Subscription Facts and Other Goodies About Fit Pets for Rescues™
What is it?
Healthy Pet Connect has two veterinarian-designed and supervised feeding systems to accomplish weight loss or weight management safely. We have a free app & veterinary dashboard and weight management protocols (rate of loss, Rx food only etc.) which are consistent with recommendations from board certified veterinary nutritionists and published peer reviewed guidelines. It can be also be used to monitor unintentional weight loss in older pets to help detect problems & prevent frailty.
What are the benefits to my pet?
The value of a pet at healthy weight is invaluable in terms of preventing health problems and increasing longevity. The 2002 Purina study (Kealy et al) showed ideal weight dogs lived 15% longer than those that were overfed. That same study has been repeated in almost every species. Reducing visits to the veterinarian, the associated costs of obesity, preventing diabetes and a pet that feels better & lives longer is our passion!
What does the subscription provide?
The subscription provides veterinary tele-health monitoring, a food scale and measuring system and an accurate body scale for pets less than 25# (if over that a bathroom scale or your veterinarians scale or one of our HPC community connected scales can be used). It allows remote monitoring without frequent visits, it has been proven 4x more effective than traditional weight loss programs.
How much does it cost?
The app and veterinary dashboard are both free. The cost of our personalized pet health ecosystem system (cat and small dog body weight scale, food scale and measuring system) including set up with your veterinarian is $199 plus S&H ($99 w/o scale S&H included) that is sold only with a subscription based on BCS. Our Fit Pets for Rescues System for a BCS of 7/9 or higher is $249 (your veterinarians involvement required) and our Bug & Roo preventative for pets BCS 5 to 6.5/9 is $99.(no veterinary supervision or equipment required) Additional pets on either system in household are just $9.95 per month ($99 prepay). Bug & Roo senior cat monitoring for unintentional weight loss. also available for $299 prepay/12 mos 5% of every subscription goes to the rescue of your choice. We have lots of experience with home IoT devices (feeders, activity monitors and passive scales) which we are happy to personalize to your household if needed. Preventing just one veterinary visit per year would pay for subscription!
What pets/households does it work for?
With 60% of pets overweight our system can help any pet by preventing over-conditioning. Our current scale is focused on cats and small dogs (less than 25lbs) but a human bathroom scale or veterinary scale allows large dogs to use our system as well. As more accurate, affordable and reliable feeders and scales are available for larger dogs we can include them in monitoring too. Activity monitors are a very effective add on for larger dogs to monitor exercise and that data can be entered in the HealthyPetConnect app as well.
What technology is used?
The scales that we use are 20x more accurate than the typical human bathroom scale. Our food scales and our Bug & Roo measuring/weighing system virtually ensures accurate measuring & food delivery if our detailed but easy to follow approach is used. Reliable pet limited feeders (microchip or RFID) are vital to insure no food sharing/stealing in multiple pet households. Our subscription app/portal is designed to handle new devices in an open-source environment. Webcams & activity monitors can be used in special circumstances too.
Does it work for all pet households?
Our publication in a peer reviewed veterinary journal where the technology assisted group (scales, smart feeders, activity monitors and webcams) lost 4x as much weight as those that did not use technology in multiple cat households so If the technology setup is followed closely results should be excellent. We have had Spudge an overweight rescue cat who has lost 14lbs in just 7 months safely over a 1% average weekly weight loss.
Does the app work for both Android and Apple?
Not yet. The Android beta test version of Healthy Pet Connect is now available and the Apple version is currently in development and is expected 3rd Qtr 2021 and will include a website version.
Why does it work better than other weight management systems?
By strict measuring and regular home weight entries into our Healthy Pet Connect app adjustments in intake can be made weekly, instead of having to wait for annual, semiannual or even monthly veterinary clinic visits. We work directly with your veterinarian to insure safe, effective weight loss using only pet friendly products and research proven devices.
What else do I need to know?
Fit Pets for Rescues TM will donate a portion of your subscription each month to the rescue of your choice for every month you stay enrolled to achieve or maintain ideal weight for your pet. Fit Pets for Rescues Weight Management Programs has been monitoring pet weight loss for over 11 years enrolling hundreds of pets and donating over $25,000 to local Madison rescues. (see testimonials on our home page!) We are now delighted to share our success to help your pet and the donations to a rescue local to you.
How well does the equipment work?
The feeders and scale both got very high ratings (Net Promoter Score) in a scientifically controlled study and questionnaire. They are durable and simple to use. Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) was measured and actually increased using our technology in our 12 week study. What does that mean? It worked for both pets & pet parents!
Anything else it can do?
We are also using the system to monitor weight gain in older pets beginning with cats being treated for hyperthyroid, inflammatory bowel and other diseases allowing interim assessments without bringing the cat in. Additionally, we will be building a food recall feature in 2nd QTR 2021. Osteoarthritis, Diabetes Mellitus, kidney disease and any other diseases that could be detected or monitored at home are also on our radar as pet home health devices mature and are both validated for accuracy and dog & cat friendly.
How will this help my veterinarian?
As all veterinarians are burdened by the pandemic and workflow challenges. The features of transferring food & treats that are being fed, calorie & AAFCO info to the veterinary team will facilitate calorie calculations and changes in exercise prescription etc. and should save time & effort and help the veterinary team get more pets to ideal weight (& help rescues!)
