Whistle Health review: for anxious pet parents only

When it comes to my own health, I’m not a hypochondriac. But if we’re talking about Daisy, my 4.5-pound, 17-year-old Yorkie? Every sneeze, every meal she doesn’t finish, or any time she loses a fight that she started with our 18-pound cat — I’m convinced she’s embarking on her inevitable journey across the rainbow bridge. In 2020, I outfitted her with the Whistle Go, a fitness tracker for pets, to encourage her to walk at least 10 minutes a day. It did not go as I’d planned. Two years later, I haven’t learned my lesson. For the past two weeks, Daisy has been rocking the $44.95 Whistle Health on her collar.

The Whistle Health is, as the name suggests, a more health-focused tracker than the Go. It generates a wellness score, which gives me a big-picture view of Daisy’s health. I also got to see how frequently Daisy scratches, licks, eats, or drinks. Plus, it also tracks her sleep quality — not just the duration. Other helpful features include a food portion calculator, pet-related to-dos, and access to Whistle’s televet service. The last three weren’t options when I previously tested a Whistle tracker, and it was nice to consolidate my pet-related tasks within a single app.

Before I go any further, there are a few things you should know about Daisy. People have always been surprised by how old she is because she’s a spry lady prone to snootily huffing when things don’t go her way. She has, on multiple occasions, faked a limp to get out of a walk and pretended to be sick so I’d give her a little extra turkey. Her favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and doing things she’s not supposed to do. She’s basically running CatOS on Dog hardware.

But, in the two years since I tested the Go, that’s started to change. Daisy’s not as wily as she used to be. She’s starting to go bald in some areas. She has cataracts, and she sometimes slips when walking on hardwood floors. She stares at walls a lot more than she used to. At a recent checkup, our vet said that Daisy was showing signs of cognitive decline and suggested I focus on “maintaining her quality of life.” It was part of the reason I was interested in trying the Whistle Health in the first place. Maybe it’d give some insight into her health and help me figure out what was worth freaking out over and what was natural aging.

Design-wise, I appreciated that the Health is lightweight, thin, and small. Battery life was also strong. I’ve been testing this device for two weeks…