year, for example, brothers Curt and Mason Revelette launched Vet on Demand, an app that offers pet owners video chats with veterinarians in some states. And two California veterinarians started a similar service called Vet24Seven.

Some companies are turning to mobile apps to tackle specific health problems that are common in pets. This past April, Merck rolled out Pet Diabetes Tracker, which allows owners to keep track of stats related to blood glucose levels, water consumption and other factors important in managing the disease. It also helps pet owners manage insulin injections and send information directly to their veterinarians.

As for Santi, she has learned from experience that her app can even help veterinarians increase their revenues. When her Durango, CO-based practice started providing a virtual loyalty card via Vet2Pet--offering rewards to pet owners who comply with health programs and spend a certain amount of money--sales soared, she told the Source. “It was like giving a blood transfusion to the practice.”