A system for monitoring animal vitals can include a housing, a controller and one or more sensors for sensing vital signs. The housing can be configured to couple to one or more locations on an animal. A system can be adapted for monitoring two or more vital signs simultaneously and for conveying vital sign information to a user. A system can be adapted for alerting a user to the presence or absence of one or more conditions. A system can include a plurality of sensor units and can be adapted for monitoring a plurality of patients simultaneously.