Pet Portals

Many vets are offering an interesting new service called a Pet Portal. Here's an example from Jill's vet Blum Animal Hospital in Chicago. The free service allows a pet owner 24/7 seccure access to a variety of important information and services such as:

• vaccination history
• request appointments and ask questions
• medical alerts and recall information
• order prescription refills
• articles on pet care and health
• medication and exam reminders
• instructions for pet sitters
• birthday reminders

The portal is essentially a web page for your dog. It's private, password protected and allows you to access your pet's information even when the vet is closed. It's a convenient way to manage your pet’s health care and medication schedule, communicate with the animal hospital and learn about pet health.

Check with your vet to see if the office offers Pet Portals. In addition, be sure to read the policy for email lists. Most vet's offering Pet Portals don't sell your email. Some, however, send coupons and information from companies the office determines to be beneficial to patients. In the later case, you should be able to opt out of receiving any ads--unless of course you enjoy spam.