International Day of Veterinary Medicine - December 9th

Technology plays a major role in the world of veterinarian medicine in both pet and food animals. The original technology introduced for dogs in the mid 1980’s was the microchip which is a radio-frequency identification transmitter the size of a grain of rice that is injected in the loose skin between the dog’s shoulder blades. The microchip has a unique identification number that is linked to the owner’s demographic information. A found dog can be scanned by a veterinarian or others in possession of microchip scanner such as boarding facilities and groomers. It is wise to scan the entire dog when searching for a microchip as the chips have been known to migrate to other parts of the dog’s body. Although the microchip was a relatively simple invention, it has reunited countless dogs with their pet parents.

You may have a Fitbit or a similar activity tracker, but did you know that there are also activity trackers for your dog? FitBark (www.Fitback.com) attaches to your dog’s collar and can track activity levels, distance walked, calories burned and other health metrics to aid your dog in weight loss, conditioning for sports and general fitness.

Although the average pet parent may have some familiarity with the current technology for dogs, lesser-known technological advances developed by vets and biomedical engineers are benefitting farmers worldwide.

The case can be made that microchips and activity trackers laid the ground work for sensor technology used in food animals. Wearable sensors and drones fitted with thermal sensing apparatus are used to monitor the health and movement patterns of livestock. Battery powered sensors are attached to the cattle’s ears and a radio- frequency identification reader (RFID) detects the sensor and transmits information on the cattle’s temperature variations, drinking and feeding patterns, reproductive stages and even early stages of disease allowing opportunities for early vet intervention. One of the leading uses of sensors is for the detection of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) which accounts for half of all cattle deaths in North America costing the livestock industry up to 900 million dollars per year. Similarly, thermal-sensing drones can detect temperature changes in cattle as well as complete head counts of large herds of cows to monitor for lameness and possible illness in the herd.

On this International Day of Veterinary Medicine, we acknowledge and celebrate the technological and medical advances in veterinary care.