cat tracker

Hi littlekitty ,

I use the Tractive GPS trackers and the Loc8tor RFID tag. One thing to bear in mind is that the cat has to be able to wear a collar, whatever device you choose. So to be precise you are only tracking the collar not the cat!

The Loc8tor, now known as Tabcat, is something we had before there were GPS trackers for cats so continue to use them but you do need to know where your cat goes as they work on Radio Frequency with the range is only up to 600 feet but it does work indoors which the GPS trackers aren't so good at due to the building blocking the GPS signals. Also there is no subscription so just the one off purchase price plus batteries which last quite a time. They are also more accurate for close range, within an inch. The tag & handset also make a noise (not enough to startle the cat) & can be used to train the cat to come home. It works well in finding a lost collar, in the undergrowth or up a tree!!
loc8tor.co.uk/features/

We initially had a GPS recorder, which is no longer available, so we were able to download the data on to Google Earth
& find where the cat went. Hence we knew were to start looking with the Loc8tor.

subsequently various GPS trackers were made which were small & light enough for use wit cats. There was a long debate in the early years of this forum on the some of the brands. We had finally chose one which was very good but sadly the company overstretched themselves & went went under. Around that time a company called Tractive brought out a new version of their pet tracker suitable for cats, so we changed to that.

Both our original trackers & this one had a built in but detachable battery & we could purchase spares so could keep the tracker charged 24/7. At that time the minimum size of a cat was 4.5Kg so we could only use the tracker on Roman & Osiris. However they worked well & we were able to find Osiris when somehow he went somewhere completely different one midnight and go fetch him home (this was with the original GPS tracker). Posted the story yourpet.boards.net/post/151363/thread

Tractive have now brought out their latest Cat mini tracker which has superseded all their other cat tracker versions which is suitable for minimum cat size of 3.5kg. Lexie never went far so we never got a GPS tracker for her. When I got the 2 new boys last year we had lost Roman but still had Osiris so needed an additional tracker so we got the Tractive cat mini. Works well but the downside is that it does have a detachable battery so the whole tracker has to be charged so there has to be a period where the cat isn't wearing the tracker (about 1/2-1 hour) but easily done when in overnight.

Tractive say their GPS trackers are are only accurate to within 8 metres, which I suspect is the same for all GPS trackers as they don't use military grade GPS tracking!!!!! You can get spikes in the GPS accuracy but they are only blips.

Tractive & our previous brand only give updates every so often (2-60 minutes depending on activity) but if you need to find the cat then you turn on live tracking which is locating every 2-3 seconds. The smartphone app works well displaying location & history.

I can't comment on other brands & there are a few more now than when I first got one! One point to consider is battery life & recharge time as well as weight of the tracker when on the cat. Most pet trackers require a subscription cost due to the nature of the cost of GPS tracking and using satellites to do so, so that cost should be taken into consideration as well.

This article is quite good www.zdnet.com/article/best-pet-trackers/ as is cats.com/best-cat-tracker