GPS/Tracker for cats

New Home

Hi there,

I'm starting a new thread about this because the ones I found were quite old, hope that's ok.

I'd like to get a tracker for my cat, he came home with infected wounds the other day (quite clearly caused by a human), and I'd like to know where he goes when he's out and about. It would also make it much easier to find when he goes AWOL. On top of that, I'll be moving in the next few months, so I think it'll be a necessity at that stage.

The trackers/GPS I've seen on the net seem to be quite big for a cat, and I don't know how heavy and how reliable/accurate they'd be, some require a subscription, etc.

Does anyone have one? How are you finding them? Would it make more sense to wait another while to get one, until technology improves a bit more?

Thanks.

Sheepdish1

New Home wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm starting a new thread about this because the ones I found were quite old, hope that's ok.

I'd like to get a tracker for my cat, he came home with infected wounds the other day (quite clearly caused by a human), and I'd like to know where he goes when he's out and about. It would also make it much easier to find when he goes AWOL. On top of that, I'll be moving in the next few months, so I think it'll be a necessity at that stage.

The trackers/GPS I've seen on the net seem to be quite big for a cat, and I don't know how heavy and how reliable/accurate they'd be, some require a subscription, etc.

Does anyone have one? How are you finding them? Would it make more sense to wait another while to get one, until technology improves a bit more?

Thanks.

From someone who put off getting one I would advise for you to get one. My cat is missing four weeks and the amount of time worry and effort I’ve put into finding her is far more than the tracker would hsve cost me.

I put it off thinking she wouldn’t go far as I kept a close eye on her but she was let out by someone and has just vanished.
Join a cat group on Facebook and ask for what’s best in terms of collar safety etc.

I’ve learned a valuable lesson not to put things off

New Home

I've lost more pets than I can count through car accidents, "nice" neighbours, poachers, proximity to a railway, and God knows what else, and every time one disappeared a part of me went with it - if it sounds overly sentimental, I don't care. The heartbreak was very real. I'm very sorry about your own cat, I really hope she'll surprise you and come back home in one piece and very soon.

I'd put the tracker on a quick-release collar, I wouldn't want the cat to get stuck somewhere. The "best" of the trackers I've seen on the web has only a range of about 100 metres, which is nothing, really, a cat explores way further afield than that. I'm not on Facebook, though, that's one of the reasons why I asked here.

Sheepdish1

New Home wrote: »

I've lost more pets than I can count through car accidents, "nice" neighbours, poachers, proximity to a railway, and God knows what else, and every time one disappeared a part of me went with it - if it sounds overly sentimental, I don't care. The heartbreak was very real. I'm very sorry about your own cat, I really hope she'll surprise you and come back home in one piece and very soon.

I'd put the tracker on a quick-release collar, I wouldn't want the cat to get stuck somewhere. The "best" of the trackers I've seen on the web has only a range of about 100 metres, which is nothing, really, a cat explores way further afield than that. I'm not on Facebook, though, that's one of the reasons why I asked here.

Oh no I’m sorry to hear that! I would recommend setting up an account and joining a cat group as you’ll get pros and cons of different ones there and they will be more specific to cats..... there’s a group called cat lovers ireland, they would be able to tell you pros and cons.

I thought that also but I’ve seen adds for one and it seems to cover far more than that.

tk123

That's terrible about your cat op There's a dog in the park with a GPS thing on his collar and it's quite big and bulky to the point I think it could easily smash off... Just looking at aliexpress and they seem to have loads including smaller ones that might suit? I'd go for a cheaper one myself and then upgrade if you think you need to or decide you want different features?

PS if you do get one please post a map so we can see what the cat was up to!!!!

_Brian

Our vet absolutely advises against having a collar on a cat that roams outside free.
She says it’s the most likely thing to get them killed.

Mickeroo

Yeah I would be scared they would end up snagging on something particularly if that cat isn't used to them.

Tbh the first two posts in this thread illustrate exactly why our two are housebound.

pawrick

Checked a few gps tags over the years and keep an eye on forums like this when people mention it to see if anything has improved tech wise. All seem to have very poor battery life or only covered a fraction of the distance a cat would normally travel in its own territory. I don't think the tech is there yet as far as reasonably priced pet tracking with good battery life is concerned.

Spaying and neutering if not already done should be top of the list when having a cat with outdoor access as it reduces the urge for males to seek out females possibly getting lost in their travels or involved in cat fights which could scare someone else's male/female cat from an area. There are plenty of animal charities around the country who assist with costs to get this done as in the long run it reduces unwanted kittens and helps those who TNR.

New Home

pawrick wrote: »

Checked a few gps tags over the years and keep an eye on forums like this when people mention it to see if anything has improved tech wise. All seem to have very poor battery life or only covered a fraction of the distance a cat would normally travel in its own territory. I don't think the tech is there yet as far as reasonably priced pet tracking with good battery life is concerned.

Spaying and neutering if not already done should be top of the list when having a cat with outdoor access as it reduces the urge for males to seek out females possibly getting lost in their travels or involved in cat fights which could scare someone else's male/female cat from an area.

Thanks, that's the kind of information I was looking for. Mine was neutered when he was still a very young cat, but he still gets into scraps with other animals, he's very territorial.

The quick release collars would snap off if the cat got caught somewhere, I wouldn't put a normal collar on him, I know how dangerous that can be. But collar or no collar, unfortunately there's nothing I can do to stop cruel people from doing cruel things, so if the cat got injured at least I'd be able to find out where he's hiding, and who the most likely culprit could be. 100 metres is really too short a distance for a tracker to be effective, and the car trackers are way too big for a cat, albeit a large one. I'll have to think of something else.

Anyway, thanks.

Alun

Hang on there just a minute ... most GPS based trackers work using a cellular data connection just like your mobile phone, so as long as the cat is in an area with a phone signal, they'll be locatable using the phones smartphone app, there is no 'range' issue. Even if they don't have phone coverage at that time you'll have a history of their position from before the time they lost the signal to go by.

One you're close by, using the latest GPS positional information, yes, some of them can then switch to bluetooth to get even closer. If the collar connects to your phone's bluetooth, you know for certain that they're close by.

c.p.w.g.w

_Brian wrote: »

Our vet absolutely advises against having a collar on a cat that roams outside free.
She says it’s the most likely thing to get them killed.

Quick release collars. We have two cats, the female has lost 4 collars to date. She's only a year old. The are left out about 3 times a week. When there is someone home. Like today they've been out since 8 probably bring them in at 2. thankfully they never go too far.

Addle

My fella loses his quick release collar often, yet I've never found a discarded one around the house.
I hate to think what could've happened to him if he wasn't wearing a quick release collar.

New Home

Alun wrote: »

Hang on there just a minute ... most GPS based trackers work using a cellular data connection just like your mobile phone, so as long as the cat is in an area with a phone signal, they'll be locatable using the phones smartphone app, there is no 'range' issue. Even if they don't have phone coverage at that time you'll have a history of their position from before the time they lost the signal to go by.

One you're close by, using the latest GPS positional information, yes, some of them can then switch to bluetooth to get even closer. If the collar connects to your phone's bluetooth, you know for certain that they're close by.

That's what I would have thought, too, but the ones I saw mentioned having a range of something like 350ft, IIRC, so I was just going by what was said there.

Alun

New Home wrote: »

That's what I would have thought, too, but the ones I saw mentioned having a range of something like 350ft, IIRC, so I was just going by what was said there.

There are some very small lightweight devices that rely entirely on Bluetooth but 350ft (100m) seems a bit of a stretch for that. Maybe they're using WiFi instead?

New Home

Maybe that's what it was. I was thinking that something that wouldn't be noticeable to a Neapolitan Mastiff or a Great Dane or even a GSD would be very much a pain in the neck (pun intended) if fit on a cat.

AndrewJRenko

This family of devices use a different network - SigFox in this case, so they don't need a SIM or a GSM network subscription. Network coverage is generally very good in urban areas.

I've no experience with them, but they are worth looking into.

https://www.munstergps.ie/product-category/sim-free-gps-trackers/

Alun

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

This family of devices use a different network - SigFox in this case, so they don't need a SIM or a GSM network subscription. Network coverage is generally very good in urban areas.

I've no experience with them, but they are worth looking into.

https://www.munstergps.ie/product-category/sim-free-gps-trackers/

Interesting I'd never heard of SigFox before now. There's still an annual subscription though, I guess a network of 140 transceivers needs to be financed somehow.


Sounds promising though.

New Home

Thank you AndrewJRenko, that's great to know, I'll definitely do more research about them.

AndrewJRenko

Alun wrote: »

Interesting I'd never heard of SigFox before now. There's still an annual subscription though, I guess a network of 140 transceivers needs to be financed somehow.


Sounds promising though.

I'm guessing that 140 number is a bit out of date. Here's their coverage stats for anyone interested.

https://vt-iot.com/coverage-map/

Sheepdish1

I'm researching into this at the moment aswell as want one asap.
Quick release collars for me outweight the risk of my cat getting lost again as I'd been searching 4 weeks before I found her and she didn't manage to feed herself.

Say she got in a fight or got displaced chasing a bird!
I'm looking for something that pinpoints EXACTLY where she is. I imagine they will all have subscriptions but prices have come down a lot in the last year even