It's no substitute for close supervision and keeping your cat indoors, but a good cat tracker can help you keep tabs on your cat. Which of the trackers shown here do you think would be best for your needs?
To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have tó start there tehát you dont give a necklace tó your vár, Claude of he will cought into SG, and hé will hang down front the fekve or SG, hé will much more easily di front that, Than from a whole body stratp, üde should gond first the most secur Best design most comfy whole body stratp for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that Way that the tracer is ín top of the cats back, amd putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your nber and cats name. That would be the Best solution ín my opinion.
@@k.o.t.o.n. I'm confused by your comment. Are you saying you think they should use a harness so the device would be on the cats back so you could put his/her name # & address there? I don't understand how that would help.
@@trishaann1616 omg. my native language world exceller. sorry. so : To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have to start there that you dont give a necklace to your cat, cause of he will cought into sg., and he will hang down front the fence or sg., he will much more easily die from that, than from a whole body straps, he should first find the most secure, Best design most comfy whole body strap for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that way that the tracer is in top of the cats back, and putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your number and cats name. That would be the Best solution in my opinion.
@@trishaann1616 dont cought his neck in a fence or sg, a harnedd is more safe, both for the cats life, and for using a tracker. people can use to wear clothes all day, so as cats for a harnes just need a anufactrureer, who makes a high quality one, which you can put your tracker in seamlessly, with also a small name tag wth your phone number
@@k.o.t.o.n. I still don't understand how putting her name on her back would help. If someone was close enough to read it they'd be close enough to read her vaccination tag. Her collar is a breakaway so she couldn't choke herself. I'm not sure but I believe you're required to have that vaccination tag in case she were to bite or scratch someone so they would know they're not going to get rabies.... What's your native language?
@@AllAboutCatsYT To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have tó start there tehát you dont give a necklace tó your vár, Claude of he will cought into SG, and hé will hang down front the fekve or SG, hé will much more easily di front that, Than from a whole body stratp, üde should gond first the most secur Best design most comfy whole body stratp for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that Way that the tracer is ín top of the cats back, amd putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your nber and cats name. That would be the Best solution ín my opinion.
This video deserves a lot more views. It's pure gold. Thanks so much for all the effort that went into it. I just subscribed. I'm sure all my cats will benefit from it.
I have Tractive & it's just been such a great help. One of my cats has a tendency to disappear for an hour or longer sometimes. I can always find her hiding places & know where she is (I have an enclosed yard). It has saved me time & peace of mind. When I turn on the live mode, it's like she knows I am looking for her and she often will come looking for me!
Our cat was a stray who had kittens in our shed. We always allowed her to come & go as she pleased until we moved into an apartment from the townhouse. My son was more nervous but I didn't worry. Then one Saturday I heard them mowing but assumed she'd be hiding and come home when they left. She stayed gone for 7 days. I cried every day. The next Saturday they mowed again and I heard her meow. She ran in shaking and had lost about half her body weight. She ate off and on until I got afraid it was going to make her sick. I think she somehow was on the mowers truck. Anyway now my son won't let her go out. I let her out sometime because I can't stand her being so sad being kept inside. We need a tracker that will take me to her if that happens again. Would you recommend the one you have for that. The tractive I think it's called. Amazon has it for $49.
@@trishaann1616 I have the Tractive tracker. The small white one. You also have to pay for a monthly subscription to use their tracking app- but it is a great app and always helps me find my cat. I would be worried though what out there put so much fear into your cat. I have cat-proofed my yard too with fencing, so my cat has to be really inventive to find a way out. But she occasionally does get out beyond the fence & the tracker is super helpful to locate her. If you are going to let you cat roam just make sure there are no obvious threats in the area- big dogs, traffic etc and it can easily come home and get inside when it needs to. And I would recommend never let you cat out at night. That's when they are most vulnerable. I always go out and get my cat (find her with the tracker if I can't see her anywhere) and bring her in before dusk. One other thing, your cat may not need to spend all day outside, just a few hours a day may keep it happy
@@kjorsss429 The only time she's been scared was the 7 days she was missing. She had to have been trapped in somewhere. Maybe a shed wherever the mowers are stored. Because we believe she grew up outside I feel like she knows how to stay safer. My son wants to keep her inside 24/7. I think she's happier if she's allowed out. I've always felt like night is safer for cats because dogs have to be inside. We live in an apt complex. Cats can see better and there's less traffic and no kids to chase her. She normally only stays gone a few hours but without a tracker we have no way of making her come in when we want. Thank you so much for your opinion on the tractive tracker. A monthly charge is far better than my son worrying the whole time she's gone. I'm going to order one now. 😊
If you don't mind me asking did you get the regular dog one or the cat tracker because I saw that the cat one was on pre-order for at least two more months
This was a really great video for me. Thanks for going into such detail about the different kinds of trackers. You've saved me a lot of time and effort having to track all that info down myself!
Ive been looking and comparing n getting confused and all over again. This was the best guide, Ive came across, in any language. Many thanks. The only thing I dont like about most of them is that we're bound by their app, so if they want to change the price of subscription, we have to follow, or change the brand, that is buy a whole new GPS.
I bought the Pro Track by Girafus 2 years ago, and this thing is awesome. Once you get a feel on how it works, I cat track my cat within minutes. I live on 2 acres and track my cat as far as 600 to 800 feet away. My cat is trained when I turn it on, it will beep on the collar and the cat will know its time to come to me. You will need to check battery weekly. They do give you a Spare battery. So you will always have one charged. Highly recommend. Remember the replacement battery is Lithium 2032 rechargeable.
I bought the Girafus Pro-Track-Tor RF tracker two years ago on the basis of your initial tracker review video and I am very impressed with its accuracy, battery life and lightweight transmitters.
Hello from Georgia (USA)! Since i used the above video to help me buy a tracker(s), I hope you wont mind me (briefly) telling my story and thanking you for helping me choose (probably) the best system that I can for tracking my cat(s): A coworker sent me a pic of a small calico that had been savaged by dogs (she intervened to save the cat). BTW i understand this was being encouraged by humans (dont you just love humans?). Anyway so I agreed to take the cat (what could i do?) and learned that she had a fractured pelvis and semi-severed achilles tendon. Lucky for us, Columbus, Ga. is home to a very well known and respected animal orthopedic surgeon (Wayne Waquespak - used to teach at AU Univ.) who kindly took the case...3 months later "Marbles" Is just now enjoying life in the country with other friendly cats! My worry is that I work 12 hour shifts and am afraid that until Marbles gets used to the area, she may wander and simply get lost ( I have lost other cats this way...I guess). So I needed a way to at least track her for a few weeks/months until she would be accustomed to the surrounding countyside. So now she is wearing a combination of Jiobit and Girafus systems. I find the Jiobit will put you in the general area and while the DIRECTIONAL capability of the Girafus is useless (doesnt work in my case anyway) the ALARM (hit alarm button and get a loud BEEP) will let your EARS be the directional tracking and be able to pinpoint the location of the tracker. Has worked every time!! I have tested to the limits of my hearing and I can hear the "beep" about 40-50 yards in a quiet situation. So that alone is worth its weight in gold IMO. Now the Jiobit does have an "alarm" that sounds off...is relatively quiet though at least has compared to the Girafus. I have to be right on top of it in order to hear it. Also dont need to worry about connectivity (BT, GPS) with the Girafus.(the better gizmo, then, imo, would be a Jiobit with a LOUDER alarm ( a lounder arlarm on the Girafus would be ok too). Apologies for the ramble. Thanks for your help!!
My cat loves going outside. Sometimes other people don't pay close enough attention and he runs out unsupervised. I'm afraid he's gonna get out one of these days and I won't be there to notice and run after him, so I've been looking into these Perfect timing on the video. I just hate that the good ones for my purpose seem to all have subscription fees.
I highly recommend Tractive and, don't be dis-encouraged by the subscription, around 70 to 80 euros a year is a fair price to pay for a good service but, also, sort of a "life insurance" for your cat. good luck!
Excellent timely updated review. Very Helpful:) Thank You:) Also the most impressive UA-camr I have seen that cares and actually reads and replies to comments.
Thank you very much for this video! I live in an apartment and my cats were created indoors, but recently I've started to build a new house and I'm really worried about how to make sure that my cats don't get out of my land and get lost. I'm mainly focused on building tall fences, but I know that no matter how "Cat-proof" I think I've done, they will always find a way to get out. Your video has helped me a lot to get ideas to make sure they're safe. Thank you!
Look into cat enclosures - there are special types of fence tops that work better (slanting inwards at the top) but you can also make an enclosure in your property. They often use netting that you can attach from your roof to fence, or to a simple frame. But even if you don't go for a full enclosure, have a look anyway as they generally have partial enclosures (cat-proof fences) and the fence tops that slant back, they're the only option I'd trust. It'll at least give you an idea of the cat proofing options. And don't forget the bottoms of fences - rain/erosion can create holes under a fence, usually hard to notice so I put bricks/plant pots in front of any risky spots (you could also use bamboo fencing around the bottom, it's not that sturdy though)
I have to cats that were farm kittens that’s neighbor thought to get them for mousing. Well, they didn’t feed them or care for them when injured. Then it was -20 degrees that they were at my patio begging to come in. Neighbors refused to care for them, so I guess they adopted me as they’re cat mom. But I’ve never been able to get them to use the indoor litter box and they only will go potty outside. So I’m having to care for them as indoor outside cats…we live rural so it’s not as much of a worry as a city cat. There’s all kinds of reasons for an outdoor kitty…neglect isn’t always one of them.
This was a really good introduction to pet trackers. Just knowing the difference between satellite, radio frequency and bluetooth is good info and a good place to start researching. Thanks!
Thanks for this thorough review of the different tracker technologies and models. Having been a cat lover for over 4 decades, I had a hard time listening to your comments whenever you were petting your very friendly orange cat!! His reaction was mesmerizing!! 🙂
I have had Tractive on my cat for 5 years already, did not have any issue with it. Yes, sometimes LIVE tracking is not 100% precise but worse-case scenario is a 3 to 5 mts deviation. You can still hear if you activate the noise. And once you get used to that (depending on your connection, area, etc, etc) it goes very well. The only CON I could think of is that doesn't work well indoors (I guess this is a problem for most of the GPS) but also doesn't perform very well if the cat is sleeping or hidden between bushes or high vegetation, it blocks the signal. By the way, have you heard about Atto Pro GPS Tracker from MiniFinder? It seems to be one of the best out there (though one of the most expensive too) based on reviews but, it would be awesome if you can review it too. Great content for us, cat lovers :) Cheers!
i have same problem if cat sleeps live not working but its gets updates every 10 min cat is near building bushes always can even hide under car tractive litle useless hope they add option to switch update time to 1 minute or 5 minutes like china trackers voice beep is so quaet in silicone case that i added airtag to be safe still its big problem find cat that updates every 10 minutes if its was dog i atach phone to him im thinking buy apple watch but its expencive the cellolar version
I have also been using Tractive gps for 4 years and five units for my 5 outdoor cats. I have been happy with it until now. The new model, Tractive Mini has a ridiculously short battery life (ar. 12 hours) that is just too short for my wandering cats! The previous model's battery lasted ar. 3 days (on a battery save mode), which was just about bearable. Plus the new model gets stuck a lot and not working at all for a bit. So disappointing about the quality of Tractive getting worse instead of better! :-(
I just ordered two Tractives from your link. Thanks for all your hard work! I have one Whistle - but two cats. I don't let my cats out but maybe 10 times a year if I'm going to work in the garden. But I can't watch them the whole time and they will slink away without me knowing. I'm shocked at how far the Whistle shows my one cat will go (anywhere further than my yard is too far for my sanity). I like that Tractive has a sound and a light on the unit to help locate the animal. The Whistle I have (might be 4 or 5 years old?) does not.
When Tabcat becomes available again (been out of stock for maybe a year in the USA) I'm going to get two tabcat tags as well. I borrowed them from a friend and they were amazing for pinpointing where my cat was hiding.
I'd be cautious in one's expectations here. I got the Findster Duo a couple years ago and I found it to be useless, at least in my use case. Basically, it'd only give me a ballpark idea... almost literally... of where the tracker was. Additionally, the ground position it was indicating would jump around substantially... If you get in touch with the manufacturer they'll tell you to tweak this and tweak that on the unit. I think the bottom line is that these GPS trackers just aren't going to give you what many of us would call a really close fix on the cat's location. And cats are relatively small and are good at staying hidden. Primarily what I wanted to use it for is tracking my cat when we'd go for walks in the woods. My cat has a stroller, but she can also walk on a leash, but I'm wary of letting her off the leash, especially in the woods where she might get excited, run off, and she could be quite difficult to find. Particularly, for this application, I don't believe any of the GPS trackers would help much. I suppose an RF tracker might be my best bet if I were to try again, but I thought the one that gave the audible sound might also help. The other thing is that if you get one of these trackers: kinda like many of us get, and use backup software apps, the problem is that you commonly don't find out how well they really work till you have a problem and you need them... and then it's too late if it doesn't work very well. So, I'd definitely test it yourself to see if it'll work for your use case sufficiently well to meet your needs. Bottom line: I would temper your expectations.
My ideal tracker is two trackers. GPS (which I've had one for years, and is, as you say, not pinpoint accurate) and adding an RFID tracker in tandem. I don't let my cats out as a matter of course, but very very occasionally I will in the summer time. I only have one Whistle GPS tracker, so I'd only allow one out at a time, and I was horrified to see that while for the most part, the younger cat stayed in my yard, she also ventured out about 7 houses along my street in either direction. Horrifying because some of those homes have dogs. And she crosses my street, which isn't busy, but I hate seeing cats cross streets. Safest to keep cats indoors. But occasional short albeit risky adventures digitally tied to my phone is 2nd best.
I am looking for a tracker for exactly the same reason, for walking in the woods with my cats. Im still searching for one that's small enough that my cat would wear it
@@Sssssssslf Try the tabcat tracker (if you haven't found one already) It's very small, my cat got used to it when she was a kitten and barely notices it now. Battery lasts 6+ months & easy to replace - standard coin cell battery. Accuracy within a few cm, I've pinpointed her exactly a few times (all inside the house, it got me right to her when she was inside a couch & fully hidden) It's similar to the girafus one, but I trust the tabcat brand much more and they're roughly the same price. Range isn't huge, but most cats stay close by & worst case, walk around until you pick up the signal. It gives me so much peace of mind, just knowing I can hopefully find her if she gets out - and a far better chance than nothing, and better than gps/bluetooth for my use. And helps with the panic when I can't find her & thinking she somehow got outside, when she's just snoozing somewhere weird or got a bit spooked and hiding. It's the best option I found for size, battery life, and accuracy (which was the most important to me) If my cat gets out, she'll be hiding somewhere, probably in a neighbours yard/garage or within a few closest streets. Being able to pinpoint location is very important if a cat is hiding and/or hurt - and if they're on a neighbouring property it'll be easier to work out which house, ask & then look with a signal pointing you to them. If you do go with the tabcat, I recommend the set of 2 - makes switching batteries a lot easier, can put the other one right back on the collar and change the battery later. Also if one ever dies I want a backup, not to wait for a new one shipped out. I expect they'll be working for a long time though, mine are 3 years old and still perfect
Tractive is amazing for anyone looking for your cat in a typical neighborhood. It's perfect in its accuracy and we've found our cat even when hiding under bushes. You pay a small fee but considering what you get, it is well worth it! I also will say that I had first had the girafus tracker and it's completely useless unless you're in an open field. Plus the pairing is not user friendly and taking the trackers apart to add batteries is very tedious and you have to start the whole process again. Respectfully, it has no business being on this list at all.
Well dang it I was just about to buy the girafus but saw your comment . I just don't trust the GPS in my neighborhood cuz the connection is so lousy so I was going to try one that I didn't have to worry about that with now I don't know what to do
My cat missing, may have been found, checking this afternoon when carer is home. Pictures look the same. I plan to buy a gps unit for him, so if he does this again, I can track him. Thanks for clearly stating the pros and cons of each type of tracker.
Thank you for this list, I only bought one cat from a shelter n he kept sneaking out n didn’t come home. Our cat Baby now is a roamer as well. We live very rural in northern Minnesota. Lots of wildlife to scuffle with. We’ve been lucky so far. I need that piece of mind of knowing where our stinker is.ty
I have had a Marco Polo for several years, and LOVE IT. Battery life is insanely good. I want to get a GPS unit to see specifically where my cat has gone, so this review was incredibly helpful. Thank you for all the hard work!
So you're saying Marco Polo is good but not good enough for you to continue with it? As someone who hasn't bought into any of this yet, should I just start with the GPS trackers?
A very thorough analysis. Very helpful. I have the older Com-Specialists radio frequency tracker - no longer available. I might be ready for a newer radio frequency version or GPS version. Thanks for overview!
Although my cats are all indoor cats, I have one like that. He's all black so I bought him a collar with diamonte studs and put a Sterling Silver charm on it. He looked very dapper but hated it and would take it off. He did this one night just before I was going to bed so I put it on the mantelpiece. Next day it was gone and I've never found it despite looking everywhere for it. HE knows where it is but he's not going to let on. I have a feeling it is under a heavy unit we have.
My problem is neighbors who dont want the responsibility of owning a cat but still wanting to get there own and keeping other ppls cats hostage for several days😅
its good to learn about cat trackers. i was going to give one to my sister for christmas since she has an indoor/outdoor cat. and shes curious what he gets up to outside of the house. tractive seems perfect but it sucks that its subscription based. it makes it harder to gift things like this to other people.
I bought a WhistleGo Tracker after watching your first video in October of 2020, it's a overall a great tracker and has deterred my cat from being stolen or taken like his siblings have, however I have 2 acres of land in my neighborhood of over 1000 houses which is big compared to those houses around me, and Whistle won't start tracking my cat until hes in the middle of my neighbors yard, it would be like 3 houses away for a normal person's yard. It's frustrating because I let my cat out for 4 to 5 hours a day for exercise & play time and for the most part he stays in my yard, but there have been times that I couldn't find my own cat in my own yard with storms coming in because Whistle says it won't track him if hes in range of my wifi router, turning my router range lower hasn't helped nor has making my geo fence smaller. In short if your cat is out of your yard, you'll find him within 10 feet of where the Whistle gps says, if not exactly where, but in your own yard you're screwed!
First, thank you for your energy and information! You are a blessing to us all! I Just bought a bluetooth tracker (out of ignorance)...absolutely totally wortheless as far as pinpointing the cat...only use is informing if the transmitter is "in range". Finding a lost cat? HA. As far as your recommendations on the rf device..."worked multiple times" really does not help much...3 out of 100 times? 3 out of 4 times? Not trying to be a jerk here...but please be specific in relaying your info. to us. Again not trying to be a jerk, which i think i AM being, but just FYI. Thanks for all your videos and info!!!
@@SUPERFLY-ky7yh You're right. I'm sorry. Frankly, I couldn't remember how many times I tested the trackers because I'd done this process a few times with over a year in between. This person is right; the test wasn't well-controlled and the video didn't give enough detail as a result. Sorry about that; I hope it's still helpful, even though it's imperfect.
@@AllAboutCatsYT lighten up. I was simply pointing out ways in which the information could be clarified for the viewer. I am a scientist and am well educated in statistics, etc., and prob. am more critical about these things simply bc of my education/training. I think Mallory was just saying 'thanks" for my pointing this out to her. I wasnt demanding answers and I dont think she took it that way. Geez.
Thank you for your effort putting this together. I've previously used loc8tor and whilst it worked pretty well to start with, within a year or 2 of owning it had gone on the blink and couldn't even located the tabs that went missing - let alone find any affordable replacements for that so given up with that entirely and would never buy again. Might consider the others in your review, ours hardly go out but I don't want to be one of those regretful people who wished they could fall back on something they never had.
Thank you so much for this video. It was so helpful. My cat has started to stay out for many days at a time and want to know where he is, if someone is taking him in and feeding him, or if he hunts for himself. He's not extremely hungry when he comes home. I'm gonna try the first one. Thank you ❤
I got Tractive. It may or may not work out for you, depending on the person. But it did not work out for me. My cat went missing for four days after getting the tracker. I found him after the battery has died, and on top of that, his tracker disappeared. So I decided to get a refund on the subscription since it hasn't been a month since I've used it. The website said that I can get a refund within the first 30 days. So I canceled the subscription. But it turned out to be a big mistake because I did not get my money back. I found on a different page, the website said I can't get a refund if I cancel my subscription instead of terminating my subscription. So my $200 went down the drain. I was devastated. It does not make sense to me why they decide they will not refund me the money because I didn't terminate my subscription. Terminating the subscription is no longer an option after canceling my subscription. Even when the subscription is no longer canceled, the option to terminate and get my refund is just not an option anymore. If you want to risk getting Tractive, keep in mind that if you want to get a refund within 30 days after purchase, you have to terminate your subscription, not cancel it. Edit: 12/14 I got my money back. It is unfortunate that the tracker didn't work out for me. If anyone plans to get this, make sure you get a good secure collar. I have seen reviews that they kept having the tracker replaced and having to pay for shipping over and over. It's the not tracker itself that gets lost, it's the collar that loses the tracker. The tracker can attach to any collar.
I'm glad you got your money back. Sounds like it was a hassle. Yes, the collar is important. Break-away collars do just that. The cat can and sometimes are pretty good at losing it. Non break-away and that cat can get stuck. I went with flexible, stretch collars, non-break away and that seems to work. The cat only came home without the collar once. A tracker that makes a noise or a blinking light can be helpful if you have a break-away collar.
Overall, great video! Thanks for the reviews. But this really is incomplete without an AirTag consideration. The cost and capability is too compelling for Apple users for it not to be included here. FYI, I have two first gen Jiobits that I bought for my children in 2018 that I now use for our cat with their new collar “pocket” that doesn’t hang down. As long as he is within wifi range, the battery life is almost two weeks! I swap the the units when the battery life gets to about 25% to make sure we’ve got enough charge to find him if necessary. I’m considering also using the AirTag because it’s so small and inexpensive and may eventually give up on the Jiobits subscription.
Thanks for pointing that out. I feel bad-the AirTag 100% should have been mentioned, even though I don't have an Apple device to pair with it. Maybe we can make a video reviewing it on its own. Appreciate the feedback!
@@AllAboutCatsYT It just occurred to me that your location seems to be a fair bit more rural than my own and, perhaps, many of your viewers. So you’ll actually have a hard time demonstrating the capability of Apple AirTags if/when you try to review them because of the lower density of iOS users around you compared to urban dwellers. That’s a disclaimer you’ll have to make, I suppose…
@@agnesnoyb9492 No, I believe only with iPhone 11 and later running iOS 14.5 or later. And if it wasn’t clear, the potential power of AirTag lies in living in a relatively dense population of other iOS users.
I have been using Tractive devise on my cat for about a month. I really love the idea of the product. It gives me peace of mind knowing where he is and where he’s been. That said there are several things that need improvement First, it would be great if the company was easier to contact for support or questions. There is no direct contact and a replay took days As for the tracker itself, the receiver is large and bulky too big for cats. My male cat has broken his collar off several times as he crawled into/thru small spaces. And a breakaway collar for cats is a must. The tracker needs improved is reception. It is slow to load when “live” is activated and I routinely get error messages that says “signal too weak”. I like the ability to set up virtual fences, but would like a panic alarm for an option. Lastly, the light and sound options are useless. It is a tiny light that can not be seen if there is any kind of ambient light, like streetlights. The sound is difficult to hear even when the tracker is held next to your ear. It is impossible to hear it from even a few feet away. All that being said, it still seems to be the best option currently on the market and l do like it. Hopefully their R&D department can work on some of these issues to make the Trackive better.
I just got a Tractive for my cat and am comparing it with the Marco Polo RF tracker. Tractive only added to its UA-cam channel with a series of 30 second clips about features. They were too short IMO to give any real information (ie setting up a virtual fence) and they disabled commenting. This is never a good sign. A lot of good companies get marketing information from comments and sometimes complaints about poor customer service get faster action when the comments are public on social media.
I wish I'd seen this before making a purchase, but already bought 2 smart tag + trackers, cause they work with my phone. GPS trackers but most similar to the blue tooth one you described at the end. Not great for location but they tell me when I'm within about 40-50 feet. It gives me pings when the cat passes by another Sensor, so I sometimes know which way to walk. While not great, those Smart Tag + GPS trackers have done the trick and I've been able to track down my cat successfully when tested. Ever since I moved into a first floor apartment with the front door going right outside, my cats have decided that they are outdoor cats whether I like it or not, so the trackers give me that extra piece of mind. Even a so-so tracker like the smart tag + is so much better than nothing at all.
My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat that’s loves being outside mostly. Once the warm weather comes back, like it has now, he goes on big expeditions. He’s been gone for FOUR days now. I’m worried, but he’s done this before ever since he turned a year old in 2019. I have faith he’ll come back, and when he does i’m getting him a GPS tracker ASAP. I can’t sleep knowing he’s out and about. He’s a tough boy and there’s no threats to him in our neighborhood, but it’s scary for me nonetheless. Thanks for this video.
Has your cat returned? Please tell me you don’t have coyotes in your area. Those pieces of sh!# have killed my cat, my brother’s cat, and dozens of other people we know here in Alabama. Before the nasty coyotes really arrived here (they aren’t native) my cat Alley disappeared for almost 5 weeks. I was devastated and had been in Northern California working at a Christian ranch for 3 weeks. I was really struggling and still holding out hope, but it didn’t look good. She’d been gone 2 sleepless weeks before I even left for California. One morning I raised my hand during morning prayer request and explained my situation. The leader of the ranch prayed in front of about 300 people for Alley to return. As God as my witness, I got a call 2 hours later from my parents that a skinny, but unharmed Alley just wandered up to our back door. That happened…I don’t know if you’re a believer/religious or not, but regardless, I’m only sharing all of this just to give you hope in case your little friend hasn’t come back yet. I’ve had it go both ways and it can be absolute torture.
@@adamwyker4800 love your story. Thanks for sharing. I also prayed for my cat to return and he did! I am now going to put a tracker on him so I don't worry so much
we have used both (currently AirTag). We modified the tile to light up instead of ringing to find because the cat hated the Sound (but it broke a little while ago. Need to modify another). Still would rather want gps to find more precisely…
pardon, but to clarify...the most accurate GPS is the Geobit....so i assume increased cost is the reason it did not get first place vs the Tractive? Thanks again!! (personally, I would rather pay more more for a more accurate tracker...searching for a lost cat is no fun).
well done, however you should consider revising this once you have tested more bluetooth trackers. Tile has a very limited user base, unlike the apple air tage and the Samsung air tag. Plus, Tile charges for features that the others include for free, and also tile has no replaceable battery.
Love the videos. Maybe test the companies customer service as well. I have used Girafus product for 3 years. It’s gone downhill over the years and the customer service is TeRRible! Switching to a new product. I’m looking into Tabcat bc I live in wooded area and can not use gps. Would love a review of that product from you ❤!
We have the Whistle for our cats, but we’ve already lost two of them because their collars get pulled off and the battery dies. And it $140 each, they are not cheap to replace.
I am thinking of buying the Tractive option. My cat keeps disappearing for 1-3 days and each time he comes home his collar with his name tag and our phone numbers is OFF! He's an ultra friendly cat and we have reason to believe that someone keeps stealing him and keeping him indoors. He comes home hungry and smelling like really nasty cat pee house (if you can imagine that smell) It's getting really expensive buying him a new tag and collar every week so we are pretty fed up and want to find whoever is taking our cat so we can confront them. We also don't have the option to keep him indoors because he LOVES being outside so much. We don't even own a litter box, he trained himself like a dog to meow at the door to let him out to go potty then he comes back in.
Just wondering if pet owners would be interested in a GPS/GSM tracker that would have no need for a third party website with ongoing fees. The tracker would send live updates directly to your mobile phone App at a 6s update rate. The owner could use any SIM card they wished in the tracker and that SIM card would incur no charges given it would never send data or make an outgoing call. Only the uses mobile phone contacting the tracker would incur charges - coming out of their contract bundle anyway. Probably around the $60 mark for the device but that is all it would do - send live 6s GPS position updates when contacted.
Definitely sounds interesting to me. I can see reviewing that one and recommending it as the "best without ongoing fees"-something we haven't seen many examples of.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Thanks for getting back. It's an example of what is possible but is never made as there is no money in it for the business men/women. The business model now is to sell hardware at close to cost price and then make money from ongoing monthly fees. If you can build a GPS/GSM cat tracker that gives you live tracking without any website fees and without even any GSM costs for the tracker other than from the uses mobile phone then there is no way of making any money!
Great video! Really appreciate the work and the review - saves me hours of time doing same, myself. I would like to know three things: 1. The floating box at the beginning of the video says something about...(forgot the exact term...) "product placement" or "sponsored" or something. I would like to know what you were offered, in exchange for recommending each of the products. 2. Do you have an opinion about using Apple airtags (seem to be much like the RF tile solution, only with lots more users in the network) to keep track of kitties? 3. This is actually my biggest concern: have you done any research into the long-term effects of having any of these devices permanently in close proximity to the brain and thyroid/parathyroid glands? I always wonder if the frequencies they put out are going to cause some kind of long-term damage. Thoughts on this? Thanks again!
Hi there You are awesome ! I bought the Protractor from Girafus based on your review👍 It works really well for my wanderer boy. Have you looked into the safety of RF vs GPS vs Blue Tooth regarding EMF affect on sensitive glands and tissues of the neck and head etc. I thought RF would be safer but maybe I am wrong ? Thanks a ton for all of your efforts and very useful information Andrea ❤️🐈⬛❤️
I have an AirTag and am happy with it. I got it to replace the Tile tracker which was unsatisfactory. The Tile was inaccurate - I would have it in my hand and the app would say it’s two doors down. More importantly, the Tile was not waterproof like the AirTag - if a cat drinks water and the tag gets wet it stops working, permanently.
Hey friend good morning I adopt cat about 4 months ago I watch your video very helpful I have few questions should I feed my cat dry food or wet food or both and how can I do that. Normally I feed her wet food early in the morning once a day. I have tried different brand but I think my cat like Fancy feast I just want to know I should keep that way giving her wet food once a day or just keep her on dry food which one is better. Thank you for your time have a blessed day and I love your videos very helpful.
Is the Tractive safe for the cat? Mine always wants to go on roofs +3 stories high, in our small village. Last time he disappeared for 25 hours and I’m considering the Tractive if it’s safe enough for him, i.e. does it heat up during prolonged sun exposure? will it be a hazard if it get stucks in some branches/pigeons spikes? thx!
Hey there! I was looking into the girafus collar. I think its the most sensible for my purposes (I like tractive but in Canada they dont have a monthly subscription and given that my cat refuses to go out most of the year, the annual plan isnt ideal). If my cat does get out of range, and you walk around, would it reconnect when within range?
Hi. Your videos are always thorough and sincere. Thank you. I bought a Girafus tracker for my cats. But now I find that cat collars can be dangerous and break away collars are best. Do break away collars only break off if a cat is stuck, or can a cat get it off itsef? Also if a cat is walking on a leash and pukl at it, will it.break away? I have just adopted.some stray kittens and they need to be ket out, but are young. About 6 months old. Need to track them. PLEASE ADVISE.
Hey there! Sorry about the late reply. Collars and trackers are what you might call a catch-22. You only want to use a breakaway collar for the cat's safety, but they make it more likely that you'll lose the trackers. There's really not that much you can do about it. Hopefully, you'll be able to catch it soon enough that you could track down the missing tracker, but once the battery dies, it'll get a lot harder.
Hi I love all of your videos!!!!! Question... why did you choose tractive as number one over jiobit? Was it size, gps locator, price. I trust your opinions.
It's no substitute for close supervision and keeping your cat indoors, but a good cat tracker can help you keep tabs on your cat. Which of the trackers shown here do you think would be best for your needs?
To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have tó start there tehát you dont give a necklace tó your vár, Claude of he will cought into SG, and hé will hang down front the fekve or SG, hé will much more easily di front that, Than from a whole body stratp, üde should gond first the most secur Best design most comfy whole body stratp for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that Way that the tracer is ín top of the cats back, amd putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your nber and cats name. That would be the Best solution ín my opinion.
@@k.o.t.o.n. I'm confused by your comment. Are you saying you think they should use a harness so the device would be on the cats back so you could put his/her name # & address there? I don't understand how that would help.
@@trishaann1616 omg. my native language world exceller. sorry. so : To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have to start there that you dont give a necklace to your cat, cause of he will cought into sg., and he will hang down front the fence or sg., he will much more easily die from that, than from a whole body straps, he should first find the most secure, Best design most comfy whole body strap for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that way that the tracer is in top of the cats back, and putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your number and cats name. That would be the Best solution in my opinion.
@@trishaann1616 dont cought his neck in a fence or sg, a harnedd is more safe, both for the cats life, and for using a tracker. people can use to wear clothes all day, so as cats for a harnes just need a anufactrureer, who makes a high quality one, which you can put your tracker in seamlessly, with also a small name tag wth your phone number
@@k.o.t.o.n. I still don't understand how putting her name on her back would help. If someone was close enough to read it they'd be close enough to read her vaccination tag. Her collar is a breakaway so she couldn't choke herself. I'm not sure but I believe you're required to have that vaccination tag in case she were to bite or scratch someone so they would know they're not going to get rabies.... What's your native language?
I love that your cats are literally your coworkers.
Does it get paid though?
Yeah, the same thing goes with members of the circus.
Maybe you’re using the word’love’ to easily.
Ok its been another 2 years, time for an update haha. Awesome video and this has really helped!
Wessie looks like, “oh,no what contraption is she putting on me now”. It’s priceless. He seems to be a very mellow, patient kitty.
Yes, that's him!
@@AllAboutCatsYT To be honest, non of these are great solution, front the start. You have tó start there tehát you dont give a necklace tó your vár, Claude of he will cought into SG, and hé will hang down front the fekve or SG, hé will much more easily di front that, Than from a whole body stratp, üde should gond first the most secur Best design most comfy whole body stratp for your cat, than the tracer manufacturer should design the strap, that Way that the tracer is ín top of the cats back, amd putting a small tag place on top of the tracer to write on your nber and cats name. That would be the Best solution ín my opinion.
personally think the combination of radio and bluetoth is great for cats while gps and bluetooth is for dogs :D
I can tell you put a world of effort into this video. Appreciate your work
Thank you, Noah.
This video deserves a lot more views. It's pure gold. Thanks so much for all the effort that went into it. I just subscribed. I'm sure all my cats will benefit from it.
Thank you for appreciating it!
Phenomenal product review. Definitely following. Thank you 👍
I have Tractive & it's just been such a great help. One of my cats has a tendency to disappear for an hour or longer sometimes. I can always find her hiding places & know where she is (I have an enclosed yard). It has saved me time & peace of mind. When I turn on the live mode, it's like she knows I am looking for her and she often will come looking for me!
That's so neat! What a clever kitty!
Our cat was a stray who had kittens in our shed. We always allowed her to come & go as she pleased until we moved into an apartment from the townhouse. My son was more nervous but I didn't worry. Then one Saturday I heard them mowing but assumed she'd be hiding and come home when they left. She stayed gone for 7 days. I cried every day. The next Saturday they mowed again and I heard her meow. She ran in shaking and had lost about half her body weight. She ate off and on until I got afraid it was going to make her sick. I think she somehow was on the mowers truck. Anyway now my son won't let her go out. I let her out sometime because I can't stand her being so sad being kept inside. We need a tracker that will take me to her if that happens again. Would you recommend the one you have for that. The tractive I think it's called. Amazon has it for $49.
@@trishaann1616 I have the Tractive tracker. The small white one. You also have to pay for a monthly subscription to use their tracking app- but it is a great app and always helps me find my cat. I would be worried though what out there put so much fear into your cat. I have cat-proofed my yard too with fencing, so my cat has to be really inventive to find a way out. But she occasionally does get out beyond the fence & the tracker is super helpful to locate her. If you are going to let you cat roam just make sure there are no obvious threats in the area- big dogs, traffic etc and it can easily come home and get inside when it needs to. And I would recommend never let you cat out at night. That's when they are most vulnerable. I always go out and get my cat (find her with the tracker if I can't see her anywhere) and bring her in before dusk. One other thing, your cat may not need to spend all day outside, just a few hours a day may keep it happy
@@kjorsss429 The only time she's been scared was the 7 days she was missing. She had to have been trapped in somewhere. Maybe a shed wherever the mowers are stored. Because we believe she grew up outside I feel like she knows how to stay safer. My son wants to keep her inside 24/7. I think she's happier if she's allowed out. I've always felt like night is safer for cats because dogs have to be inside. We live in an apt complex. Cats can see better and there's less traffic and no kids to chase her. She normally only stays gone a few hours but without a tracker we have no way of making her come in when we want. Thank you so much for your opinion on the tractive tracker. A monthly charge is far better than my son worrying the whole time she's gone. I'm going to order one now. 😊
If you don't mind me asking did you get the regular dog one or the cat tracker because I saw that the cat one was on pre-order for at least two more months
I forgot to mention that your cat is amazingly chill. Love it.
This was a really great video for me. Thanks for going into such detail about the different kinds of trackers. You've saved me a lot of time and effort having to track all that info down myself!
Wessie's face at 2:20 hahahahahaha priceless
Ive been looking and comparing n getting confused and all over again. This was the best guide, Ive came across, in any language. Many thanks. The only thing I dont like about most of them is that we're bound by their app, so if they want to change the price of subscription, we have to follow, or change the brand, that is buy a whole new GPS.
I have indoor cats but whatever I open the door they try to runaway and I’m afraid that they will one day so now I'm searching for a tracker 😸
I bought the Pro Track by Girafus 2 years ago, and this thing is awesome. Once you get a feel on how it works, I cat track my cat within minutes. I live on 2 acres
and track my cat as far as 600 to 800 feet away. My cat is trained when I turn it on, it will beep on the collar and the cat will know its time to come to me. You will need to check battery weekly. They do give you a Spare battery. So you will always have one charged. Highly recommend. Remember the replacement battery is Lithium 2032 rechargeable.
I bought the Girafus Pro-Track-Tor RF tracker two years ago on the basis of your initial tracker review video and I am very impressed with its accuracy, battery life and lightweight transmitters.
Any update after month ? May i know if this tracker show the path where your cat goes?
Hello from Georgia (USA)!
Since i used the above video to help me buy a tracker(s), I hope you wont mind me (briefly) telling my story and thanking you for helping
me choose (probably) the best system that I can for tracking my cat(s):
A coworker sent me a pic of a small calico that had been savaged by dogs (she intervened to save the cat). BTW i understand this was being encouraged
by humans (dont you just love humans?). Anyway so I agreed to take the cat (what could i do?) and learned that she had a fractured pelvis and semi-severed achilles tendon.
Lucky for us, Columbus, Ga. is home to a very well known and respected animal orthopedic surgeon (Wayne Waquespak - used to teach at AU Univ.) who kindly took the case...3 months
later "Marbles" Is just now enjoying life in the country with other friendly cats! My worry is that I work 12 hour shifts and am afraid that until Marbles gets used to the area, she may wander and
simply get lost ( I have lost other cats this way...I guess). So I needed a way to at least track her for a few weeks/months until she would be accustomed to the surrounding countyside.
So now she is wearing a combination of Jiobit and Girafus systems. I find the Jiobit will put you in the general area and while the DIRECTIONAL capability of the Girafus is useless (doesnt work in my case anyway) the ALARM (hit alarm button and get a loud BEEP) will let your EARS be the directional tracking and be able to pinpoint the location of the tracker. Has worked every time!!
I have tested to the limits of my hearing and I can hear the "beep" about 40-50 yards in a quiet situation. So that alone is worth its weight in gold IMO. Now the Jiobit does have an "alarm" that sounds off...is relatively quiet though at least has compared to the Girafus. I have to be right on top of it in order to hear it. Also dont need to worry about connectivity (BT, GPS) with the Girafus.(the better gizmo, then, imo, would be a Jiobit with a LOUDER alarm ( a lounder arlarm on the Girafus would be ok too). Apologies for the ramble. Thanks for your help!!
Apologies this review is quite confusing to read. Which tracker did you think was better?
My cat loves going outside. Sometimes other people don't pay close enough attention and he runs out unsupervised. I'm afraid he's gonna get out one of these days and I won't be there to notice and run after him, so I've been looking into these Perfect timing on the video. I just hate that the good ones for my purpose seem to all have subscription fees.
I highly recommend Tractive and, don't be dis-encouraged by the subscription, around 70 to 80 euros a year is a fair price to pay for a good service but, also, sort of a "life insurance" for your cat.
good luck!
Excellent timely updated review. Very Helpful:) Thank You:) Also the most impressive UA-camr I have seen that cares and actually reads and replies to comments.
Thank you. 😊
Thank you very much for this video! I live in an apartment and my cats were created indoors, but recently I've started to build a new house and I'm really worried about how to make sure that my cats don't get out of my land and get lost. I'm mainly focused on building tall fences, but I know that no matter how "Cat-proof" I think I've done, they will always find a way to get out. Your video has helped me a lot to get ideas to make sure they're safe. Thank you!
Look into cat enclosures - there are special types of fence tops that work better (slanting inwards at the top) but you can also make an enclosure in your property. They often use netting that you can attach from your roof to fence, or to a simple frame. But even if you don't go for a full enclosure, have a look anyway as they generally have partial enclosures (cat-proof fences) and the fence tops that slant back, they're the only option I'd trust. It'll at least give you an idea of the cat proofing options.
And don't forget the bottoms of fences - rain/erosion can create holes under a fence, usually hard to notice so I put bricks/plant pots in front of any risky spots (you could also use bamboo fencing around the bottom, it's not that sturdy though)
I have to cats that were farm kittens that’s neighbor thought to get them for mousing. Well, they didn’t feed them or care for them when injured. Then it was -20 degrees that they were at my patio begging to come in. Neighbors refused to care for them, so I guess they adopted me as they’re cat mom. But I’ve never been able to get them to use the indoor litter box and they only will go potty outside. So I’m having to care for them as indoor outside cats…we live rural so it’s not as much of a worry as a city cat. There’s all kinds of reasons for an outdoor kitty…neglect isn’t always one of them.
This was a really good introduction to pet trackers. Just knowing the difference between satellite, radio frequency and bluetooth is good info and a good place to start researching. Thanks!
Thanks for this thorough review of the different tracker technologies and models. Having been a cat lover for over 4 decades, I had a hard time listening to your comments whenever you were petting your very friendly orange cat!! His reaction was mesmerizing!! 🙂
I have had Tractive on my cat for 5 years already, did not have any issue with it. Yes, sometimes LIVE tracking is not 100% precise but worse-case scenario is a 3 to 5 mts deviation. You can still hear if you activate the noise. And once you get used to that (depending on your connection, area, etc, etc) it goes very well. The only CON I could think of is that doesn't work well indoors (I guess this is a problem for most of the GPS) but also doesn't perform very well if the cat is sleeping or hidden between bushes or high vegetation, it blocks the signal.
By the way, have you heard about Atto Pro GPS Tracker from MiniFinder? It seems to be one of the best out there (though one of the most expensive too) based on reviews but, it would be awesome if you can review it too.
Great content for us, cat lovers :)
Cheers!
i have same problem if cat sleeps live not working but its gets updates every 10 min
cat is near building bushes always can even hide under car tractive litle useless
hope they add option to switch update time to 1 minute or 5 minutes like china trackers
voice beep is so quaet in silicone case that i added airtag to be safe still its big problem find cat that updates every 10 minutes
if its was dog i atach phone to him
im thinking buy apple watch but its expencive the cellolar version
yeah we need someone to try this atto pro GPS tracker to decide if it's good or not
@@yolanda6283 I just bought one. I’ll try to give some feedback here after testing it a bit.
@@crowkangi how is your tracker working out so far?
I have also been using Tractive gps for 4 years and five units for my 5 outdoor cats. I have been happy with it until now. The new model, Tractive Mini has a ridiculously short battery life (ar. 12 hours) that is just too short for my wandering cats! The previous model's battery lasted ar. 3 days (on a battery save mode), which was just about bearable. Plus the new model gets stuck a lot and not working at all for a bit. So disappointing about the quality of Tractive getting worse instead of better! :-(
Thanks!
Thank YOU!
I just ordered two Tractives from your link. Thanks for all your hard work! I have one Whistle - but two cats. I don't let my cats out but maybe 10 times a year if I'm going to work in the garden. But I can't watch them the whole time and they will slink away without me knowing. I'm shocked at how far the Whistle shows my one cat will go (anywhere further than my yard is too far for my sanity). I like that Tractive has a sound and a light on the unit to help locate the animal. The Whistle I have (might be 4 or 5 years old?) does not.
When Tabcat becomes available again (been out of stock for maybe a year in the USA) I'm going to get two tabcat tags as well. I borrowed them from a friend and they were amazing for pinpointing where my cat was hiding.
I'd be cautious in one's expectations here. I got the Findster Duo a couple years ago and I found it to be useless, at least in my use case. Basically, it'd only give me a ballpark idea... almost literally... of where the tracker was. Additionally, the ground position it was indicating would jump around substantially... If you get in touch with the manufacturer they'll tell you to tweak this and tweak that on the unit. I think the bottom line is that these GPS trackers just aren't going to give you what many of us would call a really close fix on the cat's location. And cats are relatively small and are good at staying hidden. Primarily what I wanted to use it for is tracking my cat when we'd go for walks in the woods. My cat has a stroller, but she can also walk on a leash, but I'm wary of letting her off the leash, especially in the woods where she might get excited, run off, and she could be quite difficult to find. Particularly, for this application, I don't believe any of the GPS trackers would help much. I suppose an RF tracker might be my best bet if I were to try again, but I thought the one that gave the audible sound might also help. The other thing is that if you get one of these trackers: kinda like many of us get, and use backup software apps, the problem is that you commonly don't find out how well they really work till you have a problem and you need them... and then it's too late if it doesn't work very well. So, I'd definitely test it yourself to see if it'll work for your use case sufficiently well to meet your needs. Bottom line: I would temper your expectations.
My ideal tracker is two trackers. GPS (which I've had one for years, and is, as you say, not pinpoint accurate) and adding an RFID tracker in tandem. I don't let my cats out as a matter of course, but very very occasionally I will in the summer time. I only have one Whistle GPS tracker, so I'd only allow one out at a time, and I was horrified to see that while for the most part, the younger cat stayed in my yard, she also ventured out about 7 houses along my street in either direction. Horrifying because some of those homes have dogs. And she crosses my street, which isn't busy, but I hate seeing cats cross streets. Safest to keep cats indoors. But occasional short albeit risky adventures digitally tied to my phone is 2nd best.
I am looking for a tracker for exactly the same reason, for walking in the woods with my cats. Im still searching for one that's small enough that my cat would wear it
@@Sssssssslf Try the tabcat tracker (if you haven't found one already) It's very small, my cat got used to it when she was a kitten and barely notices it now. Battery lasts 6+ months & easy to replace - standard coin cell battery. Accuracy within a few cm, I've pinpointed her exactly a few times (all inside the house, it got me right to her when she was inside a couch & fully hidden) It's similar to the girafus one, but I trust the tabcat brand much more and they're roughly the same price. Range isn't huge, but most cats stay close by & worst case, walk around until you pick up the signal. It gives me so much peace of mind, just knowing I can hopefully find her if she gets out - and a far better chance than nothing, and better than gps/bluetooth for my use. And helps with the panic when I can't find her & thinking she somehow got outside, when she's just snoozing somewhere weird or got a bit spooked and hiding.
It's the best option I found for size, battery life, and accuracy (which was the most important to me) If my cat gets out, she'll be hiding somewhere, probably in a neighbours yard/garage or within a few closest streets. Being able to pinpoint location is very important if a cat is hiding and/or hurt - and if they're on a neighbouring property it'll be easier to work out which house, ask & then look with a signal pointing you to them.
If you do go with the tabcat, I recommend the set of 2 - makes switching batteries a lot easier, can put the other one right back on the collar and change the battery later. Also if one ever dies I want a backup, not to wait for a new one shipped out. I expect they'll be working for a long time though, mine are 3 years old and still perfect
Tractive is amazing for anyone looking for your cat in a typical neighborhood. It's perfect in its accuracy and we've found our cat even when hiding under bushes. You pay a small fee but considering what you get, it is well worth it!
I also will say that I had first had the girafus tracker and it's completely useless unless you're in an open field. Plus the pairing is not user friendly and taking the trackers apart to add batteries is very tedious and you have to start the whole process again. Respectfully, it has no business being on this list at all.
Well dang it I was just about to buy the girafus but saw your comment . I just don't trust the GPS in my neighborhood cuz the connection is so lousy so I was going to try one that I didn't have to worry about that with now I don't know what to do
I've been looking for a good tracker for my cats. What is the range for the tractive?
Which plan did you go for? Is the premium worth it?
@@meuyrobbins9681 It's GPS so it'll track it anywhere. There's not a range like a Bluetooth tracker.
@@emmie1176 I just have the regular plan and I'm more than happy with it.
My cat missing, may have been found, checking this afternoon when carer is home. Pictures look the same. I plan to buy a gps unit for him, so if he does this again, I can track him. Thanks for clearly stating the pros and cons of each type of tracker.
I really enjoyed how educational this was. This video was really helpful to learn about good cat products.
Happy to hear that. Thank you. :)
Thank you for this list, I only bought one cat from a shelter n he kept sneaking out n didn’t come home. Our cat Baby now is a roamer as well. We live very rural in northern Minnesota. Lots of wildlife to scuffle with. We’ve been lucky so far. I need that piece of mind of knowing where our stinker is.ty
Thank you for this video! This was what I was looking for 👍. Several kinds of trackers compared and rated.
I have had a Marco Polo for several years, and LOVE IT. Battery life is insanely good. I want to get a GPS unit to see specifically where my cat has gone, so this review was incredibly helpful. Thank you for all the hard work!
So you're saying Marco Polo is good but not good enough for you to continue with it? As someone who hasn't bought into any of this yet, should I just start with the GPS trackers?
A very thorough analysis. Very helpful. I have the older Com-Specialists radio frequency tracker - no longer available. I might be ready for a newer radio frequency version or GPS version. Thanks for overview!
Very much needed at this point of time. Thank you very much for this quality review 🙏🏻
The issue is , My cat doesn't want to wear a Collar😂😂😂😂🤦♂️
Although my cats are all indoor cats, I have one like that. He's all black so I bought him a collar with diamonte studs and put a Sterling Silver charm on it. He looked very dapper but hated it and would take it off. He did this one night just before I was going to bed so I put it on the mantelpiece. Next day it was gone and I've never found it despite looking everywhere for it. HE knows where it is but he's not going to let on. I have a feeling it is under a heavy unit we have.
@Insomniac lol any collar I’ve put on my cats have came off & got lost
put it in its ass👌🏽👍🏽
try putting it on and immediately bring out your cats favorite toy to distract them, after a while they’ll forget about it and leave it on
My problem is neighbors who dont want the responsibility of owning a cat but still wanting to get there own and keeping other ppls cats hostage for several days😅
its good to learn about cat trackers. i was going to give one to my sister for christmas since she has an indoor/outdoor cat. and shes curious what he gets up to outside of the house. tractive seems perfect but it sucks that its subscription based. it makes it harder to gift things like this to other people.
I bought a WhistleGo Tracker after watching your first video in October of 2020, it's a overall a great tracker and has deterred my cat from being stolen or taken like his siblings have, however I have 2 acres of land in my neighborhood of over 1000 houses which is big compared to those houses around me, and Whistle won't start tracking my cat until hes in the middle of my neighbors yard, it would be like 3 houses away for a normal person's yard.
It's frustrating because I let my cat out for 4 to 5 hours a day for exercise & play time and for the most part he stays in my yard, but there have been times that I couldn't find my own cat in my own yard with storms coming in because Whistle says it won't track him if hes in range of my wifi router, turning my router range lower hasn't helped nor has making my geo fence smaller. In short if your cat is out of your yard, you'll find him within 10 feet of where the Whistle gps says, if not exactly where, but in your own yard you're screwed!
Boo hoo you're too rich for the cat tracker wahhh
Very good tips! Now I’m more aware of the cat trackers possibiliteis ❤️ cheers from Brazil!
What do you think about Vodafone curve and Samsung tag trackers? ?
I have Tile. It's ok. You have to be walking fairly close to the Tile for it to pick it up. A nice walk around the property helps me find my cat.
I love your channel. Thank you for providing so much useful information!
Thanks for watching!
First, thank you for your energy and information! You are a blessing to us all! I Just bought a bluetooth tracker (out of ignorance)...absolutely totally wortheless as far
as pinpointing the cat...only use is informing if the transmitter is "in range". Finding a lost cat? HA. As far as your recommendations on the rf device..."worked multiple times" really
does not help much...3 out of 100 times? 3 out of 4 times? Not trying to be a jerk here...but please be specific in relaying your info. to us. Again not trying to be a jerk, which i think
i AM being, but just FYI. Thanks for all your videos and info!!!
Thank you!
thank you is not really an answer.
@@SUPERFLY-ky7yh You're right. I'm sorry. Frankly, I couldn't remember how many times I tested the trackers because I'd done this process a few times with over a year in between. This person is right; the test wasn't well-controlled and the video didn't give enough detail as a result. Sorry about that; I hope it's still helpful, even though it's imperfect.
@@AllAboutCatsYT lighten up. I was simply pointing out ways in which the information could be clarified for the viewer. I am a scientist and
am well educated in statistics, etc., and prob. am more critical about these things simply bc of my education/training. I think Mallory was just saying
'thanks" for my pointing this out to her. I wasnt demanding answers and I dont think she took it that way. Geez.
Thank you for your effort putting this together.
I've previously used loc8tor and whilst it worked pretty well to start with, within a year or 2 of owning it had gone on the blink and couldn't even located the tabs that went missing - let alone find any affordable replacements for that so given up with that entirely and would never buy again.
Might consider the others in your review, ours hardly go out but I don't want to be one of those regretful people who wished they could fall back on something they never had.
This is a very great video now that was informative
Thank you! Good to have for cats that are allowed to roam outside 👍
Excellent! A very thoughtful and comprehensive review! Helped me with my choice....
Thank you so much for this video. It was so helpful. My cat has started to stay out for many days at a time and want to know where he is, if someone is taking him in and feeding him, or if he hunts for himself. He's not extremely hungry when he comes home. I'm gonna try the first one. Thank you ❤
Thank you for the thorough review. Ill def get myself some xenomorph scanner!
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thank u I really like the Marco Polo one
This was so helpful, thank you so much!!
Thanks Mallory, you seem like a pro at this! I think I'm going to try the Girafus first.
Incredibly well researched and presented! Thanks a lot.
very helpful, thank you!
You look great babes, thanks for the recommendations!
Marco Polo tracker looks like a ghostbusters stuff :)
This is a really great review; would love to see an update if the technology has improved or if there are new options to consider.
Thanks, this will be helpful. Im still weighing my options.
You always due an amazing job. Thank you for that.
Thank you for great videos you make!
Thank you, this was very helpful. The problem for me is that I'm not techy, so it seems to be a little complicated to learn how to use these things.
I understand. But if you're able to get onto UA-cam and write this comment, I'm sure you can use a cat tracker. :)
I got Tractive. It may or may not work out for you, depending on the person. But it did not work out for me. My cat went missing for four days after getting the tracker. I found him after the battery has died, and on top of that, his tracker disappeared. So I decided to get a refund on the subscription since it hasn't been a month since I've used it. The website said that I can get a refund within the first 30 days. So I canceled the subscription. But it turned out to be a big mistake because I did not get my money back. I found on a different page, the website said I can't get a refund if I cancel my subscription instead of terminating my subscription. So my $200 went down the drain. I was devastated. It does not make sense to me why they decide they will not refund me the money because I didn't terminate my subscription. Terminating the subscription is no longer an option after canceling my subscription. Even when the subscription is no longer canceled, the option to terminate and get my refund is just not an option anymore.
If you want to risk getting Tractive, keep in mind that if you want to get a refund within 30 days after purchase, you have to terminate your subscription, not cancel it.
Edit: 12/14 I got my money back. It is unfortunate that the tracker didn't work out for me. If anyone plans to get this, make sure you get a good secure collar. I have seen reviews that they kept having the tracker replaced and having to pay for shipping over and over. It's the not tracker itself that gets lost, it's the collar that loses the tracker. The tracker can attach to any collar.
I'm glad you got your money back. Sounds like it was a hassle.
Yes, the collar is important. Break-away collars do just that. The cat can and sometimes are pretty good at losing it. Non break-away and that cat can get stuck. I went with flexible, stretch collars, non-break away and that seems to work. The cat only came home without the collar once.
A tracker that makes a noise or a blinking light can be helpful if you have a break-away collar.
thats so funny, at 8min on your video there is a sound of this devise. my cat was like "WTF MAN IS IT?!?!?" xd
Overall, great video! Thanks for the reviews. But this really is incomplete without an AirTag consideration. The cost and capability is too compelling for Apple users for it not to be included here. FYI, I have two first gen Jiobits that I bought for my children in 2018 that I now use for our cat with their new collar “pocket” that doesn’t hang down. As long as he is within wifi range, the battery life is almost two weeks! I swap the the units when the battery life gets to about 25% to make sure we’ve got enough charge to find him if necessary. I’m considering also using the AirTag because it’s so small and inexpensive and may eventually give up on the Jiobits subscription.
Thanks for pointing that out. I feel bad-the AirTag 100% should have been mentioned, even though I don't have an Apple device to pair with it. Maybe we can make a video reviewing it on its own. Appreciate the feedback!
@@AllAboutCatsYT It just occurred to me that your location seems to be a fair bit more rural than my own and, perhaps, many of your viewers. So you’ll actually have a hard time demonstrating the capability of Apple AirTags if/when you try to review them because of the lower density of iOS users around you compared to urban dwellers. That’s a disclaimer you’ll have to make, I suppose…
@@leebuby7461 Great point. There are definitely some challenges to overcome. Thanks!
@Lee Does it work on 6s? iphone?
@@agnesnoyb9492 No, I believe only with iPhone 11 and later running iOS 14.5 or later. And if it wasn’t clear, the potential power of AirTag lies in living in a relatively dense population of other iOS users.
I have been using Tractive devise on my cat for about a month. I really love the idea of the product. It gives me peace of mind knowing where he is and where he’s been. That said there are several things that need improvement
First, it would be great if the company was easier to contact for support or questions. There is no direct contact and a replay took days
As for the tracker itself, the receiver is large and bulky too big for cats. My male cat has broken his collar off several times as he crawled into/thru small spaces. And a breakaway collar for cats is a must.
The tracker needs improved is reception. It is slow to load when “live” is activated and I routinely get error messages that says “signal too weak”. I like the ability to set up virtual fences, but would like a panic alarm for an option.
Lastly, the light and sound options are useless. It is a tiny light that can not be seen if there is any kind of ambient light, like streetlights. The sound is difficult to hear even when the tracker is held next to your ear. It is impossible to hear it from even a few feet away.
All that being said, it still seems to be the best option currently on the market and l do like it. Hopefully their R&D department can work on some of these issues to make the Trackive better.
I just got a Tractive for my cat and am comparing it with the Marco Polo RF tracker. Tractive only added to its UA-cam channel with a series of 30 second clips about features. They were too short IMO to give any real information (ie setting up a virtual fence) and they disabled commenting. This is never a good sign. A lot of good companies get marketing information from comments and sometimes complaints about poor customer service get faster action when the comments are public on social media.
They hide behind E-Mail, they are a terrible company, do not buy from them, no support at all. RUN
I wish I'd seen this before making a purchase, but already bought 2 smart tag + trackers, cause they work with my phone. GPS trackers but most similar to the blue tooth one you described at the end. Not great for location but they tell me when I'm within about 40-50 feet. It gives me pings when the cat passes by another Sensor, so I sometimes know which way to walk.
While not great, those Smart Tag + GPS trackers have done the trick and I've been able to track down my cat successfully when tested. Ever since I moved into a first floor apartment with the front door going right outside, my cats have decided that they are outdoor cats whether I like it or not, so the trackers give me that extra piece of mind. Even a so-so tracker like the smart tag + is so much better than nothing at all.
My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat that’s loves being outside mostly. Once the warm weather comes back, like it has now, he goes on big expeditions. He’s been gone for FOUR days now. I’m worried, but he’s done this before ever since he turned a year old in 2019. I have faith he’ll come back, and when he does i’m getting him a GPS tracker ASAP. I can’t sleep knowing he’s out and about. He’s a tough boy and there’s no threats to him in our neighborhood, but it’s scary for me nonetheless. Thanks for this video.
Has your cat returned? Please tell me you don’t have coyotes in your area. Those pieces of sh!# have killed my cat, my brother’s cat, and dozens of other people we know here in Alabama.
Before the nasty coyotes really arrived here (they aren’t native) my cat Alley disappeared for almost 5 weeks. I was devastated and had been in Northern California working at a Christian ranch for 3 weeks. I was really struggling and still holding out hope, but it didn’t look good. She’d been gone 2 sleepless weeks before I even left for California. One morning I raised my hand during morning prayer request and explained my situation. The leader of the ranch prayed in front of about 300 people for Alley to return. As God as my witness, I got a call 2 hours later from my parents that a skinny, but unharmed Alley just wandered up to our back door. That happened…I don’t know if you’re a believer/religious or not, but regardless, I’m only sharing all of this just to give you hope in case your little friend hasn’t come back yet. I’ve had it go both ways and it can be absolute torture.
@@adamwyker4800 love your story. Thanks for sharing. I also prayed for my cat to return and he did! I am now going to put a tracker on him so I don't worry so much
Hi sister Thanks for your nice video. i lost my for a short time and it is a warning sign . So that why i am back to see your video again
Great video, thank you.
As usual, very nice and informative video.
Thanks!
I had both the tile and airtag and the airtag is much better :)
Thank you for sharing this!
@Selvynna Does it work on 6s iphone?
we have used both (currently AirTag). We modified the tile to light up instead of ringing to find because the cat hated the Sound (but it broke a little while ago. Need to modify another). Still would rather want gps to find more precisely…
Thank you for your help Mallory. This is so helpful, hope you and your cats are well!!
Thanks, Jared. We're all doing well.
pardon, but to clarify...the most accurate GPS is the Geobit....so i assume increased cost is the reason it did not get first place vs the Tractive? Thanks again!! (personally,
I would rather pay more more for a more accurate tracker...searching for a lost cat is no fun).
You got it! The Tractive tracker is a bit more fun and crowd-pleasing, but the Jiobit seems to be a more solid device if you're willing to pay for it.
@@AllAboutCatsYT thanks for reply...i cant find the Marcopolo for sale now so i went with Girafus...thank you!
well done, however you should consider revising this once you have tested more bluetooth trackers. Tile has a very limited user base, unlike the apple air tage and the Samsung air tag. Plus, Tile charges for features that the others include for free, and also tile has no replaceable battery.
Love the videos. Maybe test the companies customer service as well. I have used Girafus product for 3 years. It’s gone downhill over the years and the customer service is TeRRible! Switching to a new product. I’m looking into Tabcat bc I live in wooded area and can not use gps. Would love a review of that product from you ❤!
Keep up the good work😊
What do you recommend? I'm really confused to what to choose, I want one that I can see where my cat is even for a long distance
Thorough.
Thank you!
We have the Whistle for our cats, but we’ve already lost two of them because their collars get pulled off and the battery dies. And it $140 each, they are not cheap to replace.
I am thinking of buying the Tractive option. My cat keeps disappearing for 1-3 days and each time he comes home his collar with his name tag and our phone numbers is OFF! He's an ultra friendly cat and we have reason to believe that someone keeps stealing him and keeping him indoors. He comes home hungry and smelling like really nasty cat pee house (if you can imagine that smell) It's getting really expensive buying him a new tag and collar every week so we are pretty fed up and want to find whoever is taking our cat so we can confront them. We also don't have the option to keep him indoors because he LOVES being outside so much. We don't even own a litter box, he trained himself like a dog to meow at the door to let him out to go potty then he comes back in.
great vid!
Just wondering if pet owners would be interested in a GPS/GSM tracker that would have no need for a third party website with ongoing fees. The tracker would send live updates directly to your mobile phone App at a 6s update rate. The owner could use any SIM card they wished in the tracker and that SIM card would incur no charges given it would never send data or make an outgoing call. Only the uses mobile phone contacting the tracker would incur charges - coming out of their contract bundle anyway. Probably around the $60 mark for the device but that is all it would do - send live 6s GPS position updates when contacted.
Definitely sounds interesting to me. I can see reviewing that one and recommending it as the "best without ongoing fees"-something we haven't seen many examples of.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Thanks for getting back. It's an example of what is possible but is never made as there is no money in it for the business men/women. The business model now is to sell hardware at close to cost price and then make money from ongoing monthly fees. If you can build a GPS/GSM cat tracker that gives you live tracking without any website fees and without even any GSM costs for the tracker other than from the uses mobile phone then there is no way of making any money!
Hi! I am going to try the girafus tracker. I like the fact that it's light weight. Thanks!
can you share an update? am also leaning towards it.
Good review. Thanks for this...very helpful.
Thanks for your sharing❤️🐈
Wessie is so handsome!!
Great video! Really appreciate the work and the review - saves me hours of time doing same, myself. I would like to know three things:
1. The floating box at the beginning of the video says something about...(forgot the exact term...) "product placement" or "sponsored" or something. I would like to know what you were offered, in exchange for recommending each of the products.
2. Do you have an opinion about using Apple airtags (seem to be much like the RF tile solution, only with lots more users in the network) to keep track of kitties?
3. This is actually my biggest concern: have you done any research into the long-term effects of having any of these devices permanently in close proximity to the brain and thyroid/parathyroid glands? I always wonder if the frequencies they put out are going to cause some kind of long-term damage. Thoughts on this?
Thanks again!
I was about to buy the tractive but the subscription is a huge turn off
Would really like an update to best cat trackers now, it's been over 2 years
what are the best that don’t require a monthly subscription? (Not radio frequency)
Hi there
You are awesome ! I bought the Protractor from Girafus based on your review👍 It works really well for my wanderer boy. Have you looked into the safety of RF vs GPS vs Blue Tooth regarding EMF affect on sensitive glands and tissues of the neck and head etc. I thought RF would be safer but maybe I am wrong ?
Thanks a ton for all of your efforts and very useful information
Andrea ❤️🐈⬛❤️
Many thanks for the informative video! I hope u can consider doing a review on Apple AirTag to be used on tracking cats? Many thanks!
Thank you for the request! This is a great idea.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Many thanks, Mallory! 😸😺✌️
I have an AirTag and am happy with it. I got it to replace the Tile tracker which was unsatisfactory. The Tile was inaccurate - I would have it in my hand and the app would say it’s two doors down. More importantly, the Tile was not waterproof like the AirTag - if a cat drinks water and the tag gets wet it stops working, permanently.
What is the covering distance for 1/ GPS tracker 2/ Blue toothe tracker 3/ Radio tracker ? Thank you
Hey friend good morning I adopt cat about 4 months ago I watch your video very helpful I have few questions should I feed my cat dry food or wet food or both and how can I do that. Normally I feed her wet food early in the morning once a day. I have tried different brand but I think my cat like Fancy feast I just want to know I should keep that way giving her wet food once a day or just keep her on dry food which one is better. Thank you for your time have a blessed day and I love your videos very helpful.
Hi there! You might appreciate our article on the best cat food: allaboutcats.com/best-cat-food
Just bought it, should deliver by tomorrow, damn thing better work !
Hope it works for you!
DId it work?
Wish me luck - going to try and put one on Mona (she has been missing for a few days at a time lately)
Thank you
Is the Tractive safe for the cat? Mine always wants to go on roofs +3 stories high, in our small village. Last time he disappeared for 25 hours and I’m considering the Tractive if it’s safe enough for him, i.e. does it heat up during prolonged sun exposure? will it be a hazard if it get stucks in some branches/pigeons spikes? thx!
Hey there! I was looking into the girafus collar. I think its the most sensible for my purposes (I like tractive but in Canada they dont have a monthly subscription and given that my cat refuses to go out most of the year, the annual plan isnt ideal). If my cat does get out of range, and you walk around, would it reconnect when within range?
Hi. Your videos are always thorough and sincere. Thank you.
I bought a Girafus tracker for my cats. But now I find that cat collars can be dangerous and break away collars are best. Do break away collars only break off if a cat is stuck, or can a cat get it off itsef? Also if a cat is walking on a leash and pukl at it, will it.break away?
I have just adopted.some stray kittens and they need to be ket out, but are young. About 6 months old. Need to track them. PLEASE ADVISE.
Hey there! Sorry about the late reply. Collars and trackers are what you might call a catch-22. You only want to use a breakaway collar for the cat's safety, but they make it more likely that you'll lose the trackers. There's really not that much you can do about it. Hopefully, you'll be able to catch it soon enough that you could track down the missing tracker, but once the battery dies, it'll get a lot harder.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Thanks. The tracker can still be located... its the cat that we won't be able to track. Thanks though, it's clearer now.
Hi I love all of your videos!!!!! Question... why did you choose tractive as number one over jiobit? Was it size, gps locator, price. I trust your opinions.
They have a little price advantage over Jiobit, but the second is a better product in almost every area. If you can afford it, I'd opt for the Jiobit.
Thank you, may i ask are there any tracking collars with cameras?