Once you create a pet profile, you can save health records and prescriptions. On the To Do tab, you can create reminders for giving your pet medicine, restocking food and supplies, and scheduling checkups. You can also request birthday notifications. While you’ll need to have an in-network vet to make virtual appointments, anyone can use the service as a free medical dashboard for their pet’s records.
Photo: Chaay_Tee/Ask Vet
Best for: Emergencies—when you need answers to general questions right away
Available at: Web, iOS, Android
Cost: $10 a month
AskVet follows a similar formula. I was connected in less than a minute to a vet tech, who asked me a follow-up question and got me to a vet. The whole process took less than two minutes. That stands with the company’s claim that the average time to help is one minute. The app has been updated since the first time I used it, and it includes connecting with pet parents (like Buddies) and other informative articles. There are also now options for training, including behavioral and wellness coaching.
Chat sessions can go as long as you need. The longest, according to Laura Berg, vice president of business development at AskVet, is four hours, when a pet needs to go to the emergency room. The vet finds a nearby emergency room, calls and prepares them for the patient, and then switches from chat to phone call with the owner to stay with them while they drive to the ER and wait. When your chat is over, you’ll receive a transcript of the conversation emailed to you. You can also refer back to it in the site history tab.
Another perk? You can access an emergency fund of up to $1,000. Your fund grows by $45 a month until it reaches the $1,000 cap. It’s not as convenient as Pawp or Airvet, which give you $3,000 in funds after 14 days.
If you still can’t find something you want, try one of these services.
- Whisker Docs is expensive at $40 for an instant call or chat, but you can choose to pay $17 a month or $130 a year for unlimited support. If your question is not pressing, an email costs $5.
- Blurry costs $25 a month for a subscription. The service has 24/7 chat support that’s quick and helpful, but I didn’t like how product-heavy it was—it recommends products through a pet health test without actually interacting with you. talk to a vet. If you use Fuzzy, take its product recommendations to your in-person vet to make sure they are appropriate for your pet. This is for any vet telemedicine service.
