Remote pet monitoring is becoming an increasingly popular way for veterinarians to keep track of an animal’s health between visits. This can be a great way for you to monitor the vital stats of animals with chronic, ongoing health issues so that you can detect and diagnose any abnormalities in a timely fashion. And it’s not just vets getting involved – pet owners are also becoming more interested in tracking and understanding the health of their cherished furry friends.
In fact, there is such a vast range of smart health monitoring technology on the market that it can be difficult to understand what device would work best for each animal. This includes wearable devices, remote tracking devices, smart harnesses and multiparametric devices, amongst other solutions. Each form of technology provides a different snapshot of the health of an animal.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common types of devices to help you determine which might enable you to provide an even higher level of care to your patients.
What Is a Pet Monitoring Device
Most of us are familiar with the concept of health and activity tracking. You can wear a tracker to monitor your heart rate, check your speed whilst out for a run, and analyze your sleep patterns. A pet monitoring device works in much the same way. Lightweight devices can be worn by animals to track their movements and collect valuable health data that you can then use to detect abnormalities and make a diagnosis.
You can use a pet monitoring device for:
- Medical diagnosis and treatment
- Tracking
- Identification
- Safety & security
- Behavior monitoring & control
For example, you can use a device to measure the signs of conditions like dermatitis and see how behaviors like scratching change in response to certain foods. Or you can compare the resting heart rate of an animal with its rate when exercising. All this provides you with a much fuller picture than if you were limited to measuring an animal’s vital signs at a clinic appointment.
You can also encourage your clients to use pet monitoring devices for their own information. By tracking sleeping, eating, and activity levels, they can gain a better understanding of their pet’s overall condition and make adjustments to lifestyles, routines, exercise levels or nutrition where needed. That way, the animal is far more likely to live a long, healthy, and happy life.
Knowledge is power.
Top 3 Pet Monitoring Devices
Now let’s take a look at 3 of the most common types of pet monitoring devices and what they can be used for.
Wearable Devices
Pet monitoring wearables are smart devices that can be worn on an animal’s body for a number of reasons. This can include location tracking, remote monitoring, and the analysis of health and activity levels, including sleep, appetite, response to exercise and behavior.
Most wearable devices rely on technology including RFID sensors, GPS trackers, motion sensors, accelerometer sensors, cameras, and transmitters to keep track of vital statistics such as body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, and pH levels. Devices can also be used to monitor eating and drinking behavior in patients, especially useful for post-surgical care.
For example, smart collars and cameras can be used to monitor animal activity levels, sleeping quality and emotional states throughout the course of a given day. Devices keep a log of all data and devices notify pet owners of concerning behavior patterns that may require consultation with a veterinarian.
Smart harnesses can be used to track animal vital stats in real-time, continuously and remotely. More advanced models provide accurate health data with the same quality level as medical devices. For example, The DinbeatUNO wearable records heart rate, temperature and breath per minute as well as activity, position and barking.
Put simply, wearable devices allow you to take a more proactive, not reactive, approach to veterinary care. And they also encourage your veterinary practice clients to get more involved in the proactive care of their beloved pets.
Remote Monitoring
Pet monitoring devices can also be used to check on animals from a distance. These types of devices usually consist of a camera and wireless technology that allows you to communicate and interact with an animal from a remote location. Many also include technology for two-way audio, night vision, lasers for interactive play, and pet treat dispensers – all controllable from a mobile app. Some robot devices even allow you to move around the house and interact with an animal.
The most obvious benefit of this type of device is that pet owners can keep an eye on their animals when they are home alone. Some models stream continuously, and others send an alert when noise or motion is detected. This helps owners interact with their pets and keep an eye on their health when they are not in the same room or building as them. This can be especially beneficial for pet owners who work long hours or for animals who suffer from separation anxiety. It is also a great way for you to monitor an animal who has just had surgery without them having to come into your clinic.
Multiparametric Analysis
The final type of pet monitoring device we are going to look at today is for exclusive use in your clinic, not for domestic use.
A multiparametric monitor can be used to track the vital stats of an animal that is undergoing surgery or a minor procedure in your clinic. This is a device used to monitor a patient’s vital signs, and it is mainly used in intensive care, hospitalization or ER. Devices can be used to monitor cardiac activity (ECG), blood pressure (NIBP), respiration (RESP), oxygen saturation (SpO2) and temperature (TEMP). The device is attached to an animal and a monitor displays a range of vital stats on a display, providing you with valuable data to help you understand the condition of your patient throughout each stage of surgery and anesthesia.
There are a number of advantages of using multiparametric analysis during veterinary surgery. The biggest and most obvious benefit is that monitors can provide valuable insight during surgery which can help with decision-making and determining the right course of action if complications arise. And this allows you to provide the highest possible standard of patient care to your patients.
