Sure Petcare to share how data can help pets and owners at CES

13th December 2018

We’ll be attending CES for the first time on 8-12 January 2019, showcasing our connected products whose data can help pet owners keep on top of their animal’s health and wellbeing. Our connected pet doors, activity and behaviour monitor for dogs and soon to be launched connected feeder will all be featured at CES on booth #42367.

Our connected products store data by days, weeks and months within an app, which can highlight when a pet’s behaviour changes, indicating signs of possible illness or distress. This is behaviour that ordinarily might go unnoticed due to an owner’s busy lifestyle and regular absence from their pets.

So what kind of data is useful to a pet owner? Ultimately, as pet owners, we want to make sure that our furry friends are happy and healthy, but we also have a desire to know what they get up to when we’re not around.

Knowing what your pet gets up to when you’re not with them

You will know your dog is active when you take him for a walk or throw a ball for him, but how do you know what he gets up to when he is on his own, with a pet sitter or at doggie day care? Animo, our activity and behaviour monitor for dogs, records when a dog is active during the day, so that you can monitor how much exercise your dog is getting. This can help determine if your dog is happy and healthy, and if your pet sitter is doing their job properly!

You may also be unaware of your dog’s activity at night-time. While you’re sleeping, is your dog sleeping too? Or might there be something keeping him awake at night? Animo’s nightly sleep quality score can tell you how well your dog has slept the previous night and the sleep scores can be viewed over time to identify if there are any changes in your dog’s sleeping patterns. If a dog has a low sleep score, this could mean that they are uncomfortable at night, cold or unwell, prompting you to take action.

Cat owners might wonder when and how often their pet goes in or out of the house. This can be difficult to keep track of even when you’re at home, especially if the cat flap is located in a room you don’t often frequent. The SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect and the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door Connect can give you this information, even when you’re out of the house. Data is displayed in the Sure Petcare app so that you can see exactly when your cat likes to go outside and graphs over time give an indication of changes in your pet’s behaviour, which could be a sign of stress or illness.

Knowing if your pet is happy

We all want our pets to be happy so that they can lead contented, healthy lives. But how do we know for sure that they are happy?

Barking can be a sign that a dog is unhappy. Animo can detect when a dog barks and alerts you if there is a significant increase in barking. Inactivity may also be a sign that a dog is bored, so if the data in Animo reveals a dog has been inactive for much of the day, you may need to find ways to provide extra enrichment, such as puzzle feeders or employing a dog walker. Exercise and play gives dogs much needed mental as well as physical stimulation.

Cats stick to a regular routine of exploring their territory in and out of the house and will usually enter or leave the cat flap at similar times each day. If this pattern of activity changes, it could be an indication that they are stressed. The presence of a new cat in the neighbourhood, building works or other loud noises can make a cat upset. The Microchip Cat Flap Connect can help you identify if their patterns of behaviour change, enabling you to investigate the cause and take action.

Knowing if your pet is healthy

A pet’s eating habits, activity levels and body condition are all indicators of a pet’s health, but when you have a busy lifestyle, it can be difficult to keep track of all these different elements.

A sudden increase or decrease in a cat’s food consumption are a concern. The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect, which will be available in early 2019, will be able to tell an owner how much their pet eats and how often their pet feeds from the bowl. The data provided in the Sure Petcare app will ensure an owner can keep on top of their pet’s feeding activity so that they can identify their pet’s normal feeding patterns and notice any changes that could be a sign of illness.

If a cat goes in and out of the house regularly, then they are managing to keep themselves active. If these activity levels drop, then you may need to encourage them to be more active by making your garden pet-friendly, providing plenty of toys or asking a pet sitter or friend to look in on your pet while you are out.

Animo allows daily activity goals to be set, which encourages dog owners to maintain a consistent level of exercise each day. Animo can also detect when a dog scratches and reveals when there are increased levels of this activity, which could be an indication of fleas, allergic reactions or skin conditions.