Episode 42 – Beyond the Consult Room Reimagining the Vet-Client-Pet Relationship

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In this week’s episode:

• Gen Z will redefine pet ownership by 2030 – this digitally native generation values sustainability, transparency, and tech-driven health solutions, creating new expectations for how veterinary care is delivered and communicated.
• Digital education builds trust – modern pet owners expect healthcare guidance through digital channels, making trusted, vet-led content essential to maintaining professional credibility.
• Responsible tech adoption matters – while AI and data tools can improve insight and efficiency, practices must apply rigorous due diligence around privacy, security, and data ethics.
• Measure success, not just innovation – new tools should be evaluated against tangible outcomes in compliance, engagement, and animal welfare to ensure technology genuinely supports better care.

In this episode, Jack Peploe is joined by Jamie Crittall and Charlie Barton, co-founders of Boop Pet Record, to explore how digital innovation, data insight, and human behaviour are reshaping the vet–client–pet relationship for the next generation of pet owners.

Additional Guest Spotlights

• Recommend Resource: This week, David McDonald recommends a leadership book, “Leadership and Self-Development”, by Arbinger Institute. A book dedicated to achieving leadership through self-deception
  
• Next Episode Sneak Peak: Coming up next, we’re joined by Carly Clark, lead product at Covetrus. who shares her journey from psychology graduate to driving the evolution of veterinary technology through the launch of cloud-based systems like Ascend, exploring how automation, AI, integration, and data-driven design are helping future-proof practices and give teams more time for patient care.

Show Notes

• Out every other week on your favourite podcast platform.
• Presented by Jack Peploe: Veterinary IT Expert, Certified Ethical Hacker, CEO of Veterinary IT Services and dog Dad to the adorable Puffin.
• Jamie is a qualified vet and with Charlie Barton, co-founded Pet Records, a playful and fun pet-tech company focused on helping pet parents to become the very best they can be, using Boop, an innovative and engaging mobile app, Boop.
• Find out more about Boop here!

Transcription

Jack Peploe:

Coming up on Modern Veterinary Practice Podcast.

Jamie Crittall:

By 2023, every single Gen Z person on the planet will legally be allowed to have a pet. They will have reached 18 years of age. They’re spending double what my age as a Gen X. They love their pets. They’re probably putting off a human family longer and applying that love and devotion to pets. But there’s a whole pool in which they can, they’re swimming in. Whereas for the veterinary profession, and Charlie and I are part of that very proudly and as still our own beach house vet, we’re swimming in one lane. So how do we get that message out to them in a relevant way? And millennials and Gen Zs, the digitally native want to have sustainable solutions and they want to receive health education digitally.

Jack Peploe:

Welcome to the Modern Veterinary Practice Podcast. I’m your host and veterinary IT expert, Jack Peploe. In this episode, I’ll be welcoming Jamie Crittall and Charlie Barton, co-founders of Boop Pet Record to the podcast. Together we’ll be talking about how technology is transforming the relationship between vets, clients and their pets, exploring digital innovation, data-driven insights, and what it takes to build tools that truly empower pet owners while strengthening the bond with their veterinary teams.

Jamie Crittall:

I’m Jamie Crittall. It’s really lovely to be here with you, Jack and Charlie, my business partner, who I first met coming up 18 years ago when he came for an interview to my family of veterinary practice, and we just hit it off back in those days, I spent two weeks of every month stuck in a, what was called Harry Potter. It was a tiny room under the stairs. And Charlie, eventually after month three, thought, what on earth is my boss disappearing two weeks of every month. And he plucked up the courage to ask why. And I explained it was to send out very manual paper-based communications to the clients. And he went, I think I could automate that, and let’s start using text and email. And off the back of that, we created Virtual Recall, a software communications company that went well is now in, I think 11 countries, six languages. It was acquired by Zoetis and we worked for them for several years and left last year still with this passion to communicate and improve healthcare compliance. And we’ve set up another company together called Pet Records, which I’m going to hand over to Charlie to tell you more about.

Charlie Barton:

Thank you, Jamie, and thank you, Jack. And so, yeah, I’m Charlie. As you’ve heard, I’m also a vet, slightly younger vintage Bristol graduate than Jamie, who won’t mind saying. But yeah, fantastically lucky to have worked together for about the last 18 years. I was a clinical vet doing all sorts for about 11, 12 years laterally ophthalmology. And still, I have a bit of a passion for that, but no time to do it. And really, I suppose, followed my tech enthusiasm down the road, which led us to create Virtual Recall. And now with pet records, we’re trying to connect to the pet owners that much closer, delivering education advice and content for pet owners so they can manage their pet care at home. Not disintermediating the vets at all, but helping to deliver solutions for them in the home environment. Ultimately connecting back to the vet and a much wider ecosystem. So we’re really focused on what does a pet owner need day to day, whether that’s nutrition or insurance or their dog walker or kennels and all that kind of thing. So it’s really exciting,

Jack Peploe:

Guys, It’s so good to have you on the Modern Veterinary Practice Podcast. How are you today?

Jamie Crittall:

I’m superb. Having had the most amazing weekend with the sun and waking up this morning with it raining and it’s pretty grey, but at the same time it’s warm, so no complaints. Spring has definitely sprung. I’ve got a beautiful garden with beautiful purple flowers coming up. So yeah, fantastic. Starts of the week. Good,

Jack Peploe:

Good. Well, look, you’ve built something pretty unique together, combining clinical insight with a consumer first mindset to sort of reimagine how pet owners engage with their pet’s health. So today I’d love to explore how you’ve gone about that, what you’ve learned about human behaviour along the way, and what the future might hold for the vet client pet relationship. Does that sound good? Yeah, perfect. Awesome. Alright, so you talk a lot about empowering pet owners to become the best pet parents they can be. What inspired you to take this angle and how do you see this shifting the traditional dynamic between vet clients and pets?

Jamie Crittall:

Well, from my perspective, being the old one on the podcast this morning, I grew up in a veterinary family. My grandfather bought the practice for my dad, and then I followed on. My godfather was my dad’s partner, always loved animals. And my dad looked after a private zoo. So it was from tigers to gorillas to cattle to horses to dogs and cats and birds. But as a result, everything that I feel is really important is giving people the right information so that they can love their pets, animals, and we want them to be healthy. And as vets, were perfectly positioned, certainly in the past, and I still feel we are the most relevant, but there’s some friction there. So how can we help vets to be the most relevant, to help pet owners particularly keep their pets as healthy as possible, and if they fall sick, get them better as quickly as possible. But the starting point, preventative health, keeping pets healthy, and I think that’s where we feel that it’s so important. Charlie, as a millennial.

Charlie Barton:

Yeah, I think and personal story, which lots of people will relate to having just got a new puppy in the last six months, and Bella came from a breeder, but a good responsible breeder who was particularly proud of the welcome pack of information that she’d put together. But of course, this was a ream of paperwork and with a microchip label that was stuck on a sort of basic invoice slip, handwritten, they get some insurance, which was brilliant. But then I got a wad of other promotions and so on from nutrition companies can rock up registrations, all this kind of thing, which is brilliant Tableau in one place. But for a millennial or a Gen Z, you give them this information by paper and they say, look at you and wonder what on earth are you doing? So it’s trying to provide new ways to educate, hold pet owners’ hands, whether they’re new or longtime pet owners, things change and there’s all sorts of new fads and so on.

So trying to give them trusted content. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here, but direct owners to content that is trusted. And there’s so much out there now on social and everything else that for a lot of people it’s hard to sift through what is good and what is bad advice. And I suppose what we’re trying to help do and with this connect to the vet and help to ensure that that trusted relationship is maintained as well. It’s coming on with a bit of pressure. Obviously we all know at the moment with the CMA and everything else, but ultimately there is still a lot of trust in the profession. I think it’s just making sure that we harness that and build on that really. And that’s our goal.

Jack Peploe:

I just want to claw back on one of the points that you just raised there as a vet, so you understand what’s medically best for pets, but what have you learned about human behaviour that makes getting pet owners to follow through so difficult and how do we go about tackling that?

Jamie Crittall:

Yeah, the subject of healthcare compliance, and I suppose where Charlie and I look at that with our previous company, Virtual Recall, we were really, really good. But our software I recall was very much B2B2C. We were getting these communications out to clients on behalf of our customers, the veterinary practice. So nobody as a pet owner would know of iRecall. And that was perfect, but as a result, you could only send communications to pet parents that were going to the vet and having certain treatments or healthcare preventative consultations. But where we’re seeing, and in some ways it was slightly frustrating. And back in the day, we would say probably 26% of pet owners wouldn’t even go to the vet that probably is going up and maybe as high as 40% are not having the treatments that their pets need. And as Charlie sort of mentioned, this sort of potential lack of trust of a minority, but they’re a vocal minority, so we need to be able to interact with them.

Charlie’s already mentioned about the move of the demographic. By 2030, every single Gen Z person on the planet will legally be allowed to have a pet. They will have reached 18 years of age. They’re spending double what my age as a Gen X, they love their pets. They’re probably putting off a human family longer and applying that love and devotion to pets, but there’s a whole pool in which they’re swimming in, whereas for the veterinary profession, and Charlie and I are part of that very proudly and as still our own beach house vet, we’re swimming in one lane. So how do we get that message out to them in a relevant way? And millennials and Gen Zs, the digitally native want to have sustainable solutions and they want to receive health education digitally. And as a result, there are different ways, asynchronously or whatever, to get that message out there.

And you’re right, we want pet parents to be the best pet parents they can be, and as a result, servicing the right information in the right way. And a lot of that is the recommendations of their peers. So by creating an ecosystem where we can help curate, get the right information and show that benefit to each and every single pet parent in a, what we would call hyper personal way, we can improve the compliance or because we want to in conjunction with the vet, improve that concordance because there’s still huge opportunities for everyone to benefit.

Jack Peploe:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And kind of on that, Jamie, technology does give us more data than ever before, which is fantastic. But how do we stop that data from becoming white noise for both the practice and the pet owners and turn it into something that ultimately is going to change their behaviour?

Jamie Crittall:

Yeah, you’re right. Sort of data rich, insight poor has always been that historical element. But I suppose we are on that sort of crux of being able to bring huge amounts of data from fragmented databases together to create really succinct, informative insights that help both the care providers and the caregivers, the pet owner, so that they can actually be assured they’re doing the right thing by bringing these disparate bits of information together. So it is that almost perfect storm. We all talk about AI and the large language models, but lots of hallucination. Are they given the right information? All of that. Well, the paths that P, the people who are the likes of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and the others are looking for that within a HE healthcare framework. And it’s super, super exciting. We’re not there yet, but almost as the veterinary profession, we can be the ground truthers to help assist that. I don’t think we’re going to be out of the job. We’re going to be there augmenting it and actually creating these really, really important can benefit from.

Jack Peploe:

Yeah, no, absolutely. Sorry, Charlie, go

Charlie Barton:

On. But I think these, the so-called multimodal large language models that then start to become really exciting if we’re going down the AI route here, because you do get, there’s all these wearable trackers that create data, all sorts, like you say out there, but actually this is a veterinary podcast. It’s very hard for a vet to really interpret any of that, particularly in a 15 minute consultation. So how can take that data, make sure it’s directed to the right people, first of all, perhaps using things like microchips, just simple identifiers and present something really concise and insightful to the vet and the pet owner. And I think that’s sort of where we are really interested and where the technology is rapidly getting to.

Jack Peploe:

No, a hundred percent. Now, you’ve both had experience in building, scaling and exiting tech business. What have you learned about responsible tech adoption and what should practices watch out for?

Charlie Barton:

I think data security, of course has to be top of the list for everybody. And particularly when you go down the route of thinking about ai, that opens up lots of questions, but I think more and more the backbones of technology infrastructure is catering for this on day one. So when we started virtual recall 13, 14 years ago, cloud computing was in its infancy. Now, the starting point is super secure databases that store all as sort of pattern owner credentials, encrypted behind very secure offences. So I think the starting point is that much better, but making sure that these companies are doing responsible work through what should all be documented in terms of conditions and privacy policies and all that kind of thing. And hopefully looking at certification like cyber essentials and ISO 27,001, all these sorts of things that can help prove that organisations are being responsible.

Jack Peploe:

I was going to say on that point, Charlie, and you’re very right, the foundations are a lot more, they’re standardised and now are in a much better place than where they would’ve been 10, 15 years ago. However, what I’m really interested in now is the fact that it’s very easy to go and build things, especially with AI generation, but it doesn’t mean it’s built well, which I suppose comes into that point of making sure that you’re doing the relevant due diligence. I mean, just in my experience with just basic things like transcription tools, seeing how some companies utilise that data and actually pass the information on is horrifying in a way. So I suppose you are completely right there, but it’s also the due diligence piece as well. Would you agree or

Charlie Barton:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think from a, where’s that data going perspective, I get less worried about what might open AI be doing with that data, for example, because actually typically the company is using that tool correctly, then that data’s fairly well ring-fenced, but is said scribe company, then passing it on to others. Well, that should all be documented in privacy policies, et cetera. So yes, a little bit of due diligence should help with that. And I think it is important to not just click accept on a document, which we’re all so prone to doing, but when it’s our client’s data, it’s really, really important to check that. But if they’re doing things outside of privacy policy, well they shouldn’t be

Jack Peploe:

Very true. Now, Charlie, with your background in consumer engagement, and Jamie with your clinical lens, you are sort of bridging two worlds. What do you think veterinary businesses could learn from successful consumer tech or lifestyle brands? I would say a lot,

Jamie Crittall:

Because ultimately we are all consumers. But even just going back on the point, what should we be looking for? Ultimately, we are all in it for the same reason. It’s a very purpose led industry, veterinary profession, and we all have that shared purpose of wanting to help people look after their pets and animals. So collaboration is really, really important in this. And some of it is this open element, but working for a common purpose within that framework of data privacy, which is beyond what our small, relatively parochial industry is. But I would say that’s changing. And sometimes by setting out very strict rules, they’re already out of date with what is happening in the wider world. But being able to sort of question, what is this tool there for? How is it going to benefit me and my team from a work perspective, and what is the outcome going to do to benefit my clients, the pet owner and their animals?

And I would say that’s always the starting point. We’ve always been guilty, and I more so than ever, Charlie always laughs when I bring up this story. We love a good piece of stainless steel in veterinary practice. If it’s shiny and it’s new and it’s a medical breakthrough or surgical breakthrough, I’d go and buy it for the practice. I didn’t go through that really tried and tested way of change management, bringing the team on. I remember buying a video endoscope, tens of thousands of pounds worth and it hardly ever got used. And one time it did get used, one of the nurses was drying it on the x-ray lead line door, which somebody, which was me shut because it had to be shut, but I didn’t spot the endoscope and it broke. So don’t rush in with things but actually do. And you’ve already mentioned the phrase due diligence.

What’s it going to do for me? Can I overcome the hassle of adopting it, that change management element, and what is the outcome? Is it going to be brilliant for the team and the practice? Ultimately, I would always hope that it’s going to benefit multi-stakeholders and ultimately for what Charlie and I view and have done for the last 18 years of working together, which very proudly, I think we’ve had less than five crosswords in that time, is everybody, it should be a win-win win with the ultimate benefit for the animal to live a healthier, happier life. And hope

Jack Peploe:

I

Jamie Crittall:

Couldn’t agree more on that point.

Jack Peploe:

Point. Sorry, Charlie, go on.

Charlie Barton:

But I think not forgetting the pet toner I suppose is important. So important. And I think in vet that Jamie’s anecdotes all happen behind the prep room door, if you like, and the pet owner doesn’t see any of that. So I suppose part of it is, well, how do we bring the pet owner into that experience so that they understand all the magic that’s happening behind that door and where veterinary bill is being spent because it is really clever, and I think as vets, perhaps some of us have a bit of a tendency to focus on the clinical work, and that’s what we strive to be the best at, but as important if not more so is that client care. And that starts with the front of house team, with the nurses and with those consulting vets and using the tools, going back to the technology aspect, but using all the tools that a consumer would expect to be able to have a good experience, whether that’s messaging, whether that’s hybrid triage tools or whether it’s driving education and reporting and so on, back to the owner at the end of that consultation, so they felt like it got value and being careful.

And ultimately what back in the day everybody loved their vet for was that relationship.

Jack Peploe:

Yeah. Yeah. No, I couldn’t agree more, and I think all the points raised there are absolutely bang on, especially the one that rings true for me, I don’t see it happen often enough, is quantifying the outcome of the platforms or tools or items that you look to integrate in your practice. It’s the one thing that we often miss. We get excited by, oh, this is going to be fantastic, but not really actually going, well, what does success look like? What does good look like at the end of integrating this tool? I knew this was going to be the case, guys. I’ve got so many little things I’d love to chat to you about, but we’ve hit our time limit. But thank you so much for joining me today. You’ve given us a lot to think about when it comes to how we engage with pet owners beyond the walls of the practice. Now for those who are listening who want to follow your work or learn more about what you’re up to with pet record and B, where’s the best place for them to connect with you?

Charlie Barton:

Yeah, I think easiest place is to head to our website. We’re online, so www.booppet.app is our website where you can download the pet owner app or for the digital vaccination record and with much more to come and also learn about the digital signatures that you’re able to do from that as well. And you can contact us through the website as well.

Jack Peploe:

Amazing. Well look, we’ll make sure that’s all in the show notes, but it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show, guys. And again, thanks so much for being here and for the work that you are doing to sort of move the profession forward. It’s very exciting. Thanks, Jack. Thanks Charlie. Thanks so much, Jack.

Jack Peploe:

Every week we ask professionals and experts to suggest a best business resource for our listeners. This week’s recommendation is from David McDonald.

David McDonald:

The resource that I would recommend here is a leadership book called Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. So a really simple book that talks about leadership through self-deception, and it probably doesn’t make sense like that, but it’s a short read. It is not a business book, if you like. Well, it isn’t in disguise because it tells a story through personal experiences. I’ll leave it that so everybody can use it, whether you’re in business or you’re not. Families can use it. It is super interesting. It’s all about just getting out of the box, opening up our mind, thinking of others. And I guess it resonates with me because it’s really about treating people as fellow people, not as objects to drive success.

Jack Peploe:

Coming up next time, we welcome Carly Clark, product leader at Covetrus. Carly shares her journey from psychology graduate to driving the evolution of veterinary technology. Through the launch of cloud-based practice management systems like Ascend, we explore what it really means to future proof of veterinary practice from automation and AI to integration education and scalable infrastructure. Carly discusses the importance of thoughtful product design, the power of automation in creating more time for patient care and how data feedback and collaboration are sharing the next era of veterinary software.

Carly Clarke:

Automation.. It has a less shiny frame to it. It’s not seen as something especially when compared with AI as bringing that core benefit to practices. But I am a true believer that the right automation does significantly help streamline business processes. It takes that drudgery out of your daily tasks within workflows, anything from really stripping it back to automated comms, automated reminders going out, whether it’s for appointments, whether it’s for products or services that are prescriptions that are due to be refilled, that the patient and the client need to come and consume. That has a lot of benefit. That’s a huge manual task for users within a practice.

Jack Peploe:

That’s it for this episode. All links and recommendations we talked about are in the show notes. Don’t forget to subscribe and share the podcast if you found it useful. In the meantime, thanks for listening and see you next time.