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Technology is now available that allows remote monitoring of pets, and this can be an important resource when considering virtual care. The most common forms of remote monitoring are wearable collars, but other options for remote monitoring include glucometers, blood pressure devices, Holter monitors, and even sensors that can allow auscultation and other features.

Wearable collars with sensors are the most common form of remote monitoring. These collars can typically measure position (lying, sitting, standing), activity, pulse, respiration, and even heart rate variability. The measurements are generally collected continuously and in real time. For many of the devices, the veterinary healthcare team can access the information any time of the day or night through a cloud‐based server.

There are many reasons why practices would choose to monitor pets remotely. For pets with existing medical issues, especially chronic problems, wearables allow measurements to be taken continuously and analyzed in real time. For certain devices, systems can be set up to send alerts when specific thresholds are exceeded. This can alert the pet owner and the veterinary team when action is required, including bringing the pet in for a visit or taking it to an emergency facility.

One of the most useful features of wearable collars is that they can allow the team to determine actual resting heart and respiration rates for pets, which may be difficult if not impossible to collect during office visits. Many pets are anxious or stressed during visits to a veterinary hospital, and heart and respiratory rates taken during those visits may be significantly altered. However, in the comfort of a pet's own home, such measurements are much more likely to be indicative of actual resting rates. It might also be possible to use wearables to infer relative stress levels in pets in different circumstances, including shelters and other environments.

Another important development in remote systems is continuous glucose monitoring, which is available for both dogs and cats. Glucometers are available that can be used to sample interstitial blood for glucose determinations, but it can be difficult to collect enough samples over time to approximate a glucose curve in pets on insulin therapy. Similar to the human devices, veterinary continuous glucose monitors have a sensor that is inserted under the skin to read blood glucose levels. A garment is typically used to cover the device so that it is not dislodged. In general, the devices sample the capillary fluid every five minutes or so, and once analyzed can provide a more complete picture of glucose status. Without such home testing, it would typically take hospitalization of the pet and sampling of the blood glucose every few hours to determine glucose peak and nadir. Older remote systems offered only retrospective analysis of the glucose concentrations after disconnecting the sensor and uploading the data. Newer systems measure and display glucose reading in real time, allowing direct intervention and altering insulin doses accordingly.

Remote monitoring can also play a key role in wellness care. With overweight and obese animals constituting a near‐epidemic in small animal practices, exercise is often recommended as part of the solution. Fitness wearables, in most cases accelerometers, can be used to track effectiveness of a prescribed regimen, and additional devices such as connected scales can be used to monitor weight at home between office visits. Wearable devices with accelerometers can also be used in rehabilitation after surgery or injury and can provide the veterinary healthcare team with real‐time data.

Expect that in the years ahead remote monitoring will become an even more important part of pet‐specific care, and clients will expect this option from veterinary teams.