New collar acts as health monitor for your pet

Device alerts you if your pet is not feeling well

ORLANDO, Fla. – It looks like a regular collar but it's not. It's called PetPace and is really a health monitor that can read your pet's vital signs.

"We know the dog is eating or drinking, sitting, standing, lying on its right or left side, we know everything they do. If any condition is developing it will send an alert to the owner in real time, it also informs the veterinarian," Veterinarian Dr. Asaf Dagan said.

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Lilly, an 18-month-old beagle mix, who is playful and has a lot of energy, gave the PetPace collar a try.

Here's how it works:

  • You put the collar on your pet's neck; it reads their vital signs
  • It sends that information to the base unit, which uploads to the Internet
  • That information compares your pet data against norms and its breed
  • There you can see Lilly's temperature, pulse rate, respiration and even calories


If there is a problem with your pet, the system automatically sends an alert to your phone.

"Pets hide their symptoms. By the time we know something is wrong, the disease is already in an advanced stage," Dagan said.

According to Dagan, roughly 30 percent of our pets suffer from what could be a serious medical condition without owners ever being aware of it.

John Kidd isn't quite sold on it for his dog Ellie.

"I spend a lot on my vet for my animals, and if I ever have an emergency of any kind and my dog's acting funny, I can take them right in," Kidd said. "I don't really understand it completely. Maybe if I did I would change my mind."

But Lilly's owner, Nicole Copare, saw the benefits after going for a run on a hot Saturday afternoon.

"When we got home, we were hot, she was hot, she plopped down and I thought, 'Oh no, we might have done too much.' I hopped online, looked at her statistics, and her body temperature was normal, and I felt at ease," she said.

In most cases, Dagan said time is of the essence.

"Sometimes even half an hour or an hour early detection can mean the difference in saving their lives," Dagan said.

Keep in mind the collar does not diagnose, nor does it replace seeing your veterinarian, but it is sophisticated enough to give you a heads up that something is wrong with your pet.

Copare said knowing Lilly is healthy is peace of mind.

"You honestly don't know until you take her to the vet every year," she said.

The collar costs a one-time fee of $150 and a $15 monthly monitoring fee.