It’s late. Your dog’s making a coughing sound a bit like a goose playing the trombone.

Or your cat has gone ‘quiet’. In cat language, “quiet” can mean:

• I’m perfectly fine

• I’m bored with your company and exasperated with your inability to speak ‘cat’

• I'm really not well

You don’t want to ignore it. Google tells you it’s a catastrophe! But you don’t want to overreact.

And you definitely don’t want to bundle everyone into the car for an expensive out-of-hours vet visit if you don’t need to!

This is exactly the situation for an online vet consultation.

Online vet care isn’t a substitute for your local vet practice. It’s there to make it quicker and easier for you to get trustworthy professional advice when you need it. Especially nowadays, at a time when rising costs of vet care and out-of-hours fees make owners understandably hesitant. 

How online vets can help

Online vet services (like Joii) mean you can have a consultation with an RCVS-registered vet via chat or video, 24/7. So you can get help whenever you’re worried - not just when the practice is open.

Joii’s reviews from owners on Trustpilot repeatedly highlight some key practical benefits:

• Fast access to a vet, including evenings and weekends

• Reassurance and kindness - someone calm and understanding to talk things through with

• Clear explanations and advice on the next steps

• Help deciding whether an in-person visit is needed and how urgently

That decision, whether or not to see a vet, is a huge one nowadays. 

Not least because pets often do that classic trick of ‘forgetting anything’s wrong with them the minute you arrive at the vet clinic, only to crash-and-burn again the minute they get home.

Online vets get to see your pets in their normal home environment. It helps us to see more readily why you're worried, and it may make interpreting subtle signs and reaching a diagnosis easier sooner.

Helping pets and owners in a time of rising costs 

Many pet owners are facing real financial pressures. 

The cost of vet care in the UK is soaring. There are multiple reasons, and a lot of public frustration has landed on vets themselves. But most vets are doing their best in a tough system.

Online care won’t fix the situation, but it does give owners everywhere an affordable means to get prompt, trustworthy advice from an independent vet. It helps reduce expensive and sometimes unnecessary out-of-hours emergency visits, but it also reduces the risk of harmful delays in having your pet assessed by a vet.

When to use an online vet 

Use an online vet any time you’re worried, especially when your pet’s condition is stable enough to be safely assessed at home.

10 top uses for online vet services:

1. Triage and peace of mind: Do I need to see a vet today?

2. Tummy upsets: Vomiting, diarrhoea, appetite changes, and preventing dehydration

3. Skin and ear issues: Itching, rashes, sore ears - all issues that are very “camera friendly”

4. Mobility/lameness concerns: Odd gait, mild limping, “they’re not quite right”

5. Elderly pet care and support: Cognitive decline/dementia, arthritis management, and chatting through quality-of-life concerns

6. Puppy/kitten questions: House training, feeding, and healthy routines

7. Preventive care advice: Worming, grooming, and dental care

8. Behaviour challenges

9. Follow-ups and monitoring: After routine surgery, when a treatment plan is already in place

10. Weight management: Understanding the challenges and health priorities

Why use Joii?

Joii’s mission is to make pet care more accessible, affordable and less stressful for pet owners everywhere. 

Joii achieves this through 24/7 access to vets! They have both chat and video options, as well as innovative digital tools, offering symptom checkers and trustworthy veterinary guidance.

Joii is also part of the wider Vet-AI approach that aims to help vets make crucial diagnoses earlier and more consistently using digital technology, particularly for skin and mobility conditions.

When NOT to use an online vet

Online vets are not an emergency service that can provide hands-on treatment, oxygen, scans, surgery or intensive care monitoring.

Find the nearest vet if your pet is:

• Having difficulty breathing, including laboured breathing, blue/grey gums, and open-mouth breathing in cats

• Collapsed: extremely weak or unresponsive

• Having a seizure that isn’t stopping, or having a first seizure that lasts over 2-3 minutes 

• Severely injured: by a car, a nasty fall, badly wounded, or has sustained a head injury

• Known to have swallowed something harmful, such as rat poison, antifreeze, lilies (cats), and xylitol

• Bleeding severely or coughing/vomiting up large amounts of blood

• Retching repeatedly, with a bloated tummy: this can indicate bloat/GDV in dogs, which is a surgical emergency

• A male cat who is straining but unable to pass any urine often indicates a blocked bladder, which is life-threatening without urgent care

How to get the best from an online consultation

Online vet care works brilliantly when you set it up well. Here’s our checklist for ‘frustration-free’ online consultations.

1) Bring any evidence you can get. Pets never oblige with a paw-written list of symptoms

• Video the symptom: coughs, limping, scratching

• Photos (taken in good light): great for skin, gums, wounds, poo/vomit (we love those), surface lumps, eyes (trust me, trying to get a pet to look straight into the camera during video calls is “challenging”)

• Record a bad spell: If a symptom comes and goes: such as seizures, coughing, sneezing or intermittent limping

2) Have essential information to hand

• Your dog's weight (an estimate if necessary)

• Any medication or supplements they’re currently taking

• What you’re feeding them and any changes in their eating habits

• Your dog’s vaccination and worming history: dates and records, if you have them

• Any known health problems at the moment or in the past (heart disease, diabetes, allergies)

3) Set the scene

• Have the pet in the room with you

• Choose a quiet room with good lighting and no distractions

• If you can, have someone help hold or film safely

• Keep things calm: pets read your panic like it’s printed in bold across your forehead 

4) Know what to expect from the consultation

A great online consult should leave you with:

• A clear indication of urgency: see a vet now, today, soon, or monitor at home

• A practical home plan and things to look out for

• A “when to worry” guideline list: the red flags for escalating urgency

• A summary of the call: so you’re not relying on memory when you might be stressed

Finding a balance: the risk of missing things vs delaying getting help

Yes, it's true. Remote care has limits. A vet can’t feel your pet’s painful abdomen through a screen. Some conditions need a hands-on assessment, further tests or intensive care in a vet hospital.

But the flip side of this is the risk that barriers to in-person care lead to delays in getting concerns checked out. By which time treatment may be more challenging and more costly. If it’s even still possible. 

Most pet owners are doing their best for beloved companions and furry family members. But many worry about the cost, juggling work commitments and childcare, transport challenges, and even being accused of‘worrying about nothing’. So they hold off. 

Online vet care makes it easier for pet owners to seek help early. And if needs be, it can guide toward in-person care before the situation becomes an emergency.

The bottom line

Use an online vet for front-line care - not as a last resort

• If you’re worried: message or video call 

• If your pet has any red flag symptoms: Find an in-person vet now

And if you can, team up with a pet insurance provider who offers affordable plans that include 24/7 online vet access, so much the better. You can have the best of both worlds, with worry-free access to the best care for your pet at the right time and place.