Bangkok--13 Sep--UREKA MEDICAL Ureka Medical Co Ltd, developer and manufacturer of anti bed-sore mattress products for the treatment and prevention of bed-sores, today announces a new line of business with the launch of latest product innovation “Altemal Bedsore”. The air-blowing mattress has been designed to prevent and cure of bed sore problems in dogs. The new business will be in line with the growing trend of pet market in Thailand and to be a significant part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) set to relax the problem of dogs being abandoned as well as sick dogs regarding to the bed sore and elderly problems. Mr Surasak Tabthipwattana, managing director of Ureka Medical CoLtd, developer and manufacturer of air-blowing mattresses for the treatment and prevention of bedsore problem in human under the brand “REBEDTA”, reveals that the company has created a new business to serve its philosophy “Everyone has the right to live a life without suffering” by launching “Altemal Bedsore” the air-blow mattress designed to prevent and cure the bedsore problems in dogs. It is the company’s first product line-up actually created to serve the pet market in Thailand. “We have seen the market for dog products and accessories as high potential industry with great opportunities for growth. Nowadays, many dog owners have treated their beloved dogs like members of the family, witnessing from various dog products and services available in the market place, which go beyond just basic items such as foods and toys, but also include dog spa, hotel, and nursing center, particularly in major cities. They will always intend to bring their dogs to clinic or hospital in the case of illness,” said Mr Surasak. This phenomenon has reflected the truth that today consumers, who have high spending power, have given attention to their lovely pets and find somethings good to them, not different from other beloved members in the family. Previously, the company had conducted a market survey for a group of dogs having high potential to use air-blowing mattresses founded in pet clinics and hospitals in Bangkok and outskirts, and founded that this market has high market value of not less than 100 million baht. It is a ‘blue ocean’ market and “Altemal Bedsore” will be the first local brand of air-blowing mattresses for the prevention and treatment of bedsore problem in the market. “Although we are the only player of air-blowing mattresses for the prevention and treatment of bedsore problem in dogs at this moment, it’s not mean that we have fully dominated the market. Without direct competitors, we need to compete with ourselves with our capability to reach the group of dog owners who decided to use air-blowing mattresses with their dogs. We expected to increase the market share of our branded air-blowing mattresses to between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of the total market,” says Surasak. In addition, to be in line with the company’s philosophy “Everyone has the right to live a life without suffering”, the company’s research methodology and product creation will not only serve human, but also every single life. The company has seen that its decision to invest in the production of air-blowing mattresses for dogs is a significant part of policy on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) set to reduce the problem of dogs being abandoned and their suffering during the time of illness. According to Ureka Medical’s survey on the current problem of dogs being abandoned, one of mjor problems is that the dogs themselves have been transferred from ‘beloved pet’ to a ‘burden’ in the family due to their disability, and require a close attention from other members. Major causes of disability in dogs could be from the illness in their nervous system, a sore place on dog’s skin, or from infected wound in their sensitive area. Many owners don’t want to take care their dogs all the time and finally decided to abandone their dogs because of the disability. The key qualification of Altemal Bedsore, the air-blowing mattress for prevention and treatment of bedsore problem in dogs, is to help overcome the sore problem in dogs as well as to take care dogs suffering with disability problem and need to lying itself in bed in one position for a long time. The new anti-sore mattress will encourage owners to clearly understand that their dogs are not the family’s ‘burden’ anymore. They have also a chance to get well completely from the illness. For this primary stage of distributing the product, the company has yet appointed official distributor, but still open for any interested people. At this beginning, the company has set up a special team to give advise about the new air-blowing mattress to pet clinics and hospitals, pet shops as well as glooming centers. The company also plans to produce a certain amount of “Altemal Bedsore” to be donated to non-profit dog nursing institutes, such as foundations for disability animals and state animal hospitals, for using the air-blowing mattresses to relax the sufferings of pets and dogs being abandoned by their owners. Mr Surasak says that the creation of “Altemal Bedsore” air-blowing mattress has been inspired from experimental and product development process following a request of his friend, who want to find a good mattress for his dog “Thung Thong”, which needed to recuperate itself after a surgery. At the beginning, the company had developed a prototype from its existing air-blowing mattress for human produced by the company. However, the product came up with many technical problems, which limited themselves from the most effective functions. After a detail study, the company found that the physical body of human and animal are quite different, and that leaded to the difference in all product designs and functions. Most important, the sleeping behaviour of human and animal are also different. Human mattress cannot be scaled down to the use of animals or dogs. The company then worked very closely with a veterinary surgeon in studying the behaviour of dogs and brought them to the design and production of air-blowing mattress for dogs. The product has been firstly tested with Thung Thong and received the great satisfaction. Mr Surasak adds that the company has made further experiment on the product, which had been tested with dogs suffering with sore problem at the animal foundation. The product test has received a satisfactory result. The dogs, which previously suffered by the sore problems and couldnot even walk, have shown a great improvement and strong recovery from its sore problem. They are finally able to walk again as normal.