Hill’s Expands into Wearable Pet Technology

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Press Release Source: Hill’s Pet Nutrition

Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. has acquired the technology and related assets of the Vetrax wearable sensor technology from its developer AgLogica Holdings, Inc. (“AGL”). Vetrax is a robust monitoring tool and information platform that incorporates state-of-the-art sensor technology and data-sharing capabilities with sophisticated and proprietary dog-behavior algorithms. For the past three years, Hill’s and AGL have been in a strategic alliance to further develop and optimize the technology, working with select veterinary clinics across the U.S., the company stated.

“Vetrax is already helping veterinarians and pet parents to provide enhanced care for dogs with a variety of conditions, but this is just the beginning,” said Jesper Nordengaard, vice president and general manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition. “We believe the technology has the potential to further transform veterinary care for dogs and, in time, for cats, too. This is the perfect conclusion to the exploratory work that we have done with AGL over the last few years.”

In a recent online survey of 94 veterinary clinicians who had used Vetrax on patients, 83 percent were “very satisfied” or “satisfied.” Eighty-eight percent said they had found it most helpful in cases of allergy flare ups or other dermatological conditions. Respondents also found it valuable for observing overweight and diabetic dogs as well as to help dogs with poor mobility and other conditions. High levels of pet parent satisfaction were also reported by the clinicians. Perhaps most telling, 85 percent of these clinicians stated they would recommend the Vetrax technology to a colleague.

“The Vetrax technology is a fantastic tool to evaluate the performance of our therapeutic and wellness foods and to support clinical studies,” said Dave Baloga, vice president of Science & Technology at Hill’s. “We are tremendously excited about the possibilities that this technology offers us to help develop and validate future products.”

“At Hill’s our mission is to enrich and lengthen the special relationship between people and their pets,” added David Scharf, vice president of Global Marketing and Innovation at Hills. “While wearable technology for pets continues to advance, we believe that the value of the data Vetrax is already providing and the rapid pace of development will help us deliver on our mission in the years ahead.”