Guyana’s vet care being revolutionised with digital & AI technologies

In a major leap for veterinary medicine in Guyana, Dr. Nardeo Bassoodeo, the head of Animal Kingdom Pet Hospital, has introduced the use of advanced U.S. digital and AI technologies that are set to transform animal care across the country. With the new technologies, Dr. Bassoodeo is confident that more lives will be saved as results and diagnoses will be faster, saving time and money.

The Animal Kingdom Pet Hospital has adopted digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to greatly enhance veterinary care in Guyana. Its services now feature “Digi-tail,” an all-in-one veterinary software platform, along with solutions from Zoetis, the world’s leading producer of medicines and vaccines for pets and livestock.

Benjamin Pinsault, Technical Training Officer for Zoetis, is currently in Guyana to install two new equipment for the hospital – a cytology scanner and a digital microscope.

“A lot of brand new technology we have been bringing here, like the imaging machines and the brand new one is the cytology scanner, so it’s an AI scanner that works only with the internet, so it allows the scanner and the clinic to be connected to the bigger community and to a lot of data and specialists as well,” Pinsault explained.

He further added that the pathologists over the years trained the scanner to conduct tests such as urinalysis, fecal tests, dermatology, masses and blood tests and produce results in 10 minutes.

The second equipment, a Grundium Ocus digital microscope, can produce high-resolution images of tissue samples for diagnosis or research.

It further allows pathologists to view and analyse slides remotely via telemedicine.

The new technologies take telemedicine to another level with a network of over 1400 specialists. The introduction of these tools has not only reduced the time it takes to obtain test results but has also made them more affordable. Record keeping and access to patient history are also now significantly improved.

“With these types of interventions and these types of technologies that we have here now in our hands, I can’t really come to grips as to say how happy I am, how joyful I am that now we can have access to a community where over 1400 specialists just by the click of a button,” Dr. Bassoodeo said.

With plans to expand services, the Animal Kingdom Pet Hospital is working towards offering 24-hour care at its Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara location. The clinic’s three other locations, Cornelia Ida, Diamond, and Prashad Nagar, are also equipped with Digitail, ensuring that pet owners can visit any of the hospital’s branches and access their pets’ medical information seamlessly.

“With the technology we are now bringing, first world technology to Guyana at a very low price because before we had to send these samples overseas, we had to send them to a reference laboratory and those take some time about two weeks or sometimes two months before we get them back, now we can get those results in 10 minutes,” Dr. Bassoodeo stated.

With these advancements in veterinary care, Guyana is poised to see a new era of enhanced animal health and well-being, bringing the best of global veterinary practices to the local community.

“Gone are the days where you have a paper clinic card in your hand walking around because sometimes the same dog bite them up, now it is in your email, even if you lose your phone, you can go back to your email and still have all the access.

“This is a new beginning for their patients and their pets, as a nation, we have reached this far, we are taking care of our animals,” Dr. Bassoodeo said.