GPS cat trackers. Anyone used them?

[supermum87]

A bit of background. We rescued our cat yesterday. He had been missing for 9 days & I finally found him on a nearby building site down a 12 ft drainpipe the fire brigade had to get him out.

It was by pure chance that I went into that particular area and saw the pipe sticking out the ground. I couldn't see anything but as I walked away I heard his meow.

He has been known to disappear for at most a couple of days at a time.

Him been missing these 9 days was absolute hell. I was so worried for him, I'm sure you can all imagine. I don't want to go through that or Jim to go through it again so I am seriously considering getting one of those GPS trackers that attaches to his collar. Has/does anyone use one? What are the downfalls (bar the price)

Thanks

I'll watch this with interest as I'm getting one for my wandering boy - but am struggling to decide which.

(Sorry that's no help at all!)

Watching with interest as well. We nearly got one after our lovely tabby girl went missing for 2.5 weeks a couple of years ago. Trouble is she won't wear a collar - rips them off in a panic any time we try to put one on. If only someone would invent a GPS microchip...

So plased you found your little fellow! Down a drainpipe! He must have been so glad to see you!

Wow! Thank goodness you found him.

I got cat proofing for the garden after my cat went missing. (Apparently according to another thread it's quite controversial , but it solved out problem.

Loc8tor is the best money I've ever spent on my cats. Used it last weekend to find one 300m from our house, stuck 40ft up a tree. Radio tag on their collar, 100m range, up to 4 cats for one handset. Was £50 when I bought it 8 years ago.

Whydotheycall thanks! I've just looked into loc8tor and by far that looks the best option and by far the cheapest! Going to order one tonight.

Thanks again

ElegantDream please elaborate. How did you cat proof your garden?

I know I was so so lucky to find him. We live right next to a big amount of country roads & farms with various outbuildings, he could have been anywhere.

This is who we used

There are loads of options out there and you can totally DIY it using stuff from screw fix or B&Q. I can honestly say, I'm so happy we did it. My cat is allowed outside, but can't get lost or attacked or run over etc. No other cats have managed to get into the garden either!

ElegantDream I can understand why you did it and I think it's always a better options than keeping an indoor cat.

I am happy to let my boy out but I just want to keep him tracked. x

No problem - I only linked because you asked . I know it's not up everyone's street. My cat was attacked and went into hiding for a few days. It was a big vets bill when she came home!

I got a couple of GPS trackers but had to return them. They were quite bulky and when the collars came off (as they do) I lost one as the GPS kept changing its mind as to the location. Bit embarrassing having to search strangers gardens for the collar too, especially when it wasn't there. I found loc8tors better although again expensive as they kept losing them. Only issue with loc8tor is if they are behind something solid like a wall (or drainpipe!) it won't detect. Glad you found him, poor lad.

I use Loca8tors on my 2 boys. Not the same as a GPS, and you have to walk around the neighbourhood waving the receiver (credit card size) about.

It's got MCat out of some hairy situations, and if you give them Dreamies treat of choice when their collar bleeps, you can train them to come to you when their collar beeps. You can buy replacement tags as well, if they lose theirs'.

But please use a safety snap off collar, those elastic ones can cause the most horrific injuries, or death. MCat's got his off a couple of times, and I've always been able to find it with the receiver.

I think I paid £65 for mine, couple of years back.

Oh my God... garden cat-proofing has suddenly made sense of something that's been haunting me.

I'm house hunting and I just declined to offer on a perfectly nice house because the neighbours had what I now recognise as a (possibly home-made?) cat-proofing system over their garden. I was completely freaked out by it. To be fair, theirs wasn't nice soft netting, it was a bit of a bodge job of scratchy metal wire and mesh, and so looked fairly sinister.

I said in my feedback to the estate agent that it would be like living next door to Silence of the Lambs. Oh dear. Turns out they're probably a sweet elderly couple with an arthritic cat, not the Buffalo Bill Killer. Never assume, eh.

Ha! I never thought about that . At least my neighbours agreed with it and could explain what it is!

For an entertaining introduction to gps trackers and cats take a look on facebook Parsley Cat. A beautiful cat that lives in Oban and is a member of the SNP.

Pawtrax Halo wins' paws down' in my opinion.

I had the predecessor to the Halo which was admittedly a bit chunky & heavy but without it would never have found my boy when we moved house last year - he was a mile away in some trees & had to negotiate very heavy traffic to get there.

The halo is the latest model, much sleeker and lighter - was going to get one but cat & i are all settled in new quiet area without any traffic so don't need it now.

Customer Service was great (i usually facebook message the business owner & have never had to wait more than 40 mins for a reply) and guy was very helpful in calming down a fearful cat mum when i first let Jake out wit the collar on & settings weren't quite right.

Hope you find what you're looking for OP, think these are a wonderful invention to reduce the stress & worry of wondering where the little buggers have got to :)

I particularly loved being able to text Jake when I wanted to know where he was - the collar unit has a sim card & you send a code by text & get a google map link returned in real time - fab!

Anyone know why microchips can't be made trackable?

I wondered about that as well FoxesOnSocks, that would be the most elegant solition negating the need for collars altogether.

Nothing like that on the market yet from the research i did before buying my GPS collar.

Bibi - had a look at pawtrax and says they are out of stock. Looks good though.

There probably is the technology available now to have a microchip tracked but it's just not available. One day soon.

Thank you everyone for all your advice. Will update with which one we choose and let you know how we get on.

We have the Loc8tor but haven't found it much use. Vastly reduced range, and batteries run out very quickly. Replacement batteries are very hard to get hold of.

I too would love a GPS tracker which works off the microchip. I've just installed a cat flap which uses the microchip, which means the cats don't need to wear a collar to get in.

:( @ out of stock supermum87. I know the halo has been a while in the making and testing, probably a rush on orders now its finally out.

Send a facebook message & ask how long before more stock arrives, 'cat man' will at least let you know straightaway.

Looked at the locator (sorry, on phone, can't see who posted on that) but the range sounded limited & didn't even think about battery life, what a nightmare for you!