Vetbot

xodar · Post by **xodar** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:58 pm

I wonder if there could be a fembot designed to help take care of animals. A lot of veterinarians are female so this would be a natural role for fembots -- maybe small ones.

I have a really elderly dog, almost 17, who is frail and nearly blind. Otherwise, though, she's healthy and not in pain. She has trouble getting to her feet, and occasionally getting outside on time, and appears to have fallen down the steps a couple of times and barely been able to walk for a couple of days. She can't get back indoors without help.
Maybe a robot could help her if I'm not here.
A dog might have to be around bots from puppyhood to fully accept them, and the oddity here is that the bot would cost more than the dog -- though it might pay for itself if you have several dogs over a few decades. But as far as I'm concerned the dog is more valuable because it's alive and has real feelings -- and ultimately cannot be repaired or ever really replaced.

xodar · Post by **xodar** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:30 pm

I like taking care of animals. I owe it to this one because she's been a companion for about 1/4 of my life; her habits fit with mine. Even now she makes her way to an old sheet at the foot of my bed whenever I go to sleep. If something upsets her she manages to find me and "tell" me.

I have in mind taking care of sick and elderly dogs when I'm not here. A bot could lift her up the steps and help her stand up. If necessary clean up after her. I do not want a machine to take care of animals which I would neglect because I do not negelect animals -- if I did this one wouldn't have lived to such an extreme age. My other one is 12 1/2.
Two died a couple of years ago: intractible kidney disease and hip displasia. I didn't have the money to get her hip replacements and the kidney disease showed no symptoms till too late.

Just getting a dog and a machine to take care of it is less than useless. You might as well get one of those tape or DVD dogs that plays on TV so yuppies with meaningless lives can pretend they have a pet. My concern is to have a bot as a servant of the dog.

If I live long enough to be as frail as this dog, I would certainly want a bot to help. I'll also have a dog small enough for me to deal with it because it is alive and has feelings.

I see a branch of robot manufacture here.
Too late for this dog, who can't live much longer, but in the future.

fmn8k · Post by **fmn8k** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:36 am

xodar · Post by **xodar** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:43 am

fmn8k wrote:
xodar wrote:I like taking care of animals.
....
Two died a couple of years ago: intractible kidney disease and hip displasia. I didn't have the money to get her hip replacements and the kidney disease showed no symptoms till too late.
No PDSA( A charity which provides 'free'-ish vetenarian services) in the US?

The idea of vetbot intrigues me, but presumably it's programming would be complex.

Apologies for verging off topic here:
From the point of view of modern diagnostic techniques what may occur in the real world is not a vetbot but whats termed enhanced minipulators run by a human operator. Part of what gives a vet thier skill and expertise is being able to change program quickly and think on thier feet, would a vetbot be able to do that?

twekaing this a little, would you get 'vet-bots' that looked after cybernetic and synthetic pets ?

The purpose of the bot would be to tend to the animal when humans have to be elsewhere. I will judge whether the animal needs medical care: their behavior changes noticeably when they are sick even though they actually try to hide weaknesses. Possibly a bot can have some diagnostic equipment, but the human would read it.

If it can help people it can help animals. The particular dog I mentioned barks when she needs help. That bark is different from other vocalizations, and a bot can respond if it can respond to verbal commands.

It would be simpler to have one to take care of synthetic pets, but as for myself I wouldn't have a synthetic pet except maybe to entertain animals: a mock animal they can hunt and "kill" if they need to, for example. There probably are people who'd want a robot animal with a robot to take care of it.

There are cheap and sometimes free animal vaccination services here. Bait with rabies vaccine is scattered about to prevent the disease in coyotes (who will infect stray dogs by fighting or mating with them) at government expense.
I've always found such medical services for humans and animals shabby, half-assed, and in the hands of sometimes undesirable sorts.
But this is WAY OT here.

I'd just like a robot to take care of sick and aged dogs when I have to be away.