PET TECHNOLOGY

-Words Caroline Zambrano

THE COMBINATION of a growing and adored pet population and an increasingly tech-obsessed demographic of pet parents is driving an exciting industry inspired by today’s ‘smart manufacturing’ or what many are calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.

It’s called Pet Tech – pet technology products and services designed to help people achieve better health and wellbeing for their pets – and it’s driving adoption, spending habits, and interest in the care and wellbeing of companion animals across the globe.

Global Market Insights reported the global pet tech market in 2021 to be worth US$5 billion and is set to grow at around 20 per cent (compound annual growth rate) from 2022 to 2028.

– Lara Shannon, Executive Producer and Host, Pooches at Play

Last year’s survey by Michelson Found Animals Foundation revealed 56 per cent of American pet owners have special tech just for their pets, with pet health and nutrition apps being particularly popular.

“By embracing pet technology, pet parents can improve their pet’s wellbeing and make their life easier,” said Dr Teagan Lever, Veterinarian from Pet Circle, Australia’s largest online pet supplies company.

“There is now a larger range of smart pet products available in Australia, including technology to feed them, keep them entertained, track their health and location, keep them cosy, clean up after them and monitor them, giving pet parents more flexibility in how they take care of their pet.”

Pet Circle has seen its sales for pet technology grow 53 per cent year on year from 2020 to 2021, with pet cameras and fountains growing 150 per cent thanks to the surge in pet ownership during the pandemic. Pet tech sales have also increased 47 per cent in March and April year on year with Australians taking advantage of New Year sales to modernise their homes for their pet.

“Australia is undoubtedly seeing the beginning of the pet technology revolution and the team at Pet Circle is expecting to grow its pet technology range substantially by the end of the year,” said Dr Lever.

It’s no surprise more and more companies are trying to fill the gap in the Australian market with smart technology-enabled pet gadgetry and provide a more complete ‘customer’ experience.

Jason Humphris, Founder of the popular Dog Lovers Show, said the show will be on the cutting edge of pet technology as it grows and develops, providing the leading promotional vehicle for pet tech nationally from next year.

Humphris shared exclusively with Pet Industry News that the Dog and Cat Lovers Show is collaborating with leading tech innovation company Nakatomi to provide an interactive testing platform for pet tech companies at the 2023 events.

“We will provide an opportunity to showcase the full range of pet tech products in front of a live audience of pet owners so they can gain immediate feedback. There will also be a dedicated Pet Tech Zone on the expo floor for local and international companies to sell and promote their products,” he said.

“Pet tech is already playing a major role in improving the health and wellbeing of our dogs and cats, with pet owners happy to invest heavily if it means enriching their lives and improving the quality of the relationships we share.”

The pet tech industry trends and advancements can be seen across pet food/products, services, health/medication, and technology.

Lara Shannon, certified dog trainer, behaviourist, and pet food nutritionist, as well as Executive Producer and host of Channel Ten’s Pooches at Play, is familiar with arange of pet tech, including DNA testing, which she did for her rescue dog Darcy.

– Dr Teagan Lever, Veterinarian, Pet Circle

“While this technology can help identify breed background, some advanced versions of the technology can also provide other health and disease risk summaries and more.”

Knowledge is power, after all. Breed information can be helpful for veterinarians in monitoring for potential health problems as pets age.

Shannon sees pet trackers and health monitors enabling owners and pet food manufacturers to create bespoke meals and calorie-controlled portions based on a pets exercise and other activity, “which may help to tackle a major health issue facing many Australian pets that are overweight and obese”.

New pet health company ilume is the first pet health program to bring together nutrition and tech, using a collar tracker and companion app to make intelligent decisions based on a pet’s real-time data. Ilume’s chef-prepared meals are specifically personalized through technology to enhance and extend the lives of dogs.

“By harnessing this insight through the use of smart technology and scientifically backed, restaurant-quality food, ilume helps to create a happier and healthier life for our beloved four-legged friends,” said ilume CEO and CofounderCraig Silbery.

Smart and automatic feeders, including microchip controlled feeders, are a great way to ensure pets receive the right meal on time, as these gadgets allow you to program a measured amount of food to be released at specific times, explained Dr Lever.

“They are perfect for pets on portion-controlled diets, pets that need regular feeding due to an underlying medical condition, such as diabetes, or for busy, multi-pet households,” she said. “Pet water fountains are also growing in popularity as running water may encourage dogs and cats to drink more, which is beneficial for their urinary tract and overall health.”

To cat owners’ delight, self-cleaning cat litter boxes are becoming more advanced with features like UV light for disinfection and activity and health tracking. For instance, cat owners can proactively monitor their pet’s health with Purina’s smart device The Petivity Smart Litterbox Monitor, which tracks behaviour and weight, and alerts you when changes might require your attention or a visit to the vet.

– Dr Teagan Lever, Veterinarian, Pet Circle

Dr Lever said smart toys, such as robotic balls and automatic lasers, have also become increasingly popular with families looking to keep their pets entertained as they head back to work and school following the pandemic. For instance, the PupPod Rocker toy uses lights, sounds and timing to create a mental stimulation puzzle for pets. When dogs interact with the PupPod Rocker at the correct time, they earn food rewards from a wirelessly connected feeder. Pet parents can stream video and control the game from anywhere using PupPod’s mobile app.

“Pet wearables can now monitor your pet’s daily activity by providing you with information about their exercise and sleep patterns. Some can also help you track their location in real-time and notify you when they wander too far from home,” said Dr Lever.

“Microchip pet doors are now controllable from your smartphone, allowing you to set curfews to prevent your pets from going outside at night or if there is bad weather, as well as restrict pets that can enter your home.”

Smart beds are a new category of pet tech, offering a cosy temperature-controlled place for pets to relax and sleep regardless of the weather. Pet cameras also allow people to interact with their pets from their smartphone and offer extra features including treat dispensing and automated lasers to be able to play with their pets remotely.

Pet cameras, such as the Furbo 360 Dog Camera, are being used by many pet parents to monitor their pets while they are not at home, which Shannon said can help identify underlying behaviour issues or promote desired behaviour by dispensing treats automatically.

“The more information we have about our pets and their behaviours when we aren’t around to observe them, the better it is to help devise an appropriate behaviour modification plan and strategies to assist them, particularly in relation to anxiety and stress,” said Shannon.

“I do warn owners though to be mindful that they are not causing more stress in their pets by talking to them through such devices, and to make sure any sudden or loud movements when dispensing food or treats aren’t causing more stress. They should be avoided in these instances.

“Pet tech in the form of TV program apps, such as Dog TV, can be used to both desensitise a dog to things like fireworks and thunderstorms, and provide relaxation and background noise that can assist dogs with mild separation anxiety.”

Technological advancements in the veterinary space are also changing the way we care for our pets. For instance, 24-hour vet telehealth services and vets on demand apps, like Pawssum, offer flexibility, personalisation, and convenience for both vets and consumers.

There are also collar-worn wearable devices that can be used to track our pet’s movements, including their activity, sleep, and sleep quality – quite useful during post-operative care and recovery.

Vetrax (owned by Hill’s Pet Nutrition) is worn on a dog’s collar and measures a number of health behaviours, such as shaking, scratching, walking and sleeping, and is designed to help pet owners and vets monitor numerous health conditions, from allergy flare-ups to obesity and diabetes. Simply download the app, attach the sensor, and let the communication begin. GPS pet tracker collars, such as Whistle, are a device and app system that combines location-tracking and smart activity monitoring into alerting you and helping you locate a lost pet immediately and accurately.

“Aside from wearables, we will likely start to see more accessories with in-built sensors to help pet parents track more areas of their pet’s health, like beds that weigh pets and bowls that measure how much water your pet intakes – more information that would be useful to a vet,” said Dr Lever.

“We may also see more consumer tech brands, like Apple and Google, move into the pet category. We already have a dog tag from Studio Proper that allows you to secure an Apple AirTag to your dog or cat’s collar so you can track them, but we could see more specific pet products from these larger tech brands.”

While technology is very popular in training and interacting with cats and dogs, it is becoming increasingly popular for bird, small animal, and reptile owners, said Aylish McCarthy, Brand Development Coordinator at Vetafarm, Australia’s leading innovator in companion animal health and welfare.

“There are many electronic technologies such as interactive smart toys, but there are also so many nonelectronic things that are excellent for reptiles, birds and small animals like ferrets,” she said.

For instance, the Vetafarm team uses a Reptile One Ezistat to accurately control the temperature inside the terrarium of their office lizards – “an excellent tool to help reptile owners with varying levels of experience and make an absolutely integral part of reptile ownership much easier,” said McCarthy.

There’s a cool gadget for bird watchers, too. The Fussbric Smart Bird Feeder with Camera features a built-in powerful bird recognition system that connects to a phone app and allows you to monitor visiting birds and listen to them through the built-in microphone.

Technology also plays a role in connecting with other pet owners and helping you find your ‘paw mate’, saving more animal lives. Based on the Tinder concept, pet matching apps (such as US-based social dog app PatchPets) match you with other like-minded pet owners and see if your dogs’ temperament matches, and then possibly lead to a park play date.

Other apps help you find a suitable pet for adoption, such as How I Met My Dog in the US and the Pedigree brand’s more recently launched Rescue Doodles, a program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology and a machine learning model to match a child’s creative portrait of their imaginary furry friend with a similar looking, adoptable dog nearby and is powered by Adopt-a-Pet.com, a Kinship company.

A pilot study by the University of Puerto Rico involving 55 dogs from the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and their adopters showed that providing dog quantimetric (intelligent insights) data to adopters using a smartphone application could yield reduced rates of re-relinquishment. Additionally, respondents indicated that they felt using the app helped them to better meet the activity needs of their dog and increased the bond between themselves and their newly adopted dog.

– Aylish McCarthy, Brand Development Coordinator, Vetafarm

Brittany Bloomer, founder of Pound Paws charity, which provides a modern online approach to the overall rehoming process for pets available for adoption in pounds and rescue centres around Australia, said pet matching apps have transformed the way people adopt pets today.

“With over six billion active users on the internet, we are incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to use online platforms to assist rescue groups and pounds by showcasing their pets online to further increase the chance of adoption,” she said.

“Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have also been incredibly helpful to tap into large networks for free. We have witnessed firsthand the demand for online users searching for a rescue pet.”

Pound Paws launched the ‘Custom Pet Profile Match’ after the Covid pet adoption wave to help online users requesting help with finding a rescue pet. The process involves users completing an online form to explain what they are looking for in a pet and about their lifestyle. From there, Pound Paws researches and connects with local shelters to present the best pet profile matches they believed would match with them.

“This was a fun, personal way to further assist in the rehoming process. We received thousands of enquiries from around Australia since the Covid outbreak and have been fortunate to assist with many rehoming cases because of this,” said Bloomer.

Shannon said pet tech devices certainly provide many benefits, but we should be careful that we aren’t replacing time we would otherwise be spending with our pets with technology instead.

“At the end of the day, pet technology should be viewed as a way to assist in making our pet’s and our own lives easier and healthier,” she said.

“We should never replace spending quality time together cuddling on the couch, playing hands-on games of ball, tug of war and training, which is vital to develop good leadership and the bond with your pet. Pets crave human touch and company so a daily belly rub, brush, walk, and games with your pets are a must, regardless of how much tech you have in your life.”