Top tech for picks for pets and other animals

To celebrate World Animal Day, we thought we’d take some time out to look into what kind of technology there is for our animals. From scientific advancement, to wearable pet tech, to apps for our pets (yes, really) – there’s all sorts out there.

Have you ever wondered what your pets get up to when you leave them home alone? So have many others, that’s why they’ve been attaching collar-cams to their dogs and cats before coming home, sitting back and watching to see what happens. Not a lot, it turns out, but there’s something wonderful about watching our furry friends running around the house, snoozing and patrolling the rooms. It’s interesting to see how many pets cry for their owners too – heartbreakingly cute.

Three words: Fitbit for cows. Wait, stop laughing and come back, because this is a real thing. A startup called Cowlar is making wearable tech for cows, that will track them and could help farmers increase their milk yields. The product apparently uses motion sensors to track the cow’s activity and core temperature – and it relays this data to the cloud and then texts the farmer. This is good news for the cows too, because it will help farmers detect diseases.

Are you ready for your daily dose of ‘aww’? Bionic legs are giving our injured and disabled pets the ability to walk again. A bionic limb can allow our pets to walk normally, distributing their weight across the number of legs they’re supposed to have, making it so that they can run and play again, and live normal lives.

Imagine if your dogs could speak – they’d probably just demand bones, walks and tummy tickles. Services dogs, however, are being given the ability to speak, so that they can save lives. For example, diabetics can have dogs that recognise when they drift into a state of hypoglycemic unawareness. However, it can be hard for the dog to let anyone know. Melody Jackson, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech, has been fitting service dogs with computerised vests so that they can pull a lever in an emergency that will allow them to speak and let people know what the problem is – truly amazing.

And finally… Did you know that there are apps your pets can play with? Puppies can be a handful, but what if there was an app you could let your little one play with that would keep them out of trouble? Well, you’re in luck, because there are several. Simply open up the app, show your pup how it’s down and sit back and watch as they’re captivated and distracted – and quiet, ahh! Try Game for Dogs on the App Store.