Published: 07 Sep 2018 | Last Updated: 10 Aug 2023 10:51:46

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has announced a 4-year collaboration with Felcana, an intelligent pet care start-up based in London, to support the continued research into pet traits and behaviours. This partnership will enable the two organisations to combine their expertise in a range of exciting pet wearable health projects and enhance the levels of data related to tracking pet behaviours, habits and activities. The initiative is intended to result in an improvement in the welfare of animals in the future.  

The collaboration will pool expertise at the RVC, along with the world-leading facilities of the Structure and Motion Laboratory, with the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence that Felcana has to offer. It is expected that the integration of these products and skills will help to predict, simplify and treat over 90% of health issues facing dogs and cats.

Felcana’s Digital Pet Health Platform uses a bespoke modelling process which revolutionises how owners monitor their dog and cat health. Through complex scientific algorithms, which can interpret a pet’s behavioural patterns such as drinking, eating and sleeping, owners are now able to track their pets needs through their smart phones. This technology is hoped to provide effective relief to conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes and kidney failure, at an earlier stage to minimise the pain for the animal.

Richard Piercy, Professor of Comparative Neuromuscular Disease at the RVC, said:

“We are very excited about this new collaboration with Felcana. We are confident that this new venture will improve prognoses made by vets in the future because pet owners will be more active in responding to changes in their pet's behaviours. The data will also aid vets in identifying health conditions earlier and will therefore should improve the welfare of animals altogether”.  

Monica Daley, Senior Lecturer in Locomotor Biomechanics at the RVC, said:

“This is an exciting opportunity to leverage our expertise in comparative animal biomechanics and behaviour to develop new algorithms to measure a pet’s activity and behaviour patterns over time. Such approaches have enormous potential to improve pet welfare, allowing owners and clinicians to make informed decisions about care and treatment.”

Dr. James Andrews, Founder and CEO of Felcana, said:

“Digital advancements in the pet care have been lagging behind those in human healthcare, vets are therefore often reliant the abilities of observant pet owners to spot subtle changes in behaviours and habits. This exciting collaboration is therefore essential to improving innovative veterinary technology that will lead to more accurate diagnoses.”

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact: Alex Cassells or Steven Gauge  Press Line: 0800 368 9520  

About the Royal Veterinary College

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London.
• The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
• It is currently the only veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC. In 2017, the RVC received a Gold award from the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) – the highest rating a university can receive. 
• A research-led institution, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the RVC maintained its position as the top HEFCE funded veterinary focused research institution. 
• The RVC ranked as the top vet school in the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science unit of the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with 55% of academics producing world-class and internationally excellent research.
• The RVC also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals; the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in central London, the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre), the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre located at the Hertfordshire campus. 

About Felcana

• Felcana combines state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, machine learning and veterinary expertise to help predict, simplify and treat over 90% of health issues for dogs and cats.
• Felcana’s Digital Pet Healthcare Platform, controlled via a mobile app, integrates robust data that tracks and monitors activity and behavioural patterns, helping owners understand what is ‘normal’ for their pet.
• Felcana, founded by veterinarians, has built a highly expert team of data scientists, engineers, designers, sales and marketers from Dyson, TomTom, Bain & Company, Imperial College and leading veterinary Schools
• Felcana has raised £445,000 of grant funding from Innovate UK as well as Angel and institutional investment
• In 2018, Felcana was recognised as a top 10 European Pet Technology Start-up www.felcana.com