Monitoring your pet’s health could be getting a little easier to do, according to an Associated Press report.

Two companies have developed smart collars for pets that incorporate the latest technology to assist owners in looking after their beloved friends health care.

PetPace, out of Burlington, Massachusetts, developed a collar that measures a dog’s vital signs and looks for irregularities that would indicate the animal is in some pain.  Owners can be alerted by phone, text or e-mail.

I4C Innovations Inc., from Chantilly, Virginia, also has a consumer version, called Voyce,  that will track similar information about your pet.  The company also has a Voyce Pro model for veterinarians to monitor pets after surgery or during a long-term illness.

Both companies’ devices are programmable to the specific illness of a pet.  They are designed for use on dogs and cats weighing 8 pounds or more.

PetPace introduced its medical collar three years ago and it has been tested on thousands of dogs.  The consumer version of the Voyce device was introduced this spring, and the professional version was released in July.

Emily Hartman, director of product management for I4C Innovations says the Voyce Pro version has been signed up for use in more than 100 animal hospitals so far.

The collars have some limitations, however.  The batteries can last from two days to eight weeks, depending on the volume of the data collected and forwarded.  The batteries take two hours to recharge and that will be time when the pet is not being monitored.

PetPace says battery usage was one of the reasons they decided to not include a GPS system in their collars.

The PetPace collar can be purchased at petpace.com, for, $150 with a $15 a month fee, and the Voyce can be obtained from voice.com, costing $200, with a $9.95 per month charge.