I've been a fan of Petcube tech in the past, including a compact pet cam and their excellently designed smart fountain, but now the company is switching its focus to a complete app experience. The Petcube app will retain its name but, starting this March, will get a host of new features to serve as a pet health and activity hub, complete with an AI assistant.
I've seen both AI and health tracking in new pet apps this year, but this Petcube hub is one of the easiest to get started without needing a collar, feeding station or other accoutrements. It allows pet owners to create a profile and input information on walks, food, medical records, treatments and any other key moments. That's just the beginning.
Once you have a profile created, you can start logging information and run a checkup. Checkup options are very thorough, covering food, activity, dental health, urination, coat health and more. So far, all these features are free, making this a useful option if you want to start tracking pet health without paying anything.
Petcube's app is free for keeping tabs on pet health but the AI and vet chats will cost you $100 a year.
The check-in choices are basic and often limited -- there's an option for your pet eating twice a day or free feeding, but no option for three times a day, for example -- but they can serve to throw up any big red flags. The feature where you send a photo of your pet's profile for automatic analysis of weight gain is particularly cool.
If you have an existing device like a Petcube cam, the app will still work with the cam and provide the same alerts, live views and info. Those smart alerts, by the way, are fun if you want to get random updates of pet behavior while at work (even if they aren't always accurate).
Petcube's app check-ins are a great starting place to get a baseline of your pet's health, especially if you do them every few months.Â
That's what you get for free. Add in a subscription for an annual $100, and your pet care options multiply. You can get smart alerts from Petcube cams that attempt to describe what your pet is doing, as well as access to that AI assistant or a chat with a real person.
I tried a few basic scenarios for the AI and found it helpful to get some quick advice. I'm not sure what chatbot powers the assistant behind the scenes, but it's nearly the same summaries you would get from typing issues or symptoms into ChatGPT, albeit with more direct knowledge about your pet from the app. This certainly saves time, but the connection to a vet-assist chat is probably more helpful if you have any direct concerns.
I asked the AI some test questions about pet health, and the answers are very similar to other chatbot summaries.
Health profiles and AI analysis are coming to pet tech everywhere this year. So far, Petcube's comprehensive app is one of the easiest to start using if you're a pet owner who wants to take your pet's health more seriously -- especially if you're willing and able to pay a subscription for on-demand advice. I expect this to become an even more competitive field in the future, but if you're new to digital pet care, this app is a good way to explore and establish healthy check-in habits.