Collarian™ - Cat GPS Tracker

I am not a technology person. At all. My daughter had to set up my wifi last Christmas and I still don't understand the cloud. But she got me this for Whiskers because he's been getting out through the garage and she worries.

She put the collar on him and paired it to my phone in maybe 5 minutes. Showed me how to open the app, and it's the same one that finds my phone when I lose it in the couch cushions. There's a little dot that shows where he is. That's it. I don't need to charge it or connect it to anything or pay for anything monthly. I just look at the dot.

He was in the Hendersons' backyard this morning. I knew that already because their dog was barking but now I have proof lol

We have 11 acres and three barn cats. Hank is the one who worries me — he goes WAY further than the other two and I've seen coyote tracks along the creek more than once this year. My wife found this collar and honestly I didn't think much of it. Figured it was another bluetooth thing that'd lose signal past the barn.

It's not. It uses cell service. Actual GPS. I can see exactly where he is from my phone and he usually ends up about 600 feet past the tree line which is further than I thought. Now I check before I lock up for the night. If he's too far out I just go get him. Three months in and it's amazing!

I lost my cat Mochi in 2022. Indoor cat, never went outside on purpose. My roommate left the back door open while carrying groceries and that was it. We searched for two weeks. Put up flyers everywhere. I still think about it.

When I adopted Nori last year I told myself I would never go through that again. This was literally the first thing I bought before I even bought a litter box. I know it sounds dramatic but I cannot describe to you the feeling of opening Find My and seeing exactly where she is. She's an indoor cat and she's probably never going to get out. But if she does I'm not spending two weeks wondering. I'm walking straight to her.

Sorry for the long post. This one just hits different when you've been on the other side of it.

Putting this out there because I wish someone told me sooner. I had an AirTag on Beans' collar for almost a year. Felt good about it. Responsible cat dad and all that.

Then he didn't come home one night. I checked Find My and it showed him at home. Refreshed it five times. Still at home. He was very clearly NOT at home. Turns out the AirTag hadn't updated in like 8 hours because no one with an iPhone walked close enough to pick up the signal. We live in a quiet neighborhood. Not rural. Just… quiet.

Found him the next morning under a neighbor's deck three houses down. Fine, thank god. But I was done. Bought this the same week. It uses cell towers, not other people's phones. It updates on its own. I've tested it — I can see him move in close to real time. Not the same thing as the AirTag at all and I don't understand why more people don't know that.

Three cats. All outdoor. Judge me if you want lol but they've been indoor/outdoor their whole lives and they're happier for it.

The problem was I never knew which one was where. Pepper stays close. Miso is usually on the neighbor's roof (sorry Janet). But Clementine is the wanderer, and she's been gone 6+ hours before and I've paced the house the entire time.

Got the 3-pack because obviously. Each one paired to my phone through Find My and I can see all three. Clementine goes to the park at the end of our street apparently?? Which is further than I thought but at least now I KNOW. That's the thing. You stop panicking when you can just look.

Okay update for everyone who told me to let Mango outside. We did it. He's been indoor only for 3 years and we finally started doing supervised yard time this spring.

The problem was I was basically standing in the yard hovering over him like a helicopter parent the entire time. My girlfriend was like why don't you just get a GPS for him so you can actually relax. I looked at Tractive but $13/month for a subscription on top of the device?? No thanks.

This was $39 total. No subscription. Showed up in 3 days. Paired it to Google Find My Device in like 2 minutes. Now I let him out, I sit on the porch, and I glance at my phone if he's been quiet too long. He doesn't go far — maybe 3 houses in either direction — but knowing that is the entire point. We would not have started doing this without it honestly.