Makers of Voyce Pro™ Urge Veterinarians and Pet Owners to Help Identify & Manage Pain Sooner During "Animal Pain Awareness Month"

CHANTILLY, Va., Sept. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This September, in honor of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management's "Animal Pain Awareness Month," i4C Innovations Inc., dba Voyce, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intersections Inc. (Nasdaq: INTX) and the creator of the Voyce Health and Wellness Management System™ and the Voyce Pro Wellness Monitoring Program™, is urging both veterinarians and pet owners to help identify and manage pain sooner in their dogs via remote monitoring. Remote monitoring can help detect pain earlier, provide objective data, increase client compliance, and allow veterinarians to better understand the efficacy of their treatments.

A large percentage of dogs of all ages suffer from undiagnosed pain. In pets, pain is a symptom of (and secondary to) many different disease states, and it is very difficult to detect, particularly in its early stages. Pain can cause loss of appetite, sleep deprivation, and a weakened immune system in dogs, regardless of its primary cause.

"Many of us entered veterinary medicine with the intention of minimizing or ending pain," said Amanda Landis-Hanna, DVM and Director of Veterinary Medicine at Voyce. "But in order to stop pain, we must recognize it in the first place and that is where we, as veterinarians and pet owners, sometimes fail because dogs are predisposed to hide pain from us."

Voyce Pro – designed specifically for veterinarians – enables remote observation of canine patients' biometric data, including resting heart and respiratory rates, intensity of activity, quality of rest, distance traveled and calories burned using the Voyce Health Monitor™. The objective data collected from a dog's home environment has never before been available to veterinarians and is used to drive better patient health and practice outcomes.

"Using Voyce Pro prompted me to eliminate a treatment because I was able to extract critical information from the data showing that what was being asked of my patient was actually contributing to a decline and exhausting her capacity," said Robin Downing, DVM, MS, DAAPM, DACVSMR, CVPP, CCRP of The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management in Windsor, CO. "We modified our approach to accommodate her needs. I really don't feel that I could have understood that I needed to do that without the enhanced, objective data collected by Voyce."

While veterinarians understand the complications associated with the different types of pain, their clients may not. In the most basic sense, there is acute pain, which typically lasts less than a month and chronic pain, which lasts at least four weeks and – more commonly – 12-plus weeks. Acute pain can be derived from post-operative treatment and minor injuries or transient inflammatory conditions, whereas chronic pain includes longer-term conditions like osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia.  

"Better data drives better medicine," continued Dr. Landis-Hanna. "In some cases, pain indicators can be very subtle, like changes in sleep, appetite or decreases in activity. By the time we or our clients truly identify a dog in pain, the underlying condition has often progressed, and we are left managing chronic pain, instead of potentially correcting the underlying cause."

According to the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM), pet owners should watch for additional pain indicators including difficulty standing after laying down, over-grooming, and reluctance to use stairs.

"Using the Voyce monitor on a patient is non-invasive and requires minimal effort from the pet owner," continued Dr. Downing. "For some patients, early intervention can mean the difference between living and dying. I don't think that's an overstatement."

How the Program Works
Canine patients are enrolled in the Voyce Pro program based on a veterinary recommendation. The patient is provided a Voyce Health Monitor, worn comfortably around the dog's neck. Data parameters are set for each patient, based on their individual conditions or needs, and the Voyce Pro Wellness Monitoring Program will alert the veterinarian if the key vital signs and wellness indicators move outside of those set parameters. Unprecedented biometric data collected from the Voyce Health Monitor will sync with the interactive and user-friendly Veterinary Dashboard – easily accessible from any web-enabled device – that provides access to information about each patient enrolled in the Voyce Pro program.

To learn more about Voyce Pro and undiagnosed pain in dogs, please contact Shannon Stevens at Fetching Communications at 631.569.2285 or [email protected]. Product information and support for Voyce Pro is available at http://voycepro.com/.

About Voyce
Voyce is comprised of a diverse team of passionate individuals committed to building a suite of unique products and services for the companion animal market. As part of its comprehensive approach to pet wellness, Voyce brings a new era of personalized care to pets - where pet parents and veterinarians are empowered with unprecedented insights and tangible information about the health and wellbeing of each individual dog. I4C Innovations, dba Voyce, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intersections Inc. and is headquartered in Chantilly, VA. For more information, please visit http://voyce.com/.

About Intersections
Intersections Inc. (Nasdaq: INTX) provides innovative, information-based solutions that help consumers manage risks and make better-informed life decisions.  Under its IDENTITY GUARD® brand and other brands, the company helps consumers monitor, manage and protect against the risks associated with their identities and personal information.  The company's subsidiary Habits at Work provides insurance and other services that help consumers manage risks and achieve personal goals.  The company's i4C Innovations subsidiary provides VOYCE™, a groundbreaking pet wellness monitoring system for pet owners and veterinarians. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, the company was founded in 1996. To learn more, visit www.intersections.com.

Media Contact:
Shannon Stevens
631-569-2285
[email protected]

SOURCE Voyce

Related Links

http://voyce.com