CBS-- I know you've done this. You’ve asked your dog, “Hey buddy, what's wrong?”, knowing full good and well the dog can’t tell you. So, you’re left to guess, should you spend money to go to the vet?
Now, you can just ask Alexa. Yup...that's a thing.
Just ask the Mom of Sadie, a 17-year-old Cockapoo. “My dog’s eyes are filmy and watery.”
On this day, veterinarian Dr. Ed Blach and reporter Kathy Walsh take the problem to a sympathetic Amazon Alexa.
And Alexa asks questions like: Is there any discharge from the eye? And offers her take. “It could be an infection, sensitivity to an irritant or a number of other things.”
The conversation comes through "MyPetDoc". It’s a bot created by Dr. Blach and a team of technologists. They used data from more than 30,000 text exchanges between vets and pet owners.
“To identify the most frequently asked questions, how people ask them and be able to develop a very predictable conversation.”
For now, the technology will address just 5 issues affecting cats and dogs: vomiting, eye issues, urinary issues and itching and scratching. And Alexa always asks if you need to talk to a vet. “The cost of the consult is $25, do you want to continue?” Dr. Blach calls MyPetDoc more engaging than Dr. Google.