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Collar-gadgets that monitor what your pet is doing

With the increasing humanisation of dogs and cats, it’s no surprise that the phenomenon has arrived in the pet world, as collar devices that are worn around the neck. They are water resistant, with long lasting, rechargeable batteries, syncing automatically with smartphones via wifi or Bluetooth. The devices are used for more than just record-keeping of distances covered. There are six main aspects to their use.

They monitor physical movement, recording what type of activity your pet is doing, including walking, running, playing and sleeping.

Some monitors have veterinary uses, recording physiological parameters, including body temperature, breathing and heart rate. These can be useful in veterinary care for pets, helping to assess seizures (identifying changes before a seizure starts), pregnancy (predicting the timing of whelping), pain relief after operations (a high heart rate correlates with pain being inadequately controlled), arthritis (setting activity goals) and skin disease (measuring how often a pet itches themselves).

Activity goals can be set for pets: this can be helpful with some diseases (e.g. post-operative recuperation), as well as for combatting issues like obesity.

The smartphone app that’s linked to the activity monitor can be used to set up automatic notifications, with reminders for medication, fluid intake, meal times and more.

Some monitors include GPS location tracking, making it easier to measure distances, and keeping a record of the location of the animal. There are also tamper-proof collar versions, deterring dog thieves by ensuring that the animal’s location will always be available to you.

Finally, just as humans like to benchmark each other on physical fitness goals, if you know other owners with similar devices for their pets, you can benchmark your pooch with the mutt down the road. Who’s doing the most laps of the local park?