If you thought you couldn’t fit any more tech onto your body, you’re probably right. That’s why Tractive, an Austrian wearables company, isn’t wasting all its time on humanity. Instead, it’s devoted those resources to build out a line of wearable tech for pets. These aren’t just regular collars imbued with a GPS tracker, either.
The new Tractive Cat 6 Mini and Dog 6 XL are capable of much more. Yeah, GPS tracking is a thing if you’re keen to see where Snowball disappeared to in the night, but it’s accompanied by a bunch of health sensors. The ones that’ll track your pet’s heart and respiratory rate, as well as their calories burned.
Smart Tracker für Katzen und Hunde
The Cat 6 Mini is the sleeker of the two, obviously built for cats. That also means a smaller battery, which Tractive reckons will net about seven days of life before being sent to the USB-C charger for a time-out. The Dog 6 XL, meant for particularly large dogs (over 24kg), boasts a far more impressive six weeks.
Owners can set up virtual fences around their home for added protection. If a pet crosses the boundary, it’ll alert the owner’s smartphone. And if you’re tired of digging through the bushes to find your pet — let’s be honest, it’s probably a cat — the collar has LEDs and speakers built-in to help locate them.
The Dog 6 XL has a few more features to accommodate its added weight and price. That’d be the ability to detect when a canine’s scratching patterns drift too far from the norm. This might alert its owner to potential allergies, skin conditions, or even stress. Or perhaps it’s the dog’s way of letting you know this collar is not okay.
There’s a catch, of course. A pretty big one. Tractive’s more than happy to take your money — roughly R1,350 (€70) for the Cat 6 Mini and R1,500 (€80) for the Dog 6 XL — but there’s also a subscription fee tacked on… just because. The Basic Plan offers unlimited live tracking, virtual fences, and escape alerts. Or, you could opt for the Premium Plan, which includes all that plus worldwide coverage, family sharing, a year’s worth of location history, and the power to export GPS data. Pricing starts from around R1,700/year. Build from there.
