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Pets are an important part of our families, and they live in our home with us. As smart home devices and home automation become more popular, our pets are starting to benefit from the technology, too. From robot vacuums with HEPA filters that can pick up pet hair to smart kitty litter boxes, there’s something for every pet.
If you want to use smart home devices to make communicating with and cleaning up after your pet even easier, there are some things you need to know. Understanding what products are on the market and what you can use them for is important. It will help you determine what you need and how to best get started with smart home products for pets.
What are Smart Pet Products?
You can use smart pet products for many different uses. They help you keep an eye on your pet when you’re not at home. They can enable communication with your pet or take care of your pet temporarily until you return. They can also keep your pet comfortable and create an oasis for them while they wait for you to come back.
If you are interested in seeing what these smart pet products can do for you, you’ve come to the right place. These products make it easy to set up schedules and do the daily pet chores with easy.
Included in smart pet products are things like robot vacuums, cameras, treat dispensers, litter boxes, feeders, aquarium cleaners, and more. Think about the fun you could have automating these devices. You can check in on your dog while you’re at work and give him a treat. You can make sure your cat’s litter box or your fish’s water is clean.
In addition to smart products that are tailored specifically to pets, you have the opportunity to create a smart home ecosystem with things like thermostats and lighting to ensure that your pet is safe and comfortable all the time. Use devices like this for the entire family so you can adjust the temperature as the weather changes or turn the light off in the living room so your dog can take a nap in peace.
The options are infinite. You can do anything you want with one product that suits your immediate need or build up a collection of tools that enable you to care for your pet and spoil them even more than they already are.
What Do You Want to Automate?
The things you want to automate will depend entirely on what kind of pet you have, what kind of cleanup they require, how you want them to be fed, and how you want to communicate with them while you’re away.
For instance, if you have a fish, you don’t need a smart kitty litter box. Alternatively, if you have a dog, you don’t need an aquarium cleaner. However, you may want a treat dispenser so you can reward your dog for good behavior while you’re away. You may also need a camera with a live feed and two-way audio so you can see and talk to your cat.
Also, consider how long your pet is alone and how often. If you go to work Monday through Friday and you sometimes have to stay late, ensure you have an automatic feeder, so your pet still gets her dinner on time.
Not only can you take care of your pet’s every need, but you can keep tabs on their coming and going and track them using GPS. With smart doggy doors, you get a notification every time your pet leaves and comes home. Attach an activity tracker to see their location at all times, and you’re all set to watch your pet roam the backyard or the neighborhood.
If your goal is to automate every aspect of your pet’s caretaking, also consider a robot vacuum designed for pet hair, thermostats, and smart lighting. This will enable you to clean up after your pet at the push of a button, adjust the indoor temperature, and make your pet more comfortable while at the same time, benefiting the humans who live in the house, too.
Smart Pet Cameras
With so many pet cameras available to you, you have no shortage of options to find the best smart pet camera for your pet. There are dozens of different smart cameras, and all of them have a different set of features.
For instance, the Petzi connects to Wi-Fi so you can check in on your pet from the app on your smartphone. It features two-way audio so you can hear or talk to your pet, and it contains a treat dispenser so you can reward them for good behavior. The Furbo is also a treat/cam combination device.
The PetCube camera also connects to Wi-Fi, and while it doesn’t have a treat dispenser, it does have a laser toy so you can play with your pet even when you’re not there. It has two-way audio and motion and sound detection so you can receive alerts when something is out of the ordinary.
If you have trouble choosing one, you can look into more information about the similarities and differences to make a better decision including the Furbo, Petzi, Pawbo, PetCube, and more.
Kitty Litter Boxes
While cleaning out your cat’s litter isn’t exactly rocket science, it’s not the most fun task either. A smart litter box can help automate this task. They can be more sanitary than cleaning by hand.
Some litter boxes are tightly closed to keep the dirty litter self-contained. Others have a leak-proof tray. With spacious interiors, alerts and indicators, and noiseless operations, you’re sure to find the perfect smart litter box for your cat or any other pet you want to litter box train, including the LRII, Cat Genie, Litter Robot, and more.
Pet Doors
There are many different types of smart pet doors available. Before smart pet doors, you could let your dog in and out, but you also risked other wild animals finding and using the door. Using a smart pet door means you can let your pets in and out without worrying about anything else getting in.
Some pet doors recognize and open for the key fob that you attach to your pet’s collar. Others you can program to lock and unlock during certain hours. Some can detect your dog’s microchip.
Being able to control your smart pet door means you can keep a better eye on your home’s temperature, keeping it comfortable. These smart pet doors have better insulation than regular pet doors.
Activity Trackers
Activity trackers for pets do just what a Fitbit or smartwatch does for you. It tracks your pet’s activity. You can use it when you walk them, when they play, or when they nap. They also work double duty by using GPS to help you find your dog if he’s lost.
Many pet activity trackers have Bluetooth capabilities, progress trackers, GPS, to-do lists to keep your pet sitter in the loop, and the ability to set goals to keep your pet healthy. There are many options including the Fitbark and the Whistle.
Treat Dispensers and Feeders
Treat dispensers are a fun way to play with and reward your pet when you’re not around. A lot of treat dispensers also have cameras and two-way audio so you can interact with your pet as you dispense treats.
Feeders are great because if you’re going to be away during mealtime or simply want to eliminate a chore from your long list of to-dos, you can use an automatic feeder to dispense your pet’s food.
Treat dispensers come highly recommended by dog trainers because they provide stimulation for active pets and are a great way to divert attention and keep them out of trouble, which is precisely what you want while you can’t be there to clean up their messes.
Other Smart Products Used for Pets
Speaking of cleaning up your pet’s messes, don’t forget that you can also use other smart home products for your pet, even if they aren’t made specifically for pets. Many robot vacuums clean up pet hair and can be programmed to a schedule that works for you.
While perhaps a niche market, fish are pets, too. There are fun robot aquarium cleaners that can help you clean your fish tank. It works on a variety of aquariums and will ensure that your tank is always clean.
There are countless smart home devices like thermostats, smart lighting, and personal assistants that can help make taking care of your pet easier as well as ensure that your home is more comfortable for everyone.
What Makes Sense for Your Home?
There are a lot of different smart products for pets, and you can customize them in any way you choose to make them work for you and your pet. Not every product will work for every pet, but you know your pet and your routine better than anyone.
Start small by getting something simple like a treat dispenser or work your way up to a comprehensive ecosystem with the ability to control not only when your pet eats, exercises, and goes outside but also the temperature and cleanliness of your house without lifting a finger.
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