As a pet owner, some of the worst news I have ever received is that my pet is unhealthy. Emotionally, it's painful to realize your pet has been unwell. It's often painful on the wallet, too, especially when you have to out major cash for emergency treatment at the vet.
A Switzerland-based startup aims to eliminate the dread of expensive late stage treatments and create a better, smarter product for monitoring your cat's health at CES 2026.
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AI-Tails is introducing a smart feeding and drinking station that incorporates AI technology, cameras and pattern recognition to analyze your cat's behaviors and expressions. Those signs are often subtle to the human eye and require expertise to interpret. The idea is to monitor your cat's well-being in real time.
As your pet comes to the feeder, which has one bowl for water and another for food, the system will accurately measure your cat's food and water consumption, temperature, and facial expressions to notice any deviations. The metrics are sent to a cloud platform or via the optional app to determine if your cat is healthy or needs attention.
I got to demo AI-Tails' smart feeding and drinking station at CES Unveiled, a media-only event held before the main show to preview new products from startups and major brands alike. During the demo, I donned a plastic cat mask (I selected a black cat mask from a pile that also included options for tabbies and calicos) and leaned toward the screen. After a few seconds, the alert told me I needed attention as it picked up some strange vitals and behaviors. Spot on, considering I am, in fact, human and not a purring, fluffy feline.
Angelica De Riggi, the creator of AI Tails, said the idea for the product stemmed from a personal loss after her own cat faced unexpected health issues. After her loss, she worked with Swiss researchers and experts to develop the data that powers the product.
"With AI, we have more ways to monitor health, especially we as humans monitor everything with smart watches, we track our steps," said De Riggi. "I think AI is also ready to do the same now for our pets, so they have the same health opportunities as we do."
For now, the smart feeding and drinking station is only available for cats. De Riggi said the company is working to develop a similar product for dogs in the next two years.
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