Cat tracker recommendations

[givemesteel]

I have two pedigree cats who are 5, and have to date been house cats. They are characteristic of their breed in that they have very little common sense and are not "street wise".

However, I am finding now the weather is nice it is increasingly difficult with two small children to keep them indoors as inevitably someone leaves a window/door open.

I am therefore wondering whether to try letting one of the cats out (the more sensible of the two) with a cat tracker on to see where she goes as the few times she's got out she tends to just be in our garden anyway. If that's all they did I'd be happy to just let them out whilst I was in the house as well.

I want to get the kind of tracker where you can see where they are on your phone screen, has anyone tried one and found they're accurate/worth the money?

In terms of where I live, I'm in the SE so phone reception is not a problem. My garden is too big to cat proof and husband is not willing to set up a cat run in the garden.

Thanks for any recommendations.

I was thinking of a tab cat for my not over bright Persian, who had been known to escape before. Ideally I'd love a GPS one but there is a monthly fee for them. Can't remember the name of it.

Could you use a harness and leash and take them out in the garden with that

And are they spayed/ neutered and microchipped?

Toddlertea I bought tabcats for them but the batteries don't seem to last long and it's a bit fiddly to use, plus I had to pretty much find the cat before it would pick up a signal so limited use! That's why I'm wondering whether the more expensive ones are worth it.

dementedpixie yes they're both neutered and microchipped. I do use leads out in the garden if we're out there but it's really just to see if they would just stay in the garden if I left them to it and if would just mean we could be more relaxed about windows and doors being open (in the day, I'd still not let them out at night).

Can you cat proof the garden? I wouldn’t use a tracker due to the risk associated with putting a collar on a cat.

wolfie unfortunately not, our garden is too big and it would cost several thousand pounds.

I'm not overly worried about the dangers of collars with my two as they're very ungainly so have never been big climbers. Although at the moment they do have easy release collars on so I guess it is a consideration but a gadget could be attached to them.

You can DIY but I would rather spend the money than risk a collar injury. It’s not just climbing. And they don’t always release. Someone on here created a catio. Worth a google.