Long live Japanese cats, thanks to this AI-powered app

Pet owners can now prolong their cats' lives with this cat health app.

While veterinarians usually have a better understanding of a pet's health, for owners, it might be a rather difficult task. That's why technology startup Carelogy and researchers from Nihon University in Japan collaborated to create an app that allows pet owners to detect their cats' pain.

CatsMe! is an AI-powered app that helps indicate your cat's health. "You can see the cat's pain," reads the app, telling you if your cat feels unwell, even if its usual behavior has not changed much.

The app was launched in 2023 and already has 230,000 users. Its developers claim that the application is more than 95% accurate, and with more people joining the app and uploading more pictures of their pets, the accuracy should increase even more.

CatsMe! was developed by showing AI 6000 pictures of cats' facial expressions that showed pain. Once the owner shows the picture of their cat, the app can compare the photo with the already-seen images, explained Kazuya Edamura, veterinary professor and co-developer of CatsMe!

From a user's perspective, the app shows a calendar where pet owners can monitor their cats' health. If the cat is okay, the day is marked in green. If there is cause for concern, the app marks it in yellow. If this yellow marking continues for a while, the user can call a vet and make an appointment.

The Japan-based application already has users in 50 countries, notes Carelogy.