According to the American Pet Products Association, the US pet owners spend approximately USD 60 billion a year on pets. As more distinctive usage applications are being created, the pet technology segment is booming. Wearable like WiFi-connected cameras are also available that enable pet owners to monitor their pets remotely. There is also an increasing number of wearable trackers, including Tagg, FitBark, and Whistle, which snugly track pets and let pet owners know that their pet is secure and sound. Some wearable record only physical activity, while others include tracking enabled by GPS. The average wearable device cost varies from USD 50 to USD 100 and is likely to have recurring software as a service fee for storing and viewing all the health data analytics of the pet.

It is obvious that the companies involved in this space are still a few years away from the pinnacle of the worldwide pet wearable sector, but it is a very exciting space that offers tremendous opportunities to improve the efficacy of veterinary care. It is compelling to see companies such as HealthePets seeking to incorporate their telemedicine solution with wearable devices in the global veterinary wearable devices market to capture essential health information, while offering a telecommunications medium to directly link a pet owner with their trusted veterinarian or expert to tackle any behavioral or wellness investigation.

Although there are certain limitations around the battery life of wearable devices, their beneficial potential in early capturing of severe illnesses is excessively prominent to be ignored. Innovative companies across the globe are anticipated to build an ecosystem in the coming years to ensure that all veterinary providers and customers concerned can monitor the general health of their animal or pet rapidly and efficiently while being well informed at any critical time.

Due to the growing popularity of GPS wearable devices for animals, the demand for GPS-based wearables is anticipated to record the largest CAGR of 13.6% from 2019 to 2025. Customer attention is anticipated to be attracted by the demand for two-way communication for pet monitoring systems, which emphasizes embedded equipment and software platforms provided by major veterinary wearable device manufacturers. These devices can play a crucial part in finding stolen or lost animals, also it can provide owners with updates about the location of their pets. As of now, many companies across the globe offer a broad range of trackers with a range of colors, shapes, sizes, and characteristics.

In 2018, the RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology segment represented the majority market share. RFID provides increased efficiency, transparency, reliability, and precision. RFID-based pet wearable devices are used in conjunction with sensors to monitor health-related parameters such as temperature, pulse, respiration, HRV (heart rate variability), positions, and calorie intake throughout the day continually and precisely.

Veterinary wearable devices provide copious health management benefits for animals/pets and is an emerging market that is rapidly gaining traction globally. Also, it is anticipated that various sensors for animal health management are being produced and are at various stages of commercialization. Most of the wearable device technologies in the market are for human use and with the growing demand for veterinary wearable devices, these innovative technologies are being considered for livestock development and welfare.

Medical diagnosis and wearables for therapy are gaining alarming acceptance and popularity among all applications of veterinary wearable devices market. The growth in pet health issues including obesity has resulted in the global implementation of wearables for health surveillance. The APOP (Association for Pet Obesity Prevention) has noted that the rate of obesity in pets has risen dramatically in the recent years. As per the reports of APOP, in the year 2018; 59% of the cats and 54% of the dogs in the US alone were overweight making this problem more critical, and thus making the pet wearable devices industry one of the fast-growing market segments.

While the global veterinary wearable devices industry is still in the primary phase, many major companies are creating feature-rich pet wearables and application alternatives. i4C Innovations, FitBark, PetPace LLC, Whistle Labs Inc., Tractive, and Garmin International Inc. are among the leading players on the market. These market players are developing fresh approaches including new product development, acquisitions, and working with device making and application development firms to more efficiently develop their product and capture greater market share.

The growth in veterinary wearable devices demand is fuelled by technological advancement in IT, especially in wireless area networks. Ground-breaking development of cost-effective wireless sensors, growth of smartphone market with pre-built digital maps and trending IoT technology is anticipated to boost the growth of veterinary wearable devices market across the globe.  

To conclude, veterinary wearable devices technology will surely be the next major revolution in application growth and smart device integration. Companies around the world look forward to developing various types of veterinary wearables that will not only empower pet owners with the utmost control over the overall activities of pets, but also smartly and effortlessly equip them with the best pet care.