The Future Of Pet Health Is Here: Fitness Tracking, Epidemiological Data & Longevity Drugs

After the hum of my alarm, I start every morning by checking my Oura ring app for my sleep and readiness scores. This data informs small decisions I make throughout my day, like opting for a yoga class over strength training or aiming to squeeze in a meditation before starting work. 

But I don't stop there. Once I analyze my own data, it's time to open the Fi app, which connects to the Fi Smart Dog Collar—a GPS-connected collar that doubles as a wellness tracker for my pup, Cleo. I'll scroll through her activity for the previous day to see if she hit her goal of 10,000 steps before checking her sleep data to confirm her night versus nap sleep breakdown (dogs only get 75% of their sleep at nighttime). 

If you don't own a pet, obsessively tracking your dog's health data might seem like an extraneous activity; Cleo won't be revving up her weightlifting routine or lowering her stress levels with box breathing anytime soon. 

Instead, I consider Cleo's data an opportunity to understand her current health status. Dogs can't tell us when something isn't right—but the data can. 

A drastic decrease in activity could reveal Cleo's feeling under the weather. A sudden increase in sleep throughout the day could be evidence she's not sleeping as well at night. By tracking Cleo's data, I gain a better understanding of the impact her daily routine has on her health.

After all, I want to live as long as possible with my dog by my side. And I'm not alone. 

Dramatic changes have occurred within the pet industry in the last three years: Boutique veterinary clinics focused on high-touch care1 have popped up in major cities, the assortment of pet health trackers expanded, and the pet health food and supplement market has blossomed. Yet the biggest evolution occurred in late 2023 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially gave the first round of approval to the Loyal, a longevity drug for dogs.

Pet ownership looks different than it did a decade ago. 

The modern pet parent wants the best care possible for their animals—and that means veterinary visits are no longer reserved for retroactive care. 

Boutique clinics are popping up around the United States, with companies like Bond Vet and Small Door Veterinary spearheading what they deem the "modern vet experience." 

Along with aesthetic offices, these companies have similar models to urgent care, including last-minute appointments and transparent pricing models (albeit still often more expensive than their competitors). 

Health records are stored online in easily accessible platforms for pet parents, and it's easy to see your animal's full care plan, including reminders for annual visits, vaccinations, and dental cleanings. 

Similar to their human counterparts, these boutique health services primarily exist in major metropolises. Small Door Veterinary and Bond Vet dominate the East Coast, offering services in cities like Boston, DC, and New York City. Modern Animal spearheads West Coast care with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, and more.

For those who can't access these modern clinics, there are also telehealth options, like Dutch. A membership breaks down to just $11 per month for unlimited pet visits and follow-ups, along with free prescription deliveries and a customized care plan. 

With so many pet food options currently available, it's hard to believe that people couldn't shop for premade dog food before the 1960s. Another decade passed before nutrition recommendations for dogs and cats were formalized by the National Research Council in the mid-'80s. 

Fast-forward to the present, and debates over pet food are as heated as ones over human food. Recent fads in the pet space include grain-free diets—which the Federal Drug and Food Administration (FDA) is investigating for its link to canine dilated cardiomyopathy2—and fortified formulas.

Industry analysis expects the fresh pet food industry to be the next big thing, growing from $587 million to $2.37 billion by 2031 thanks to leaders like Freshpet, JustFoodForDogs, Hill's Pet Nutrition, and NomNomNom. A similar spike is expected in the pet supplement space with the global market anticipated to grow to nearly $3.12 billion by 2030. What's more, many brands now offer specialized diets based on your pet's needs, such as Hill's Pet Urinary Care or Metabolic Mobility kibble.

Many well-being-obsessed folks consider wearables an essential part of optimizing their daily routine—so why would it be any different for our animals? 

The market for pet fitness trackers is growing rapidly, with brands like Fi Smart Dog Collar, Halo Smart Collar, FitBark GPS Dog Tracker, and Whistle Smart Devices providing easy ways to track your pet's data. 

Smart collars not only track basic health information—like daily movement and sleep—but also act as functional trackers to help keep an eye on your pet's movement. 

As we look toward the future and ways we can expand our pet's life span, it's clear that we're missing something essential: data. 

"There's just very little information out there about what normal aging looks like in dogs and cats," says Matt Kaeberlein, Ph.D., a biologist, biogerontologist, and co-founder of the Dog Aging Project. "To give an example of how little information is out there, there isn't even a geriatric specialty in veterinary school."

Without data, it's nearly impossible to make informed decisions about the best way to support our pet's longevity—and it's a gap Kaeberlein hoped to close when cofounding the Dog Aging Project in 2019.

Volunteers with the science project complete comprehensive surveys on health and diet for their animals. This is combined with medical records, frailty assessments, and biological samples collected by select primary care and specialty veterinarians. 

The long-term biological study uses this epidemiological or observational data to uncover interesting links between canines' lifestyle and their health. For example, the project published findings that suggest a positive correlation between once-daily feedings3 and better health.

As the project advances, Kaeberlein says the data requested is becoming more specific. For example, the first surveys asked about feeding times, while the newer ones have a far more detailed questionnaire that gets down to brand and food composition.

"You can go on the Internet and find people who are evangelical on one side and evangelical on the other side, and nobody actually has data to support their position," Kaeberlain summarizes. "We're hoping to provide some context."

You don't have to care about animals to care about pet longevity—and it all comes down to the science of how we age.

"Aging in dogs and cats is very similar to aging in people. We can learn a lot about the biological aging process in people from studying our companion animals, who age seven to 10 times faster than we do," Kaeberlein explains. "You can actually do those studies in a reasonable time frame." 

Initially, these similarities were used for the benefit of dogs and cats. We could take what works for humans and apply it to animals, like my dog taking trazodone for anxiety before a vet appointment. 

Now it's the other way around, or what Kaeberlein calls "reverse translation."

Comparative oncology is a prime example of this role reversal. As the name suggests, it compares cancer and developing cancer therapies in companion animals with humans, including a variety of pets like dogs, cats, horses, or rabbits. 

Of the animals studied so far, canines are the most promising. Unlike mice, dogs live in similar environments to humans with exposure to the same environmental factors. Canines also develop the same types of cancer4 as humans.

The National Cancer Institute (NIC) even has a dedicated integrated canine data commons to help with "exploring, analyzing, and understanding the biological relationships between human and canine cancers." 

One of the best examples of how comparative oncology helps humans with cancer is drug development, per the NIH. 

A longevity drug feels like a technology that's not likely to exist for at least another two decades, but for dogs, it's already a reality.

Early research on rapamycin in dogs shows promise for improved perceived behavior and health6. Currently, the Dog Aging Project is leading a clinical trial called TRIAD (Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs) to see if the medication can better heart health, improve mobility, prolong cognitive function, or increase life span.

Additionally, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine gave the first of three green lights for the conditional approval application of LOY-001, a longevity drug for dogs created by biotech company Loyal.

The approval came as part of the FDA's Expanded Conditional Approval7, an accelerated approval process for drugs that address unmet medical needs but require lengthy and difficult studies to prove effectiveness. 

While Loyal still needs to pass the Manufacturing and Safety sections of the approval process to receive conditional approval, this announcement shows the race for longevity drugs is officially on—but Kaeberlein isn't surprised.

Kaeberlein has a front-row seat to what's ahead for pet health in his role as co-director of the Dog Aging Project—which makes him the perfect person to speculate on the next big thing in the pet longevity space. Well, beyond longevity drugs.

My initial guess was biological age tests, which use epigenetic markers (often DNA methylation patterns) to estimate how quickly your body is aging. Consumers can already purchase these kits from three brands: Embark DNA test, myDNAge, and EpiPaws. Each test costs anywhere from $120 to $250.

Considering dogs' age differently by breed—smaller canines have a longer life span than larger ones—this information feels essential to pet owners who want to make informed decisions to improve their companion's health.

Kaeberlein's imagination goes further into the future. He envisions a world where dogs have microchips that act similarly to continuous glucose blood monitors for humans. These would report on important biomarkers to update you about pet health in real time. 

"I think the technology exists now for that," Kaeberlein confirms. "Will that ever be in the consumer market? It wouldn't shock me, especially as the tools for analysis get better."

As for a less sci-fi option, he points to something as simple as more cognition-focused games for dogs or a smartphone app that analyzes your pup's gait, which is a common indicator of disease.

Research is slowly proving that what works to modify biological age in dogs will also work to modify biological aging in humans. Unlocking a deeper understanding of pet longevity in the upcoming years will be essential to improving our own life span—and it'll also change the face of pet ownership for good. 

Right now Cleo's longevity routine is simple: walk, exercise, and rest. Within the next few years, I expect it to look a little bit different.