App to Make Brits Responsible Pet ‘Parents’ Not ‘Owners’

-       ‘Wellness Score’ to help lockdown dog and cat owners cope with pet parenting duties

Free pet app, PetPanion, has stepped in to help individuals and families stay on top of their pet’s health needs, by adding a new Wellness Score feature to its other unique features, so as to help users make the transition from pet ‘owners’ to thoroughly responsible pet parents.

The launch of the Wellness Score comes at a crucial time for the UK’s pet population.  UK lockdown saw a surge in the demand for puppies in particular, leading charities, such as the Dog’s Trust, to urge people to remember that a dog is for life, not just for lockdown.

Additionally, as Defra allowed puppy purchasers to collect any puppy sold through prior arrangement, if it was at least 8 weeks old and if social distancing could be maintained during the collection process, many homes now have a new pet in the household. 

The PetPanion Wellness Score addresses all the areas new and existing dog and cat parents need to cover, to ensure their pet is both healthy and happy.  It prompts the pet parent to consider eight key aspects of their pet’s wellbeing: age, breed, weight, vaccination record, dental health, parasite treatments, medical conditions and happiness.

Through on-screen options, it moves parents through each of these eight areas of pet wellbeing, encouraging responses to key questions.  Along the way, key facts about pet health can be read and taken on board, with these acting as subtle reminders of why completing the Wellness Score process matters.  

Each aspect of the pet’s wellbeing is then scored, with the owner being able to see a score out of ten or twenty, plus a highly visual traffic light indicator, which shows whether the pet’s health and wellbeing is in a red, amber or green zone. If the score and indicator are low, an attention alert is provided, prompting the pet parent to think about the actions they need to take to improve their pet’s physical and mental health.

The Wellness Score can help provide a check on many different conditions, with the intention of spotting issues early, before they get worse.  It also covers behavioural issues, such as urinating in the house, excessive barking and howling, scratching and aggression and will examine the pet’s diet and exercise regime.  Its ethos is that preventive pet health is better than cure.

There could be no more suitable time for this feature to launch.  Not only do new pet parents need to keep on top of vaccinations, microchipping, parasite treatments and boosters, they also need to stay alert when it comes to knowing what constitutes their pet’s ‘normal’ behaviour, so as to spot changes in their pet’s wellbeing.  

Pets living in a home for a while are now under different stresses and strains during social distancing and this could affect their wellbeing.  They may not currently be able to have the food they are used to.  Their exercise could have been significantly reduced. They may be unused to having many people with them and lots of household noise, day in day out.

The Wellness Score is also of great benefit to new pet parents.  Their pet’s situation will be a reversal of that above. A new puppy or kitten will think it the norm to have company and the routine that currently exists.  When their parents return to work, they could develop behavioural issues that can be tracked via the PetPanion Wellness Score programme.

There is a reward to be had, if pet parents show great responsibility and either maintain a high level of pet health and wellbeing or improve their score.  PetPanion coins are awarded for higher scores and used to lower the price of affiliated products or, alternatively, donated to a charity that has registered with PetPanion.  A financial reward should also be accrued in the form of a lower annual pet bill.

The PetPanion App and Wellness Score is the brainchild of dog and cat pet parent, Qian Huang, who has worked in conjunction with the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey and veterinary surgeon Dr Peggy Middlemiss.  Qian’s own pet had its life saved through early diagnosis of breast cancer.  She wished to make sure other pets can have the same top-level care and saw how technology could do as much for pets, as it has for humans.

The Wellness Score is just one feature within the PetPanion App, which also tackles other aspects of responsible pet ownership.  It enables the pet’s medical records to be uploaded and kept with the pet at all times and will even send out posters of the pet, should the pet be lost.  It can send push alerts to pet parents in certain areas, should a localised health issue need to be safeguarded against and can enable parents to book and receive veterinary consultations from their phone. It is a holistic means of cocooning a pet with first-class care.

Qian Huang says: “We have created an easy-to-use feature that can enable pet owners to become responsible pet parents and stay on top of the actions they need to take to deserve that title.  We all have busy lives and things can slip the mind, but with PetPanion as their ally, all pet households can create the right programme of care and love in equal measure. The App is free-to-download and a very much-needed asset, as the UK begins to come out of lockdown, as pets, as well as humans, will need to adapt to lifestyle changes.”

The PetPanion App can be downloaded at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/petpanion/id1493403817 or from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.siyatech.petpanion&hl=en_GB by users of android smartphones.

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Editors notes

PetPanion is a new App that enables dog and cat owners to request their pet's medical history from their vet and then keep all of that at hand, via the App, in case they need treatment from another clinic, or mobile vet, at some time or other. The App also facilitates virtual vets appointments, allowing consultations to be carried out digitally, and enables vets to be paid via the App.