Outdoor Kitty
Since my little darling often stays outside for a long time, I wanted to have a certain level of security and was (and am) also curious about where she hangs out. When Fressnapf had a GPS tracker for cats at a discount before Christmas, I was intrigued. The main selling point for me was that there was no subscription cost, at least for the first two years. After that, the maximum fee is around 10 euros per year! Compared to the other offers, some of which already charge this amount per month, it seemed worth giving it a shot.
Said and Done: The Tracker
Overall acceptance is good (she didn’t even notice and it’s not that heavy – but it’s also pretty big and fluffy). The fact that you don’t need a subscription is of course great. And even if they should charge 10 EUR per year, I don’t mind – it’s two beers less per year.
The outdoor accuracy is okay, but rather moderate indoors – this includes wooden barns. The battery life is also rather “meh”: I only let her outside with a fully charged tracker after she unfortunately ran away on New Year’s Eve. With a battery level of 30%, I would have expected more than approx. 12 hours of remaining battery life (without even live tracking!). It is charged with a magnetic puck via USB. Charging is pretty fast, and you can check the battery level via LEDs or the app. The bundle does not include a power supply, but most people probably have a suitable wall mount.
I didn’t have to search for the tracker yet. She wears it on the safety collar (and yes, it does open – to counteract any concerns). If the battery level is sufficient, you can activate a flashlight via the app to find the tracker in the grass. The light is not very bright though, so I doubt I’d ever find it again in high grass.
The App
In my opinion, the app is rather spartan, e.g. activity tracking like with tractive is missing. At least I could not find it. But honestly, it is also more of a gimmick like “Oh, my cat walked a lot more than your lazy bum…”. Functions have somehow never been tested: For instance, I could not activate OSM maps. Some are a bit tricky from time to time: zooming during live tracking is quite unreliable.
What I miss most is a geofencing function: apparently, it’s in beta, so it would be nice if that came out soon. Since I may not install a cat flap, it would be beneficial if I got a notification that Mia is at the front door. Maybe support knows when something is coming – I would also like to participate in the beta program.
Conclusion
I would probably buy the GPS tracker for cats from Fressnapf again. You have to be aware of the limitations but all in all the price-performance ratio is right for me.