One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet

LONDON — ''Have you seen the cats?''

That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost.

If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected.

If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them.

How pet tech works

Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home Wi-Fi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app.

There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter.

Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity.

Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters.

Phone signals

Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it.

They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America.

That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America ''unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,'' Bleiman said.

What it costs

Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than $100. However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function.

While that could cost $100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the ''peace of mind,'' Bleiman said.

Battery life

The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions.

One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to Wi-Fi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone.

Other features

Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis.

But be aware, a tracker is ''not going to keep your pet in the backyard," Bleiman said. It will only "alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.''

How to use it

This One TechTip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him.

Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn't like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence.

Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighboring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3 a.m, then came back after an hour to nap some more.

It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app's ''heatmap," one of Maple's favorite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously.

Losing track

About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off.

If you can't find your pet's exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a ''radar'' feature to pinpoint it with your phone's Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features.

On the app's map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn't figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbors, I gave up.

Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don't like collars, but I'm not convinced.

Microchips

It's common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they've strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years.

Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There's no federal law in the U.S., though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities.

But there's some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don't have a power supply, they can't be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details.

Air Tags and similar devices are another option

Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple's Air Tags, Samsung's SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones.

Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters), depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there's no need to pay for a subscription.

However, they're not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn't stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they've posted in online forums.

Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for ''in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs'' and warns against using them on "larger dog breeds and outdoor cats."

Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners.

''Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you're in a downtown urban core,'' Bleiman said. ''But pets move fast. And if you're in a wooded park, or you're in a suburban area — let alone a more rural or wilderness area — it's pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device."

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