IoT Pet Tech Solutions: the Future in Smart Technologies for Pets

The Internet of Things (IoT) has radically improved the way people live their lives and interact with one another. But it hasn’t only affected humans; the lives of pets have also improved. From animal health apps and tracking activity devices to monitoring cameras or even everyday toys - IoT pet technologies have opened new opportunities to boost the quality of pets’ lives.

As our team has rich expertise in developing software solutions for smart IoT devices for pets, it is very interesting for us to see how the pettech market is growing and changing. We do our best to monitor the changes in clients’ requirements for high-tech pet products and their expectations. In recent years we’ve been observing the gradual expansion of this market.

While in 2020, it was worth only $5.7 Bn, a newly released research report by Global Market Insights Inc has shown the size of the pet tech market is expected to cross $20 Bn by 2027.

And such an increase is quite understandable - there’s a high demand for smart technologies for pets. As a result, most market players are looking to invest in developing such innovative products. 

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the IoT industry in pet solution development, the opportunities it offers, as well as what kind of solutions Cogniteq can deliver in this field.

 The pet tech market is tremendous. And when it comes to taking care of their furry best friends, people tend to spend a lot of money.     

 Today, many startups that are planning to launch a solution for animals and their owners want to know what approaches and what development methods are used to create smart IoT devices for pets. As at Cogniteq, we work only on the software part of these solutions, we can provide recommendations related only to this aspect. However, for getting a highly reliable app, it is very useful for us to have access to devices, so that we can better understand their peculiarities, capacities, and functionality.

We’ve prepared a list of the most popular types of smart pet care devices. Maybe they will inspire you to create your own unique solution that has never existed or to enrich the already existing devices with some super innovative features.

• Monitors & interactive cameras

Pet monitors allow owners to keep an eye on their pets while they’re away from home. Also, you can talk to your pets, play with them, and even dispense threats in real-time. 

One of the most popular monitoring smart IoT devices for pets is PetCube. Being a virtual pet sitter, this gadget offers various interactions for you and your pet (you can even play laser games!)

• Smart feeders

When it comes to feeding your pets, you always have to be at home to do so. Luckily, with smart feeders, you can effortlessly schedule your pet’s meals. In addition, these IoT devices for pets are connected to your mobile device, which makes all the processes autonomous and easy.

The Petnet Smartfeeder is a great example of a smart gadget for pets. It connects to a smartphone, tablet, or laptop and allows pet owners to pre-schedule meals.

• Health & activity trackers

Animal health is what pet owners seek the most when it comes to smart technologies for pet industry. And in order to satisfy the owners’ needs, the IoT market has implemented solutions similar to human devices. Equipped with different sensors, they allow checking heart rate, respiration, temperature, as well as calories, and activity. However, the range of apps of this kind is not limited to software products for pets only. Such solutions can be intended even for big domestic animals like horses, cows, sheep, or other cattle.

Moreover, these pet technology products can be efficient not only for checking the health state of animals but also for increasing the efficiency of training for different sports competitions.

When it comes to the most popular and widely used apps for pet owners, FitBark or PitPat are on top of this list. They allow you to constantly monitor your pet’s health and activity.      

Smart pet technologies have taken the standard of pet living to a whole new level. The demand for pet tech solutions is constantly increasing. So it’s no surprise that startups and IT companies have broadened their ways to build in this industry providing software and smart IoT devices development services. Let’s take a glance at what IoT solutions have the biggest demand in the pet tech field. 

• Pet wearables 

Pet wearables are probably the trendiest IoT technology, with demand constantly growing. And along with revolutionary development and various marketing possibilities, the pet wearables market has the potential to become the most lucrative business. 

There are several categories of pet wearables, each providing exceptional solutions to the issues in pets’ lives.

1. Tracking (smart collars). Thanks to these collars and connected apps, users are able not only to track the real-time location of their pets but also to view the history of their routes, monitor everyday activity, etc.
2. Identification (smart tags). These tags are viewed as an innovative alternative to traditional pet ID tags. Such smart IoT devices for pets can ensure proper and safe identification of cats and dogs.
3. Medical diagnostics and treatment solutions for pets. These are special devices for the prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Smart wearables can monitor pets’ sleep hours, sleep quality, skin conditions, heart rate, and other vital parameters.
4. Behavior monitoring (bark collars). These devices help pets to understand what behavior should be avoided. For example, if we are talking about bark collars, these training devices identify this negative behavior and negatively reinforce it.
5. Facilitation (temperature scanners, veterinarian appointments). Thanks to these devices, pet owners have convenient tools to organize the comfortable and healthy lives of their cats and dogs. Wearable can send notifications to owners’ smart devices when some actions from their side are required.
6. Safety & Security (GPS collars). If your pet has such a collar, you can always see its location on your app. These devices efficiently help to find pets when they are lost or stolen.

• Connected pet products

Connected pet products include dog fences, toys, smart pet doors, and other goods that can facilitate the life of your pets. Such devices require only an Internet connection o provide the following solutions:

1. Entertainment - such interactive toys can help pets stay physically active, provide mental stimulation, and combine it with the rewards system. 
2. Protection - if you need your pets to stay in the safe zone, such IoT apps can develop a wireless fence or lock/unlock the smart door.  
3. Cleaning - there are lots of self-cleaning litter boxes that are equipped with sensors and electric motors. Powered by Wi-Fi, owners can use a mobile device to monitor the pet’s bathroom habits.

• Pet care platforms 

These mobile applications can connect to the veterinary service, various pet care services and provide health monitoring solutions, grooming, or even dog walking.

Also, pet care platforms offer video streaming technologies, offering communication between the pets and their owners.

Cogniteq plays a significant role in developing and delivering IoT applications, providing businesses with the most convenient solutions in the pet tech market. 

Very often, when we are discussing our potential cooperation with clients we hear questions on how to properly develop smart pet technology for certain animals.  And we should admit that there isn’t any universal answer. All cases should be approached individually. To make sure that our solution will bring the highest real value to its users, we always deeply study all the peculiarities of interaction with different pets and domestic animals. Yes, it is necessary to devote some time to research but this work always brings its fruits.

StepUp Horse IoT Ap

StepUp Horse is a really unique IoT solution. It was built for a client who developed an innovative device for horses. This solution is intended for monitoring the vital parameters of these animals during training. It lets horse trainers track real-time data via their smartwatches and get access to training history, statistics, data analysis on their smartphones.

What makes this product so special is the fact that it is the first IoT racehorses solution that provides the possibility to track breathing during training.

All in all, it works with 6 parameters. They are distance, training time, average speed, heart rate, breathing rate, and recovery time. Their tracking is possible thanks to special sensors in a wearable device placed around the horse's torso.

For convenient interaction with the app, users can create their personal accounts, add and delete horses indicating their important data, including breed, gender, and date of birth.

The app also stores a lot of information related to training conditions (temperature, weather, wind, and humidity) and zones where the training took place together with the time spent in each zone. 

It is important to note that this application also can update the firmware of wearables using the Nordic Semiconductor DFU library. 

The app is very rich in features and is able to take the efficiency of racehorse training to a completely new level. To read more about this project you can in our StepUp Horse case study.

Dog Tracker Nano

Dog Tracker Nano is a revolutionary IoT pet app created to make every dog owner’s life easier. This IoT app for smart dog collars is designed to track pet’s movements, record their walking activities, as well as share the dog’s live locations via email or SMS.

Our client’s idea was to combine the GPS system and a regular dog collar to create a device capable of monitoring the dog’s activity. Due to our experience in IoT app development, Cogniteq’s primary role was to increase the usability and functionality of the smart collar app to achieve the client’s business goal of increasing sales.

Cogniteq conducted detailed research to make the application interactive and innovative at the same time. Our mobile development team created an app that uses a small GPS tracking unit in the pet’s collar and can be used on both Android and iOS devices. Furthermore, the application allows your family members or friends to access it and monitor your pet’s activities. 

With the Dog Tracker Nano redesign, the application became more functional and easy to use:

• Where is my dog? - allows seeing the exact location of your furry friend in real-time

• Track a walk - you can see & record your pet’s daily activities 

• Geofence - keeps your dog in a safe permitted area

• Health & wellbeing - controls and improves your pet’s physical fitness

• Track several dogs at the same time

As a result, our client increased demand for GPS dog collars and got an incredible sales growth, while the users receive an application that combines the most important problem solutions: health & well-being of the dogs, their activity and walks, as well as the location of their pets. Dog Tracker Nano is now one of the most popular pet solution developments and is widely used among pet lovers.

The pet tech market is constantly evolving, and it’s no surprise that it will become the future of the IoT industry.

So if you’re working on a pet solution development, Cogniteq is ready to help you - we can advise, develop, analyze, as well as maintain the pet tech product for you. We offer full-cycle custom mobile app development services that include not only design and app building but also software testing, maintenance, and support. Our developers will work in close cooperation with your team to make sure that the solution functions correctly on your IoT devices and is compatible with all the hardware that is a part of the system.

Our main goal is to deliver a high-quality app that will have a valuable impact on your users. So don’t hesitate and contact us right now!