AI Helps Cat Owners In Japan Detect Pet Health

JAKARTA - In the midst of an aging population and declining birth rates, pets such as cats have taken an important role in many households in Japan. With growing awareness of the health and well-being of pets, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is starting to be used to help cat owners monitor the health conditions of their pets.

AI-based smartphone apps like CatsMe! offer innovative solutions to detect signs of pain in cats, reduce the need for visits to veterinarians, and provide peace for owners who want to ensure the well-being of their signing friends.

Japan's Pet Food Association estimates there were nearly 16 million cat and pet dogs in the country last year, more than the number of children under 15.

Professor Nilon University and head of Nilon University Animal Medical Center, Kazuya Edamura, 49, used 'CatsMe!', an AI-based smartphone application developed jointly by technology startup Carelogy and researchers at Nilon University. The app claims to know when cats feel pain, during an examination of a cat at a medical center in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan, June 11, 2024.

Startup technology Carelogy and researchers at Nilon University developed CatsMe! by training it on 6,000 cat images, and the app has been used by more than 230,000 subscribers since its launch last year. Developers say its level of accuracy is more than 95% and expects that rate to increase as AI is trained on more cat faces.

Professor Nilon University, Kazuya Edamura, said that veterinarians like himself can know to some extent whether an animal feels pain or not, but this task is more difficult for the owner.

"Our statistic shows that more than 70% of old cats have rot or pain, but only 2% of them actually go to the hospital," said Edamura. "So, rather than the final diagnosis, we use (applications) as a tool to make the owner aware whether the situation is normal or not."

Kitakata and Chi live in an apartment in the center of Tokyo with a perfect napping bed near the balcony window facing the five-story Sakura tree below it. He monitors Chi toilet activity and uses the app to read his face every day.

Kitakata has owned cats since the mid-20s, including Soran, a brown-rolled male cat who died about six years ago from cancer at the age of eight.

"If I realized it, maybe we could do cancer treatment early or something and it would help, but even veterinarians didn't know," he said, with tears in his eyes. "I might be able to save him."