A pet-monitoring system including at least one of a wearable component, base station and user device. The system utilizes data collected from each of these components as well as the state of any connections between the devices to: (i) make various determinations about the pet's health and environment; (ii) notify the user of substantial changes in the pet's health and environment; (iii) determine how to efficiently utilize communication, monitoring or interaction modules within the wearable component, base station and user device; and (iv) automate interactions with the pet using interaction modules within the wearable component, base station and user device.