The Potential Capabilities of the Smart Collar

Pet tracking is showing promising growth within the consumer IoT space, boasting many advantages due to their capabilities for pet owners globally. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control have been modelling new smart collars that includes a deworming drug. Dogs can be a significant role in the transmission of the Echinococcus parasitic disease that is caused by tapeworms. Humans can become infected via contaminated food, water, or soil, but also by direct contact with animal hosts, such as dogs. This specific strand of parasite disease is found primarily in Canada and the Midwestern United States.

Pet trackers currently enable pet owners to track their location via GPS in most instances, as well as fitness data. The location capabilities are useful for training puppies and dogs being rehomed. Dependent on surroundings, location tracking capabilities of smart pet collars enables owners to locate their missing pets if they have bolted from their home due to being in an unfamiliar setting when settling in.

One way in which pet collars can be really useful for their owners is when veterinary appointments are required. Smart pet collars that collect health data such as activity levels and heart rate data can enable easier vet appointments for pets. The most significant impact that these solutions enable is the fact that pets are able to have a better experience with the vets, as they are able to have their appointment at home, similar to how human doctor appointments were taking place throughout the pandemic. The integration of data enables vets to see vital information, and therefore only making the call to see the pet in person when necessary.

There are a variety of different products available on the market, with offerings from Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and Tractive, that offer the GPS location capabilities as well as fitness tracking capabilities. The Vodafone Curve tracker, the DT Combi Protect, is a similar product offering to the Apple AirTag, as they are not products that are specifically targets to pet tracking and have other tracking capabilities, such as for luggage. Tractive, however, offers a pet specific product for both cats and dogs.

ABI Research recently published Consumer IoT: Child, Elderly and Pet Tracking, which forecasted that pet tracking devices will reach a global total of 8.6 million by 2026 worldwide. This includes cellular based devices as well as those using LPWA technologies, Bluetooth, and RFID, as well as other location options such as cloud-based location. Within the Asia Pacific region specifically, there are a variety of different smart pet devices such as smart harnesses and smart feeding devices, which explains as to why the standard pet tracking collars are being developed further within this region to offer capabilities that complement the use of telemedicine within the veterinary space.

The introduction of collars that are able to dispense medicine, however, will have to be carefully manufactured and assessed by veterinary professionals to ensure that the correct amount of the deworming drug is released. Not only this, but it is a medicine that is often given on a specific timely basis, monthly for young puppies and quarterly for older dogs. This is something that will have to be considered in the manufacturing process of such collars, to ensure that there is a collar for specific aged dogs. If these devices are to be approved, it would be beneficial for a solution to be presented which can integrate with veterinary technology and data platforms. This way vets will be able to know the amount of worming treatment the dog has had, since if capable to do so, the platforms from both the veterinary practice and the solution can communicate to ensure that pet’s records are up to date, which will also lead to more efficient check-ups at the vets.