Tile/airtag on cat collar?

[IndyJones]

Anyone have experience with Tile or airtags on cats? I have had a couple people suggest I put an airtag on Bond but I don't have an apple phone mine is a samsung, I looked around and apperently Tile works with both samsung and apple devices.

Has anyone attached a Tile or simmaler device to their cats collar? If so how well does it work and how did you mount it?

 

[Kieka]

I've tried similar ideas in the past. The tiles themselves aren't bad but the do rely on a device with Tile installed being within Bluetooth range. Which does mean that, typically, the further you are from it the less likely it is to be exact. It may only be able to give you a last known location instead of where the cat is at any given moment unless people around you also have the tile app.

AirTag only works notably better on a whole because it passively uses every apple device without having to worry about a specific app being installed and allowed. They have a built in larger network basically.

That said, it's still not a bad idea to have one as a backup method. And most indoor cats won't go super far from home if they do go out. Even most outdoor cats will stay within a two mile radius (at least mine always have) so doing some intelligent grid searching of an area can help you find a hiding cat even if you are the only device with the tile app in your immediate area.

 

[IndyJones]

I've tried similar ideas in the past. The tiles themselves aren't bad but the do rely on a device with Tile installed being within Bluetooth range. Which does mean that, typically, the further you are from it the less likely it is to be exact. It may only be able to give you a last known location instead of where the cat is at any given moment unless people around you also have the tile app.

AirTag only works notably better on a whole because it passively uses every apple device without having to worry about a specific app being installed and allowed. They have a built in larger network basically.

That said, it's still not a bad idea to have one as a backup method. And most indoor cats won't go super far from home if they do go out. Even most outdoor cats will stay within a two mile radius (at least mine always have) so doing some intelligent grid searching of an area can help you find a hiding cat even if you are the only device with the tile app in your immediate area.

Bond ran two houses down when he got out and I ended up hurting my foot on the debries in my neighbours yard (garbage hoarders). He would have ran further if there wasn't a fence.

He is so fast he can be out the door in a second if its left open. I thought with one of these devices I could track him down easier if he gets out.

 

[Kieka]

I have a tile in my luggage that's in the garage, according to my tile app the last known ping for my luggage is from when I went in the garage this evening to grab something out of the outside freezer. I was sitting in the kitchen, which is the closest room to the garage, and the app didn't ping the tile. I'd say the range is maybe 20 feet? If you are further then that then you will just get the last location that the tile was when it was within 20 feet of your phone. Unless a neighbor happens to have tile on their phone too, it may be more so a game of walking around until you pick up a signal. Honestly, tiles are more suitable for finding stationary cats who are hiding and that doesn't sound like your situation.

I've used this one before, Tabcat Cat Tracker V2 - The Smart Way to Keep Your Feline Safe and Sound, it too requires you to be in range but instead of 20 feet of your bluetooth it's 500 feet. In my experience, it was able to tell me which direction my cat was from me and roughly how far away based on signal strength. I was able to find my cats direction from several houses away or walk until I could narrow it down. I'd personally go with the TabCat over Tile because Tile depends too much on luck of others and stationary to be of use. TabCat will adjust directionally as your cats moves even if they move further away. Plus it is real time directional not just last ping near your phone. I only stopped using it because Link thought losing his collar was a fun game (okay, really he liked taking it off to carry around but sometimes would drop it when a dust mote caught his attention and forgot where he left it, I still find random cats toys scattered around the yard) and I got tired of finding a collar but no cat. Rocket one day decided collars were demons and screamed until I took it off. Fury still wears his collar (with a dashing tie) but he also comes running at the pop of the treat jar 100% of the time so not really a point in tagging him.

I've also tried GPS but have yet to find one that doesn't require frequent recharges. And with my crew it was a pain to constantly be changing batteries or taking it off to charge. Plus most true GPS require subscriptions.

 

[Bellspurr]

Anyone have experience with Tile or airtags on cats? I have had a couple people suggest I put an airtag on Bond but I don't have an apple phone mine is a samsung, I looked around and apperently Tile works with both samsung and apple devices.

Has anyone attached a Tile or simmaler device to their cats collar? If so how well does it work and how did you mount it?

I don't use tahs, i microchip, but the safest thing is to not let your cats outside,it is so dangerous and reduces their lifespan by 45%

 

[Kieka]

I don't use tahs, i microchip, but the safest thing is to not let your cats outside,it is so dangerous and reduces their lifespan by 45%

A lot of people like to cite that number but I have yet to figure out where it is coming from. There are studies on stray cats versus pet cats, and yes in many cases the stray uncared for cats did have significantly shorter lifespans. Which seems like a very expected outcome if we compare anyone with unlimited access to food, shelter and medical care versus someone who has uncertainity and has to take dangerous risks for the same three items there is bound to be a marked difference in lifespan. Care becomes a major factor in lifespan and I have yet to find a study that accounts for cared outdoor cats versus cared indoor cats. In fact, in Europe where roughly 90% of cats are outdoors or have outdoor access regularly their lifespans aren't drastically shorter then their pet equivalents in other countries. A UK study found that UK pet cats have an average lifespan of 14 years and UC Davis found the average lifespan for a cat to be about 10 years; numbers that actually argue that UK owners letting 70% of their cats outdoors have longer lifespans then their USA counterparts where the number is closer to 30% let their cats outdoors. I have always had indoor/outdoor cats and they have all either lived into their teens or were taken out by non-communicable diseases before that.

I think this posting actually explores the debate in an interesting way, The Great Outdoors (Debate)

In the end, I think that we need to all really consider our own situations and decide what is best for our families (including our cats) without judging what choices others make.

 

[IndyJones]

Bond is an indoor cat this device would be to track him if he got out. He does door dash and is realy hard to catch when he does. He is microchipped but I cannot track his microchip.

 

[Kieka]

Bond is an indoor cat this device would be to track him if he got out. He does door dash and is realy hard to catch when he does. He is microchipped but I cannot track his microchip.

Not to mention, Microchips only work if the person finding the animal has access to a scanner and the animal is actually registered in the system they have access to.

 

[IndyJones]

Not to mention, Microchips only work if the person finding the animal has access to a scanner and the animal is actually registered in the system they have access to.

Exactly. Bond has a collar with his name and my phone number on it.

 

[Bellspurr]

A lot of people like to cite that number but I have yet to figure out where it is coming from. There are studies on stray cats versus pet cats, and yes in many cases the stray uncared for cats did have significantly shorter lifespans. Which seems like a very expected outcome if we compare anyone with unlimited access to food, shelter and medical care versus someone who has uncertainity and has to take dangerous risks for the same three items there is bound to be a marked difference in lifespan. Care becomes a major factor in lifespan and I have yet to find a study that accounts for cared outdoor cats versus cared indoor cats. In fact, in Europe where roughly 90% of cats are outdoors or have outdoor access regularly their lifespans aren't drastically shorter then their pet equivalents in other countries. A UK study found that UK pet cats have an average lifespan of 14 years and UC Davis found the average lifespan for a cat to be about 10 years; numbers that actually argue that UK owners letting 70% of their cats outdoors have longer lifespans then their USA counterparts where the number is closer to 30% let their cats outdoors. I have always had indoor/outdoor cats and they have all either lived into their teens or were taken out by non-communicable diseases before that.

I think this posting actually explores the debate in an interesting way, The Great Outdoors (Debate)

In the end, I think that we need to all really consider our own situations and decide what is best for our families (including our cats) without judging what choices others make.

It's imposible for a cat to get runover inside your house. Unless the care you're referring to includes bringing your cat outside on a harness and supervised, it doesn't matter how much you. love them. they can get bitten by other animals outside that are not in your house, they can get runover, the can fight, they can catch diseases, they can get poisoned, they can get abused....animals need us to protect them, loving an animal means protecting them, If you like the outdoors so much build a catio.

 

[Kieka]

It's imposible for a cat to get runover inside your house. Unless the care you're referring to includes bringing your cat outside on a harness and supervised, it doesn't matter how much you. love them. they can get bitten by other animals outside that are not in your house, they can get runover, the can fight, they can catch diseases, they can get poisoned, they can get abused....animals need us to protect them, loving an animal means protecting them, If you like the outdoors so much build a catio.

This specific thread is regarding a tracker for an indoor cat in case they get outside. Indoor cats who get outside are at risk of those same dangers if they aren't found quickly.