Now that the Christmas shopping season has started, with Cyber Monday tomorrow, check out these CRAZY gadgets for pets that I read about on Veterinary Team Brief! for the techno crazy among you... Wearable Technology The new Apple Watch and Google Glass may be the most famous in this category, but these, along with other wearable tools for humans such as rings that replace house keys and smart contact lenses that measure glucose levels, are not the only game in town.5,6 Wearable technology for pets is a rapidly growing industry.7 Admittedly, the products and companies are so new that it can be difficult to know what to recommend to clients. Here are some to consider. You may have heard of Voyce*, a high-tech, waterproof, lightweight collar that provides constant data about a dog’s home life—think everything from vital signs to calories burned. Unique to Voyce are its high-quality design based on veterinary input and the ability of both pet owners and veterinarians to view data in the cloud. Related Article: Web Apps That Will Wow Your Team Also worth checking out: Whistle, a collar attachment that provides constant location and activity information; FitBark*, a wireless monitor that collects information about and learns from a pets activities (and a take on FitBit for humans); Petcam, a collar attachment that records video of a pet’s day; and Tagg, a wearable GPS device that texts an owner when a pet leaves a prearranged geographic zone.8 Feeding & Playing Products A new flock of products is popping up that sprinkles technology into the simple act of feeding pets, many of them born from health problems. Take Bistro*, a brand new feeding system that weighs a cat and provides a portioned amount of food—Bistro’s real star is the built-in camera that transmits a live video feed to the clients’ smartphone. It also has—are you ready for this?—built-in “feline facial recognition software” that promises to determine which cat in the house is eating, and more importantly, which cat is not. Petnet*, a similar smartphone-controlled feeder, allows clients to feed pets from outside the home with the touch of a button. This has interesting veterinary applications for improving the timing of feeding, weight-loss programs, and pill administration when no one is home. PetCube* is also worth checking out. This ambitious device is the first of its kind, promising the ability to see, talk to, and interact with a pet (using a smartphone-controlled laser pointer) from anywhere.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 13:28:52 +0000
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