Pet tech at CES 2015

The Motorola Scout 5000 from Binatone is a connected dog collar for your canine family members.

Using the Hubble service for cellular connectivity, the Scout not only works as GPS tracker and geo-fencer, it can also stream 720p video from the in-built camera. Even more amazingly, it allows you to speak to your dog from a pair of speakers. "Sit Ubu, sit."

Is your pet one of the estimated 54 percent in America that are overweight or obese? Is it just all that fur?

Either way FitBark is an activity tracker for your pet. The app not only tracks your pet's fitness regime, it will even take a baseline health rating from the same breed so you can see how your furry friend compares.

FitBark has just released an API to enable third-party developers to integrate FitBark data into their respective mobile apps, so keep an eye on what comes next later this year.

The latest version of the Tagg pet tracker not only has GPS to help you keep an eye on your adorable scamp, you can even monitor your pet's exercise levels and the ambient temperature around them.

Later this year, Tagg will integrate with Alarm.com, so you can check in on Fido via a home wireless camera or even get alerted to the arrival of a pet sitter via your smartlock.

It can also work with cats, although Tagg recommend a harness rather than a collar for any pet under 10 pounds (4.5kg).

Petcube is essentially a baby monitor for your house-bound pets.

There's a wide-angle camera that can stream 720p video and a speaker so your pet can enjoy your soothing voice (or harsh admonishments, depending on what they're doing.)

But the killer feature for cat owners would be the integrated laser that you can control from the touch screen on your phone letting them chase around for something they can never catch -- it'll be like you never left for work.

Trackimo is a universal tracking device that offers worldwide service, but the company is set to have a pet-specific version launching in February or March for $100 (AU$125/£65).

They'll offer the first year of the service for free, after which they'll charge a monthly fee -- a small cost, we assume, for such peace of mind.

The awfully named StickR TrackR isn't custom built for pets, but could easily work as a collar attachment -- it's even small enough to be attached to the most recalcitrant of cats.

The TrackR app can then show you how close you are to your pet within a 100ft radius. Is the cat hiding under the bed? Of course it is.

Tractive have a range of dedicated pet trackers, including the original Tractive, the new look slimmer model Tractive 2 (both of which have GPS tracking) and Tractive Motion, an activity tracker that syncs over Bluetooth.

Tractive is in the US and Europe at the moment. The latest model costs $179/€149 and again, there's a monthly fee for the GPS based units.