Every pet has
something to say
We built PetWhats because we believe the bond between you and your companion deserves to be understood — not guessed at. Here's how it all started.
It Started With a Tail Wag
A dog who seemed fine,
but wasn't
A few years ago, one of our co-founders noticed something strange. His Golden Retriever, Gus, had started sleeping more than usual. Nothing dramatic — just an extra nap here, a slower greeting at the door. The vet said Gus was physically healthy. “Maybe he's just getting older,” friends suggested.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Gus's tail wagged lower. His ears sat differently. The little signals were there — they just weren't obvious enough to name.
That experience planted a seed: what if there were a way to read those subtle signs? Not to replace a vet — never that. But to give pet parents a starting point. A nudge. A way to say, “Hey, you might want to pay attention to this.”
Gus turned out to be fine — a mild seasonal allergy that cleared up with treatment. But the question stuck with us: how many pets are quietly communicating things their humans simply can't decode?
We started talking to veterinarians, animal behaviorists, and — most importantly — hundreds of pet owners. Every single person had a story. The cat who hid for three days before the family realized she was stressed by a new neighbor's dog. The rescue pup whose “aggression” was actually fear that nobody had recognized. The rabbit whose stillness was mistaken for calm, when it was actually freeze-response anxiety.
The pattern was unmistakable: pet parents want desperately to understand their companions. They just need better tools.
Our Mission
Bridging the gap between
what pets feel and what we see
Pets experience rich emotional lives — joy, curiosity, anxiety, affection, playfulness, and everything in between. They're constantly telling us how they feel. The “language barrier” isn't theirs. It's ours. PetWhats exists to close that gap — to help you see what's always been there, just waiting to be understood.
The Science Behind It
Decades of animal behavior
research, in one tool
PetWhats isn't magic. It's the result of years of study, careful observation, and advanced video understanding — all grounded in real science.
Built on Research
Our approach draws from published studies in canine and feline behavior, veterinary ethology, and zoosemiotics — the scientific study of animal communication. Every signal we analyze — ear position, tail carriage, pupil dilation, vocal pitch patterns — has been studied and documented by researchers for decades.
Advanced Video Analysis
When you upload a video, our system examines each frame for dozens of behavioral markers simultaneously: posture, gait, facial muscle tension, eye movement, ear orientation, tail dynamics, and vocalization patterns. These markers are then cross-referenced against established behavioral profiles to identify your pet's emotional state.
Species-Specific Understanding
A wagging tail doesn't mean the same thing for every animal. Dogs communicate differently from cats, who communicate differently from rabbits. Our system accounts for species-specific behavioral norms — so a slow blink from your cat gets recognized for what it is: trust and contentment.
🧪 Every analysis includes a confidence score
We tell you how clear the signals were — because transparency matters as much as accuracy. If lighting or positioning makes a read uncertain, you'll know.
What We Believe
The principles that guide everything we build
Pets are family
Not property. Not accessories. Family members with their own emotional worlds, preferences, and needs. Every feature we build starts from this belief — your pet deserves the same care in understanding their feelings as any family member would.
Science over speculation
We don't guess. Every signal our system reads is backed by published behavioral research. When the science isn't conclusive, we say so — our confidence scores exist precisely because certainty isn't always possible, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.
Privacy is non-negotiable
Your pet videos are yours — period. We never share, sell, review, or repurpose them. They're encrypted end-to-end, processed only for your analysis, and deletable at any time with a single click. Your trust is worth more than any dataset.
Clarity over complexity
Understanding your pet shouldn't require a degree. We translate complex behavioral analysis into plain, warm language — the kind of explanation you'd get from a knowledgeable friend, not a textbook. If something can't be explained simply, we don't understand it well enough yet.
Every species matters
Dogs and cats are our starting point, not our endpoint. Rabbits, birds, and other companion animals have emotional lives just as rich — and they deserve the same level of understanding. We're committed to expanding our behavioral models to cover more species over time.
We're pet parents too
Everyone building PetWhats has a pet at home. We use the product on our own companions. When we build a feature or make a decision, we ask: would we trust this with our own dog? Our own cat? If the answer isn't an immediate yes, we go back to work.
Who We Are
A small team of pet lovers,
researchers, and engineers
We're not a faceless corporation. We're a compact, focused team spread across a few time zones, united by a shared obsession: making the invisible emotional lives of pets visible to the people who love them.
Our backgrounds span veterinary science, animal behavior research, software engineering, and product design. Some of us came from academia — behavioral ethology labs studying canine cognition and feline social structures. Others came from building consumer products that millions of people use. We found each other because we all had the same question: why isn't there a simple, trustworthy way to understand what our pets are feeling?
Now there is. And we're just getting started.
The Journey So Far
From a question to a community
The spark
A Golden Retriever named Gus, a mild allergy missed for weeks, and a question that wouldn't go away: how many pets are quietly telling us things we can't hear? Late-night conversations turned into research, which turned into sketches, which turned into the first prototype.
The spark
A Golden Retriever named Gus, a mild allergy missed for weeks, and a question that wouldn't go away: how many pets are quietly telling us things we can't hear? Late-night conversations turned into research, which turned into sketches, which turned into the first prototype.
Building the foundation
Months of collaboration with veterinarians and animal behaviorists. Hundreds of hours studying ethology papers. Early prototypes tested with real pet videos from friends, family, and a growing circle of early believers. Every incorrect result taught us something. Every correct one fueled us.
Building the foundation
Months of collaboration with veterinarians and animal behaviorists. Hundreds of hours studying ethology papers. Early prototypes tested with real pet videos from friends, family, and a growing circle of early believers. Every incorrect result taught us something. Every correct one fueled us.
PetWhats goes live
We opened the doors to pet parents everywhere. Free tier for everyone — because we believe understanding your pet's emotions shouldn't have a paywall. Dogs, cats, rabbits. Fifteen emotional states. Three result views: the scientific breakdown, the playful inner voice, and the practical care tips.
PetWhats goes live
We opened the doors to pet parents everywhere. Free tier for everyone — because we believe understanding your pet's emotions shouldn't have a paywall. Dogs, cats, rabbits. Fifteen emotional states. Three result views: the scientific breakdown, the playful inner voice, and the practical care tips.
Growing with our community
Every day, pet parents upload videos of their companions — a cat slow-blinking at the camera, a dog doing zoomies in the yard, a rabbit flopping contentedly on the carpet. Each one teaches us something. Each one makes our understanding sharper. This is just the beginning.
Growing with our community
Every day, pet parents upload videos of their companions — a cat slow-blinking at the camera, a dog doing zoomies in the yard, a rabbit flopping contentedly on the carpet. Each one teaches us something. Each one makes our understanding sharper. This is just the beginning.
Your pet has been talking to you
all along
Let us help you listen. Start with a free analysis — no commitment, no credit card.