Innovative Cat Monitoring: Accelerometry and Bluetooth Low Energy Tracking for Dynamic Location and Activity Assessment

Presenter

Tomas Nelson

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Steven D. Brewer, Department of Biology, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A59, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 3 (A41-A60) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Although indoor domestication offers longer, safer lives for cats, this lifestyle also increases unique health risks. There are external and internal factors associated with the epidemiology of domestic cats. External factors like amount of exercise, food intake and litter tray availability can be continuously measured to determine their impact on common health hazards such as feline obesity and feline urolgic syndrome. To monitor these external factors, I developed an indoor cat position and activity tracking system that is capable of tracking both the cat’s location within the indoor environment and its locomotor activity throughout the day. A Bluetooth tower system set up throughout the indoor environment collected location data and an accelerometer measured locomotor activity. Using data collected, I constructed a model of baseline daily feline behavior with a range of expected normal variation that can be used to detect changes due to health or environmental disturbance. Actions such as eating/drinking and elimination were tracked, which increased the number of measurable data points and improved the effectiveness of the behavior baseline at detecting changes. During the tracking period, the device effectively collected 24-hour data on the cat’s position and activity. The collected data showed little variation from week to week. Although this did not prove the cat to be in good health, it demonstrated a functional system and that the cat’s condition did not worsen. A system like this could be implemented by any indoor cat caretaker in order to easily monitor the long term health of their cat.

Keywords

Data Collection, Accelerometry, Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon, Feline Behavior

Research Area

Animal Behaviour

SIMILAR ABSTRACTS (BY KEYWORD)