Cat GPS - Any Reviews?

[Hearthfloor]

Hi Everyone, we had a scare recently where our indoor cat escaped for 24 hours and thankfully came back in through a window. But now we’d like to look at GPS Trackers for Cats in case he escapes again or we decide to let him explore outdoors. There’s a lot available and we would really appreciate it if anyone had any advice on models that they have used? TIA, much appreciated

I would LOVE to track my outdoor cats-especially the wanderer, so I'm interested too! But I do worry about collars-they can be dangerous. And the trackers with decent range and battery are quite big....

I agree that’s our concern too as he’s not used to wearing a collar and the cats at my family home have always managed to get theirs off!

We have a Tractive and like it a lot.

It looks big but doesn't bother the cat, well not after the first time we put it on when he behaved like he was being murdered.

It's nice finding out his hangouts and quite how far he goes.

However he can now take a quick release collar off in under 10 minutes.

i was tempted as we have a wandering tom cat, but my daughter did point out that id probably become obsessed with the tracking and be constantly checking it and that wouldnt be good for my anxiety 😂

I tried one on my wandering tomcat. He showed his objection to my controlling behaviour by repeatedly taking off the collar in various locations so that I had to go and retrieve it. Eventually he had enough of that and dumped it in a puddle outside the backdoor so it stopped working. I have no idea how he kept getting it off. I suspect he is an evil genius.

We had a tractive a few years ago but we are relatively rural & it wasn't accurate at all. It was quite big & heavy but that may be different now. It's a shame they can't implant something (I know, batteries) as there is a real problem between quick release collars & clever cats!

I think the Tractive has got smaller.

We are also rural and it was v accurate.

Thank you for your advice, I can just imagine ours have the same reaction 😆 and he will probably accept the 10 minute release challenge

Oh yes we definitely intend to track his every move! We are curious as to where he went during the 24 escape but at the moment just grateful he came back! If we had a tracker it would have been a lot shorted ordeal

I love this! I suspect we are accommodating an evil genius as well. I think he would have great delight leaving it all over town and in the muckiest of puddles!

I was wondering why the microchips can’t have GPS since they have just been made a legal requirement for cats too - it would stop pet theft and heartbroken owners when they wander

Thanks for your review, I think we’re semi-rural so it is reassuring that it will be accurate. Also that they have gotten smaller as we’re not sure how he will take to a collar and then to add a bulky weight on too - I’m anticipating some objection! - but he is quite an accommodating cat in terms of handling and grooming so he might just pull a face

If I lived in a town I would use an air tag on their collar. Light, cheap &:interacts with all the local iPhones to provide the location. I don't think there are enough phones in the woods & fields near us though!
But yes, GPS needs batteries so not an option yet. Maybe we could attach solar panels to their ears? 😂

I did think about an Air Tag and whether that would work 🤔

I’ve used air tags for Finlay but found they aren’t accurate enough if he is nowhere near an apple device - we are quite rural too - so swapped to Tractive - he’s not 1 yet and quite a small cat but it doesn’t seem to bother him
Its very accurate, love seeing where he has been and how much sleep he’s had etc
downside is the more he’s out and about and the more often I check him the battery wears out quickly - they are very quick to charge so I either wait till he is having lap time and put it on or if I suspect he’s going to go out I just swap to air tag until it’s charged
In terms of losing collars - buy either a good quality release type where you have different settings on the catch - or go old fashioned elasticated flea collar type
photo shows air tag alongside empty Tractive case whilst it was on charge

Thank you so much for your review. I was worried even the mini tractive looked too bulky but seeing it on your gorgeous boy it looks a decent size. We would love to see our boys’ stats. He seems to cry a bit more since he came back so we might need to start letting him wander outside once we get a tractive.

I've thought about getting one for Haribo after he went missing (trapped) twice but I know where he is during the day. One of my neighbours grasses him up as he's been stealing her cat's food and another neighbour sends me videos of him being tormented by magpies. Other than that my cctv catches him shitting in my garden and sleeping in the greenhouse.

I'm not 100% sure about how GPS works but where would you attach the charger? 😂

😆 😆 I love this! Nowhere he would like I’m sure!

@Hearthfloor
just to give you an idea of the Tractive features:
It never fails to make me smile when I’m at work or out and about and it says Finn is home ‘power saving’

Thank you! I appreciate this, seeing our boy ‘power saving’ would amuse us too! We would ideally like to let him out because he was an outdoor cat for 7.5 years before he came to us but we want to make sure he can find his way home first

I love the cat TV 😆 I wish we had CCTV near here and then we might have found him sooner when he escaped. One of the cats at my family home made friends with the neighbours and ended up jumping in their car. I went looking for her, doing a door to door knocking, turned round and there she was in the windscreen! If she had tractive again it would’ve been much easier to find her!

My last cat wore her Tractive no problems and gave me much reassurance that I could find her. However new DCats will not keep them on!
So I have two trackers with subscription until next May if anyone is looking for one or two for £50 each!

One of mine wears a tractive (he got locked in a neighborhood house for 5 days) and the quick release collar lasted 20 minutes. He wears an elastic collar now, has done for ages. If it gets caught it has enough stretch to come off (and he's done that once in a while), but it doesn't come off often. It's quite loose on his neck