Veterinary Practice News: A Vet Tech's Take on How Technology Transforms Exotic Pet Care

When many of us started out in the veterinary industry, the standard for monitoring, especially with exotics, was manual observation. This was not because we collectively decided it was best practice. Rather, it was because even the most robust available technology at the time provided less usable information than visual cues and a stethoscope.

Over the past few decades, monitoring equipment has come a long way. Now, it not only offers reliable parameters for veterinary care but also an infrastructure of support and innovation built to help drive the industry forward.

The most apparent problem with technicians performing patient monitoring by hand is the limited depth of the available information. Even the most skilled practitioners can only glean so much from a Doppler over the animal's heart and visually check for respiration. Timing can also be an issue, as the more subtle changes that indicate possible complications are not always visible to the naked eye. Delays in detection result in delays in intervention, and every second is critical when managing patients under anesthesia.

There are also some less obvious issues resulting from manual monitoring. With the technician as the primary line of defense on patient observation, they are unavailable to perform other tasks to assist in surgery without leaving the patient unmonitored. One such role that often goes unfulfilled in these scenarios is recordkeeping. Every veterinary professional knows that detailed notes from a procedure are one of the best tools for patient care. Not only do they help inform future care, but they can also be invaluable in protecting the care team against litigation if a patient complication results in morbidity. However, manual monitoring offers neither the time nor the detailed measurements needed to adequately document vitals.

Veterinarians are used to the technology in our industry being slightly less robust than what's used in human medicine, and this disparity was especially felt in monitoring. While human patients all have the same basic anatomical structure and a relatively small range of vital measurements, companion animals come in all shapes, sizes, and measurement ranges. Developing a monitor that can accommodate a parakeet weighing only a handful of ounces with rapid heart rate and respiration, while also having the capabilities for a 100-lb tortoise with much slower vitals and lower temperatures, is a significant feat in engineering.

Accomplishing a monitor that was well-suited to companion animals required both software and hardware considerations.

"Because of the number of species and care considerations for each of them, developing veterinary-specific parameters involves extensive research, including collaborating with top industry experts to build out a pool of data and guarantee a high level of scientific rigor and clinical relevance," says Eduardo Miranda, president of Digicare Animal Health, a company that manufactures multiparameter monitors for the veterinary industry.

A unique algorithm created specifically for animal health incorporates specialized QRS detection and classification criteria to ensure accurate readings tailored to animals' unique cardiac characteristics. This helps minimize the risk of double-counting, false positives, and other misinterpretations that can be common with systems that have not been optimized for veterinary settings.

Melissa Ortiz is a licensed veterinary technician and the practice manager at Thrive Pet Healthcare's Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine in New York City, the only exotics-exclusive hospital in New York City .