Pets lap up new ‘Uber for vets’ app in Melbourne

DOES your pet have vet-phobia? A new Melbourne-created, smartphone app dubbed ‘Uber for vets’ allows pet owners to have their sick cats and dogs treated without leaving the home.

TECH savvy pet owners are using a new smartphone app to order home visits for their ‘vet-phobic’ pooches.

Vets on Call — dubbed the ‘Uber for vets’— allows owners to choose an appointment during and outside business hours, their preferred vet and are even told the cost before booking.

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Vet Ashley Saunders holds Smudge the kitten and app founder Morgan Coleman gets a lick from his dog Milky. Picture: David Caird

Melbourne founder Morgan Coleman said the app would make cat and dog owner’s lives easier.

“It’s far more convenient and you don’t have to get in the car and sit in a waiting room,” he said.

“By getting a vet into your own home, it reduces the stress on the pet … and vets will get a better diagnosis.”

Vets on Call has 35 medical professionals approved to work across Melbourne.

App users need to register a profile for themselves and their pet, before they can select one of five types of appointments including a general and skin consultations, sick pet, vaccination or home euthanasia.

Milky the staffy x labrador with the Vets on Call app. Picture: David Caird

Larger procedures are referred out to veterinary practices recommended within app.

Three weeks after being launched, the app has been downloaded more than 1000 times and 52 appointments made.

Mr Coleman came up with the idea after he couldn’t make an appointment for his sick staffy cross labrador after business hours.

“I was working full-time and getting to the vet was too difficult, plus Milky is petrified of the vet,” he said.

The app was created within 18 months, after Mr Coleman teamed with vet Dr Henry Wong and tech gurus Nathan Sinnott and Rael Kuperholz.

The app is available on iPhone and Android.

@kara_irving