Smart Collar Clinical Relevance
Expanded Reference

Monitoring Heart Failure Using Tracking Collars - What to Know

Published on: December 5, 2025

Reviewed on: December 5, 2025

Author: Dave Evans MA VetMB PgC(SADI) PgC(SAC) MRCVS

Recently we have seen a huge variety of tracking collars being released on the market for dogs and cats. They variously claim that they can track GPS position, activity, breathing rates, heart rates, drinking levels, itching levels, and sleep.

This all has huge potential benefit for our cardiac patients. It makes me very excited to see these options appearing. However, its going to take a while for information about which ones are great and which ones less effective.

So I'm hoping to keep this page roughly updated as information appears and new devices get developed

Clinical note: This summary emphasises published validation where available and practical clinical relevance for monitoring congestive heart failure (CHF). Most consumer devices are adjuncts for trend detection and should never replace diagnostic testing (echo, radiographs, ECG, Holters) or veterinary advice.

GPS note: Many collars are being developed now with GPS tracking ability. However this relies extensively on local phone/data signal stregth, satellite connections, and comes with big battery drains. If you want a collar for this purpose and not health tracking then you are probably better looking at other reviews and make sure they are checking compatibility with where you live.
For example, it appears that the Invoxia collar doesn't work well in the UK yet.

Master Summary

Interpretation key: RR = respiratory rate; HR = heart rate; HRV = heart rate variability. "Validated" means at least one published peer-reviewed or conference validation that compares the device metric to a ground-truth (manual count, ECG, or equivalent) - note that many validations are done in healthy or controlled cohorts rather than in sick/cardic patients.

Device	RR	HR	HRV	Validated?	Best Use Case	CHF Monitoring Score*
Maven Smart Collar	✔️ accelerometer (published RR validation)	✔️ optical / PPG (publication pending)	✖️	✔️ (RR validation 2024)	Daily SRR trends; early relapse detection	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Invoxia BioTracker	✔️ Large dataset. Uses radar sensors + seismocardiography (tiny vibrations)	✔️ seismocardiography (tiny vibrations)	✔️ (reported)	✔️ (large cohort dataset; limited gold-standard comparison)	Research, population baselines, long-term trending	⭐⭐⭐
PetPace	✔️ (acoustic / accelerometer)	✔️ (acoustic / accelerometer)	✔️	Partial - some in-clinic / company-backed validation	Multi-parameter wellbeing and trend context	⭐⭐⭐
Whistle	✖️	✖️	✖️	Behavior-only validation	Activity & behaviour (scratch/lick)	⭐
Tractive	✖️	✖️	✖️	No published physiologic validation	GPS + activity; lost-dog prevention	⭐
FitBark	✖️	✖️	✖️	Activity validation only	Rehab, weight, owner engagement	⭐
Kippy	✖️	✖️	✖️	Activity validation only	GPS + activity; lost-dog prevention	⭐
PitPat	✖️	✖️	✖️	Activity validation only	GPS + activity; lost-dog prevention	⭐
PawFit	✖️	✖️	✖️	Activity validation only	GPS + activity; lost-dog prevention	⭐

*CHF Monitoring Score: clinician-oriented heuristic (⭐ = low relevance; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ = high clinical relevance for CHF trend monitoring). This is a qualitative guide - always interpret device output in clinical context.

1. Maven Smart Collar

Category	Details
Measurements	Resting respiratory rate (RR) accelerometer based, resting heart rate (optical/PPG based), activity, sleep/restlessness, posture.
Cat Friendly?	Yes.Marketed and designed for use in cats (and dogs). Customer reviews specifically mention success with cats for RR, HR, and sleep monitoring.
Validation Status	Peer-reviewed resting RR validation study (published 2024) demonstrating small bias vs manual visual counting in apparently healthy dogs.
Study Summary	Shows strong agreement for resting RR under home/rest conditions; HR reported is algorithmic (not ECG). Study context: healthy dogs or controlled home conditions; disease cohorts underrepresented.
Strengths	Best current consumer validation specifically for RR (clinically the most relevant metric for CHF). User-friendly app and visual trend reports. Good for daily automated trend detection and alerting.
Limitations	No published validation in dogs with active cardiac or respiratory disease (CHF cohorts). Heart rate is optically measured ie pulse based (not ECG-derived) and should be interpreted cautiously. Accuracy depends on collar fit/placement and quiet/resting conditions.
Clinical Relevance	High - most useful for resting RR trend monitoring in dogs at risk of CHF or post-CHF where relapse detection matters.
Best Use Case	Daily SRR trend surveillance in dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease or prior CHF episode; owner engagement and early-warning monitoring.

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2. Invoxia BioTracker (AI-Collar)

Category	Details
Measurements	Resting heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), HRV (reported), Uses radar sensors + seismocardiography (tiny vibrations). Activity, sleep, GPS (depending on model).
Cat Friendly?	No/Uncertain. The primary product is marketed and validated for dogs. Its physical size and weight may make it unsuitable for most cats.
Validation Status	Large real-world cohort study (~700 dogs) establishing baseline HR/RR values across breeds, ages and contexts. Publication focuses on population baselines and feasibility; limited gold-standard (ECG/capnography) comparative validation published.
Study Summary	Provides extensive population-level baseline data and demonstrates feasibility of long-term passive monitoring in home environments; useful for interpreting what 'normal' means across breeds/ages.
Strengths	Large observational dataset - useful baseline references. Lightweight and easily attached; good for long-term studies. HRV reporting offers research potential.
Limitations	No direct peer-reviewed gold-standard validation (ECG/clinical comparison) specifically in cardiac disease cohorts. HRV interpretation in dogs remains experimental - clinical utility uncertain. Proprietary algorithms; potential for bias in algorithmic outputs.
Clinical Relevance	Moderate - potentially valuable for trend and population-context interpretation; less certain for direct CHF decision-making until disease-specific validation exists.
Best Use Case	Long-term observation, research projects, establishing individual baselines and population comparisons.

3. PetPace Smart Collar

Category	Details
Measurements	Heart rate (acoustic/accelerometer based), respiratory rate (acoustic/accelerometer inference), HRV, temperature estimates, posture/position, activity, sleep quality.
Cat Friendly?	Yes. Marketed for both dogs and cats. Used in research for welfare and sleep in both species. Check weight/size for very small cats.
Validation Status	Various applied studies and company-supported work. Some in-clinic comparisons report close pulse agreement vs ECG/SpO₂ under controlled resting conditions; research use in sleep and welfare studies exists. Independent clinical trials in disease cohorts are limited.
Study Summary	Evidence suggests reasonable accuracy for pulse in calm conditions; used in research on behaviour and sleep. Case reports exist for use in cardiac patients, but robust trials in CHF populations are sparse.
Strengths	Multi-sensor approach yields contextual data (HR, RR, activity, posture). Used in academic studies for sleep and welfare.
Limitations	Optical HR can be unreliable with motion, thick fur or poor fit. Accuracy degrades outside resting conditions. Subscription costs and device bulk can be practical issues for some owners.
Clinical Relevance	Moderate — useful adjunct for multi-parameter trend detection but interpret cautiously for cardiac disease.
Best Use Case	Longitudinal wellbeing monitoring; where multi-metric context (activity + position + HR/RR) adds value.

4. Whistle (Go / Health)

Category	Details
Measurements	Activity, sleep patterns, scratch/lick detection, location (GPS models).
Cat Friendly?	Uncertain/Limited. Primarily designed for dogs. Some models may be used for large cats for GPS/Activity, but typically lack safety features like breakaway collars.
Validation Status	Behavioural algorithm validation (e.g., scratching/licking vs video annotation) in some studies. No HR or RR physiological validation.
Strengths	Good activity and behaviour detection; widely used and affordable; useful for dermatologic/behavioural monitoring.
Limitations	Does not measure HR or RR - limited direct value for CHF monitoring.
Clinical Relevance	Low for cardiac monitoring; useful for context and behaviour tracking.
Best Use Case	Dermatology, general activity/sleep context, behaviour alerts.

5. Tractive GPS / Tractive Health

Category	Details
Measurements	GPS location, activity, basic sleep summary (depending on firmware/feature set).
Cat Friendly?	Yes (GPS/Activity only). The CAT Mini is lightweight and comes with a safety release collar, but currently focuses on GPS/Activity tracking, not physiological RR/HR monitoring.
Validation Status	No published physiological validation for HR/RR. Product documentation shows health features but independent clinical validation is absent.
Strengths	Excellent GPS and location features; good owner engagement for exercise tracking and lost-dog prevention.
Limitations	Not designed or validated for physiological monitoring of heart or respiratory function. Any HR/RR-like claims should be treated cautiously.
Clinical Relevance	Very low for CHF physiologic monitoring. Useful for activity/exercise context only.
Best Use Case	Location/GPS + general activity monitoring; owners interested primarily in safety and exercise tracking.

6. FitBark (and Fitbit-style integrations)

Category	Details
Measurements	Accelerometry-based activity, sleep duration, restlessness; step-like metrics.
Cat Friendly?	Yes. The lightweight form factor is suitable for cats for activity and sleep tracking.
Validation Status	Activity tracking comparable to human Fitbit accelerometers in some multi-species studies. No cardiac/respiratory validation.
Strengths	Lightweight, long battery life, simple datasets for activity and sleep; useful for weight management and rehabilitation tracking.
Limitations	No HR or RR data; activity signals are coarse and easily confounded by household routines or changes in owner behaviour.
Clinical Relevance	Very low for direct CHF monitoring; can provide contextual information regarding activity trends.
Best Use Case	Weight management, rehab monitoring, owner engagement programs.

7. Kippy

Category	Details
Measurements	GPS location. Accelerometry-based steps, sleep, distance, rest, sleep.
Cat Friendly?	Yes
Validation Status	No cardiac/respiratory validation.

8. PitPat

Category	Details
Measurements	Activity (Walking, runnings, playing, resting, calories.
Cat Friendly?	No
Validation Status	No cardiac/respiratory validation.

9. Pawfit

Category	Details
Measurements	GPS Location, Activity (steps, calories, distance, active time), basic sleep.
Cat Friendly?	Yes, includes safety collar
Validation Status	No cardiac/respiratory validation.

Practical Takeaways

Key points when interpreting recommending collars (for veterinarians):

Look at trends, not absolute numbers. Collars are most useful for showing direction of change over days/weeks. They get lots of data, this then needs sensible interpretation and filtering out the 'noise'.
SRR remains the single most useful owner-generated metric. The SRR has been proven time and again to be the best thing to monitor to gauge onset of CHF and effectiveness of diuresis. Devices that offer validated SRR are the most clinically relevant. Meanwhile mean heart rate is also useful but so far only reliably detected using an ambulatory ECG. It is unlikely to be accurately measured on a collar mounted device.
Limitations: validation in healthy dogs does not translate to validation in cardiac disease. Collars are adjuncts only. Studies may be coming but so far we only have anecdotal evidence for their use.
For high-risk or arrhythmic patients, medical-grade monitoring (ECG/Holter, clinic belt monitors) remains necessary. These devices only only detect heart movement, not the actual electrical activity in the heart. So an arrhythmia can't be detected reliably.
When recommending devices to owners, include clear user guidance: consistent placement, baseline period (1-2 weeks), and when to call a vet.