We got the cats activity trackers with GPS

NorthCascades
NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My neighbor bought six, and gave me three. Bear and Pixie have been wearing them for more than a month, the kittens use them more sporadically. They're still smol and need a harness to carry the tracker, whereas grown up cats just attach them to the collar.

Pixie used to be a stray and demands to spend her days outside. One night she didn't come in, her GPS and our phone app took us right to her.

Humans are recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week; cats are supposed to get 160 minutes per day. They don't have jobs, so it's an easy goal for them. Bear is on a 34 day streak. He hasn't made today's goal yet, it rained this morning.

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Good boy, Bear!! You're a rock star!

We get a leaderboard, like Strava for cats. 🙂

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The GPS is great when we need to find them, it's also been fun to learn where they spend their time away from home. Pixie has friends she likes to visit.

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Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Sahale in the foreground has her tracker zip tired to her harness. She's having a meeting with a neighborhood cat we've been calling Badger. Badger is friendly, he got the name because of the colors.

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  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    Great stuff.

    I'm reminded of a cartoon I saw. The cat relaxing in his cat bed and thinking, "I remember when I used to get by on only 20 hours of sleep."

    I saw a doc a few years ago where they tracked multiple cats in a neighborhood with GPS. Very interesting that a couple of them shared the same territory, but at different times. Thus they avoided stressful fight potential, while still feeling like they owned it.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,198 Member
    edited August 2022
    Oh, man, that would be really interesting! (Also, what the heck will they think of next?!)
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 456 Member
    What brand are those? I've been looking for a GPS unit for Panda. He also used to be a stray and refuses to give up his outdoor privileges. He was also stolen and dumped (or escaped from his captors?) at one point. It's a miracle we got him back... GPS would've been very helpful!
    tf4uyr7nh4wl.jpg
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    What brand are those? I've been looking for a GPS unit for Panda. He also used to be a stray and refuses to give up his outdoor privileges. He was also stolen and dumped (or escaped from his captors?) at one point. It's a miracle we got him back... GPS would've been very helpful!
    tf4uyr7nh4wl.jpg

    Ours are tractive. We haven't used any other ones (except Air Tags, which aren't great for this) so I can't say how it compares. I think the neighbor paid $35 each per tracker, we also have a $5/month data plan for them. It uses its own cellular to share the cat's location, so we can find them without any concerns about going out of range.
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 456 Member
    Thanks! Dude was gone for a month & turned up 15 km away and across a major highway. I absolutely do not believe he got there on his own.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,604 Member
    I love that there’s a leaderboard! This is brilliant 🤣
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    Thanks! Dude was gone for a month & turned up 15 km away and across a major highway. I absolutely do not believe he got there on his own.

    😳

    I'm with you on that.
  • rjan91
    rjan91 Posts: 194 Member
    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    What brand are those? I've been looking for a GPS unit for Panda. He also used to be a stray and refuses to give up his outdoor privileges. He was also stolen and dumped (or escaped from his captors?) at one point. It's a miracle we got him back... GPS would've been very helpful!
    tf4uyr7nh4wl.jpg

    Aww man your boy looks like my Georgie that I lost a few years ago!

    15xozzufzjnm.jpg
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 456 Member
    rjan91 wrote: »
    SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »
    What brand are those? I've been looking for a GPS unit for Panda. He also used to be a stray and refuses to give up his outdoor privileges. He was also stolen and dumped (or escaped from his captors?) at one point. It's a miracle we got him back... GPS would've been very helpful!
    tf4uyr7nh4wl.jpg

    Aww man your boy looks like my Georgie that I lost a few years ago!

    15xozzufzjnm.jpg

    Oh wow, what a resemblance!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Since it's tux time. This is a kitten that showed up yesterday, she is a daughter of the stray cat we rescued, so a big sister to my kittens.

    20220820-161437.jpg

    This is my Snowy, that cat's younger brother.

    20220818-204048.jpg

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