Amazon steps into animal healthcare market

VCA Animal Hospitals have announced that pet owners can now receive their pets' healthcare reminders and book appointments through Amazon Alexa. VCA said in a press release that it will be "the first in the animal hospital industry to introduce voice command to manage pets' healthcare".Currently, VCA has more than 3 000 iPads in its animal hospitals, which include proprietary mobile apps for checking in pets, two-way text messaging with pet owners and giving medical staff on-the-go access to their patients' medical records. VCA also launched the myVCA pet owner app earlier this year, offering services such as access to healthcare reminders and medical records.