Smart pet gadget lets you monitor cat’s water intake
Want to monitor how much your feline is drinking? Sure Petcare has announced its latest smart pet product – Felaqua Connect.
Designed in collaboration with leading veterinary behaviourists, it allows cat owners to keep track of their cats’ daily water intake via the Sure Petcare app.
Each cat at the property can be registered to Felaqua Connect via their microchip. It then integrates with the app to record the registered cat’s drinking behaviour such as which cat drank, what time it drank, and how much it drank. It also provides reports on the cat’s overall drinking patterns on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
With this information, cat owners can easily detect any changes in their cat’s drinking patterns. The app also sends reminder notifications to fill the reservoir of the system when the water is low, and water freshness reminders to encourage cleaning of the device.
The device has several cat-friendly features, including a wide, shallow bowl that mimics a natural puddle and presents water in a way that is supposed to be more appealing and easier to drink from than a conventional bowl. The bowl is also water repellent causing the water to bead – in the same way that water stands up on a newly polished car – making it reflect and glisten and be more attractive to cats.
The water is kept fresh in an air-tight, gravity-fed reservoir that releases water into the bowl as it is needed. What’s more, because the device is battery powered, there are no cables or any need for an electrical power source, so the device can be located in any part of the home to best meet the cat’s drinking needs.
Says Dr. Jon Bowen, a veterinary behaviourist who was involved in the design and development of the product:
“Felaqua Connect provides a window into your cat’s health and reaffirms the importance of hydration as a health indicator. A change in water consumption is the most concerning health indicator in middle-aged and senior cats. Fluctuations in intake can be a sign of illnesses such as diabetes or kidney disease, and the sooner we intervene the better the outcome. Proper hydration is essential to maintain a cat’s health.”
In a recent survey, Sure Petcare found that 65 percent of cat owners didn’t know that kidney disease is the most common cause of death in cats of five years of age or older. Only 3.4 percent of cat owners recognised all of the main signs of dehydration and over half of owners were not aware that an increase in thirst was a sign of dehydration.
Felaqua Connect is available from Sure Petcare’s website from £90 and leading pet suppliers later in the year. The Hub can also be purchased separately from the website.
