Because dogs and cats can’t wear Apple watches: New pet trackers take on AirTag

An AirTag with a suitable collar can tell you where your cat or dog is. Tractive’s new Cat 6 Mini and Dog 6 XL devices can do that, too, but they can tell you if your pet is stressed, fussy or breathing differently than usual, the company said Wednesday.

Your dog or cat can’t wear an Apple Watch. These collar-based trackers seem to be the next best thing.

“Since Tractive’s inception, we’ve helped pet parents know where their pets are,” said Michael Hurnaus, Tractive’s CEO and founder, in a press release. Now we help them understand how their pets are doing.

Attractive pet trackers: Cat 6 Mini and Dog 6 XL

Austrian company Tractive is known for its GPS devices for pets, which come with an iPhone app and work independently of Apple’s Find My network. The company’s two new devices, the Cat 6 Mini ($79) and the Dog 6 XL ($89), recently went on sale at Tractive.com and select retailers.

AirTags excels at answering questions like, “Where did I leave my keys?” or “Where did my dog ​​wander?” But Tractive builds trackers for living, breathing animals. The devices monitor health metrics around the clock and use AI to flag when something is amiss, even before your pet shows obvious symptoms.

“Pets can’t tell us what’s wrong, but their bodies can,” Hurnaus said. “With state-of-the-art sensors in every tracker, learning from millions of pets and AI-driven intelligence, we’re turning one of the world’s largest pet data platforms into clear and easy-to-use information.” and that pet parents can act sooner and take better care.”

Cat tracker gets more accurate tools

The Cat 6 Mini is Tractive’s biggest statement that the health of chickens is not helped by domestic technology. This device is attached to the collar instead of hidden, making it less restrictive on the cat’s neck. It comes in beige, black and purple and is built around the specific physiology of a cat – not just a dog tracker with a different icon on the app.

Perhaps the best tools for controlling heart rate and breathing rate are measured according to chicken basics. It is a meaningful difference. A cat’s resting heart rate is usually 140–220 bpm – about twice that of a dog. And Tractive trained its recognition algorithms on billions of anonymous data sets from real cats.

The device will reveal changes in vital signs that could indicate stress, illness, or discomfort, the kind of subtle warning your vet would like to have before the condition progresses.

And there are updated Territory maps where your cat spends time – favorite places, roaming patterns and changes in their behavior over time.

Cat 6 Mini:

• $79 – neck included
• Resting heart rate + respiratory rate monitoring
• Behavioral principles specific to the cat
• Location details with navigation options
• Available in beige, black, purple

The dog tracker is getting smarter and more durable

6 XL dog harness for larger breeds (55 pounds and up). It includes two improvements iPhone users will appreciate: battery life up to three times longer than the previous tracker. And a new scratch-monitoring system detects behavioral changes that may indicate illness, skin irritation, pain or stress.

The monitoring process continues for DOG 6 owners, too. This is a welcome move that reflects Apple’s approach to pushing software features to older devices. A long-lasting Adventure XL edition should be out this summer.

Dog 6 XL:

• $89 – for models 55 lbs+
• Battery up to 3x longer than Dog 6
• Behavioral change awareness
• Long-term reinforcement for active lifestyles
• Available in beige, black

What the app adds

Both apps work with the updated Tractive app which now includes a History Timeline (visual text of Safe Zone appointments, travel and location trends), a weekly health summary powered by AI in plain language, and an updated Health screen.

Think of a health summary like a weekly summary in Apple Health — minus your pet, and written by an AI that’s been mining months of behavioral data.

Registration is required – here’s what it costs

Basic Policy: $108/year or $144/2 years

The plan includes tracking, virtual fencing and escape warnings.

Premium Plan: $120/year, $168/2 years, or $300/5 years

The plan includes all the basic features as well as worldwide functionality, family sharing, 365-day location history and GPS tracking.

Both plans require hardware purchase. Sharing with family in Premium makes it easy to communicate with a spouse or pet sitter – the same way you would share a place in Find My, but with health information.

Important point

AirTag is a great way to find a lost pet. But Tractive is building something closer to a Fitbit-meets-stethoscope for pets – one that learns your pet’s core and tells you when something has changed.

And at $79 to $89 plus subscription, it’s not cheap. But for anyone who’s ever rushed a pet to the emergency vet for a condition that may have been going on for weeks, the sound of the voice makes a lot of sense.