Whistle Health review: for anxious pet parents only

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I don't think I'm a hypochondriac when it comes to my own health. Daisy is my 4.5-pound, 17-year-oldYorkie. She sneezes, she doesn't finish her meal, she loses a fight, and I'm pretty sure she's on her way to the bridge. She was given the Whistle Go in 2020 to encourage her to walk at least 10 minutes a day. It didn't go as I wanted it to. I didn't learn my lesson two years later. Daisy has been wearing the Whistle Health on her collar for the last two weeks.

The Whistle Health is more focused on health than the Go. It gives me a big picture of Daisy's health. Daisy scratches, licks, eats, or drinks a lot. Her sleep quality is tracked as well. Food portion calculator, pet related to-dos, and access to Whistle's televet service are some of the helpful features. It was nice to consolidate my pet-related tasks within a single app after testing a Whistle tracker.

There are a few things you need to know about Daisy. She is a spry lady who is prone to huffing when things don't go her way. I would give her an extra turkey if she faked a limp to get out of a walk. She likes to eat, sleep, and do things she isn't supposed to do. She runs CatOS on dog hardware.

Since testing the Go, that has started to change. Daisy isn't as smart as she used to be. She is starting to lose her hair in some places. She can't walk on hardwood floors because of her vision issues. She looks at walls more often. Our vet suggested that I focus on maintaining Daisy's quality of life after he said that she was showing signs of cognitive decline. I wanted to try the Whistle Health because of that. I might be able to figure out what was worth fretting over and what was natural aging.

The Health is small and light. The battery life was good. I've been testing this device for two weeks and haven't had to charge it. It was easy to attach it to Daisy. She looked at me and said "not this again." The experience has been easier because it is smaller. She was too big and heavy for the Whistle Go and it was a big reason why her metrics were not as good as they could have been. The Whistle Health doesn't include gps tracking, which may be why it's smaller. If you have a dog that doesn't walk a lot, that's fine. If you have an active pupper, it's not as good.

Daisy sleeps 14 to 18 hours a day, according to the Whistle Health. The Health could tell when Daisy was patrolling. When I compared my sleep data to hers, I could see that we wake up at the same time each night because I have to help her get to her pee pad or save her from a corner. Nightlights aren't helping.

It was able to detect how much Daisy licks and scratches. When I was testing the Whistle Go, this wasn't the case. She licked anything she could find to be nervous. She licks herself now that she's senile. I think she doesn't remember how to scratch anymore.

When it came to drinking and eating, it was not as accurate. I keep track of how much Daisy eats in a spreadsheet because I am a helicopter dog mother. She eats each perfectly proportioned meal with joy even when she is not feeling well. She sometimes takes the cat's food as well. She has no teeth so it takes her a long time to clean her bowl. According to The Whistle Health, she only eats an average of 7.5 minutes per day. It sounds like it's not right to me.

Daisy drinks like a cactus. Most of her water comes from wet food. She drinks because she feels like antagonizing the cat by sullying the purity of his water fountain, or because she is on a long road trip. The Whistle Health says she drinks more than other dogs. Again, it's questionable.

Her daily activity was the worst. Daisy walked 8.6 miles earlier this week. This can't be done. She only wants to use her legs for transportation to her food bowl. She only does a few laps around the apartment, sniffing shoes and crying when she gets stuck behind the TV console. She walked between 3 and 4 miles a day. It's the equivalent of a stroll around a park. It takes a healthy person like me to walk 15 minutes and an hour. Daisy won't walk more than 50 feet outside. She usually goes in our apartment. It is around 25 feet. She would have to make about 800 laps to get to four miles.

This is an improvement over the numbers I received with the Whistle Go. She walked a mile in a minute. Daisy has not walked a mile in a long time.

I had a couple of complaints about Whistle Health. The tracker was not able to sync as often as it would have liked. It makes you less likely to use the app. The last thing I need is to wake up at 4AM with Daisy hovering over me and the light in my eyes. I wasn't able to see her metrics while away on a weekend because the device is only for wireless. Is it really that important? My anxiety would have appreciated any evidence that she was doing well.

The average pet owner doesn't need a device like this since they don't have to pay for it. If your dog has chronic health issues, this is helpful. Since you can text, chat, or video call a vet to see if you need to go for emergency care, this can be a handy alternative if you prefer to have your vet on speed dial.

This is more for me than she is. Daisy is nearing the end of her lifespan. That can't be changed by a device. I don't need data to know that. I should spend as much time with her as possible, instead of trying to figure out every supplement, food, or fitness tracker that will help her live longer. Daisy is the only thing I have left of my father. It is easier to lump all of this baggage into a tracker and app. Even if I know it's a placebo, it temporarily eases my anxiety.

Daisy did a dance when the tracker was taken off her.

Victoria Song is a photographer.

Every smart device has a set of terms and conditions that you have to agree to before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of them. We started counting the number of times you have to agree to use devices when we review them, since these are agreements most people can't negotiate.

If you want to use Whistle Health, you have to pair it with an Apple device. Permissions such as location, voice assistants, notifications, background app refresh, and cellular data are included in the phone's terms of service.

You agree to set up the Whistle Health.

There was a mandatory agreement and six optional permission.