Collar for outdoor cat?

The collars I have for my indoor cats are the breakaway kind. They
work pretty well but once a month, one of them comes loose somewhere.
Because I have the IR tracers (http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/) on them,
I can track them down so it works out ok.

But I'm thinking about putting a tag and collar on an outdoor cat,
Scooter, who may be joining the indoor cats for the winter at least.
He's very friendly and I worry that he may be taken away by the
authorities if he isn't visibly tagged.

The IR detector is not a viable solution here since they are not
waterproof. Does anyone have a lead on a collar that will break off
only if the cat is actually in danger of being strangled by it? Most
of them break off much easier.

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:52:40 +0000, Daniel Bernard
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:01:31 -0500, dgk wrote:

The collars I have for my indoor cats are the breakaway kind. They
work pretty well but once a month, one of them comes loose somewhere.
Because I have the IR tracers (http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/) on them,
I can track them down so it works out ok.

But I'm thinking about putting a tag and collar on an outdoor cat,
Scooter, who may be joining the indoor cats for the winter at least.
He's very friendly and I worry that he may be taken away by the
authorities if he isn't visibly tagged.

The IR detector is not a viable solution here since they are not
waterproof.

Why not buy the waterproof casing for the tag?

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...Cases,182.aspx

Good idea. but they recommend these for cats:

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...s,185,110.aspx

I like the way these slip onto the collar rather than using a wire to
have them hang. I got two sets (2 each) and will put them on my three
cats and Scooter.

I notice they say "splashproof" and not "waterproof". The weight of
the tag tends to have it hang under their neck anyway so hopefully the
rain won't ruin the tag. It will be interesting to see just how well I
can track Scooter. I was never willing to let one of my cats roam
around and try it. It works well enough in my house or the (fenced-in)
backyard but since I don't know where Scooter goes it will be
interesting.

There is a camera (I've seen it at Target) that hangs around the cat's
neck and takes pictures, but it seems pretty intrusive.

Daniel Bernard wrote:
On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:25:47 -0500, dgk wrote:

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:52:40 +0000, Daniel Bernard
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:01:31 -0500, dgk wrote:

The collars I have for my indoor cats are the breakaway kind. They
work pretty well but once a month, one of them comes loose somewhere.
Because I have the IR tracers (http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/) on them,
I can track them down so it works out ok.

But I'm thinking about putting a tag and collar on an outdoor cat,
Scooter, who may be joining the indoor cats for the winter at least.
He's very friendly and I worry that he may be taken away by the
authorities if he isn't visibly tagged.

The IR detector is not a viable solution here since they are not
waterproof.
Why not buy the waterproof casing for the tag?

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...Cases,182.aspx
Good idea. but they recommend these for cats:

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...s,185,110.aspx

I like the way these slip onto the collar rather than using a wire to
have them hang. I got two sets (2 each) and will put them on my three
cats and Scooter.

I notice they say "splashproof" and not "waterproof". The weight of
the tag tends to have it hang under their neck anyway so hopefully the
rain won't ruin the tag. It will be interesting to see just how well I
can track Scooter. I was never willing to let one of my cats roam
around and try it. It works well enough in my house or the (fenced-in)
backyard but since I don't know where Scooter goes it will be
interesting.

There is a camera (I've seen it at Target) that hangs around the cat's
neck and takes pictures, but it seems pretty intrusive.

I'm going to have to invest in one of those! My youngest cat went AWOL
last weekend and it took around 9 hours to find her. She somehow got
trapped between a shed and a garden wall and it was only by the
slimmest of chances that I found her as neither myself, the owner of
the shed or the owner of the garden wall realised there was a gap of
around 6 inches between the shed and the wall.
--
amicalement,

Daniel



That was truly a miracle. Did she/he meow to alert you? If not, that
could have been fatal. Cats love to investigate small spaces.

On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:37:04 -0700, MLB wrote:

Daniel Bernard wrote:
On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:25:47 -0500, dgk wrote:

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:52:40 +0000, Daniel Bernard
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:01:31 -0500, dgk wrote:

The collars I have for my indoor cats are the breakaway kind. They
work pretty well but once a month, one of them comes loose somewhere.
Because I have the IR tracers (http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/) on them,
I can track them down so it works out ok.

But I'm thinking about putting a tag and collar on an outdoor cat,
Scooter, who may be joining the indoor cats for the winter at least.
He's very friendly and I worry that he may be taken away by the
authorities if he isn't visibly tagged.

The IR detector is not a viable solution here since they are not
waterproof.
Why not buy the waterproof casing for the tag?

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...Cases,182.aspx
Good idea. but they recommend these for cats:

http://www.loc8tor.com/Store/product...s,185,110.aspx

I like the way these slip onto the collar rather than using a wire to
have them hang. I got two sets (2 each) and will put them on my three
cats and Scooter.

I notice they say "splashproof" and not "waterproof". The weight of
the tag tends to have it hang under their neck anyway so hopefully the
rain won't ruin the tag. It will be interesting to see just how well I
can track Scooter. I was never willing to let one of my cats roam
around and try it. It works well enough in my house or the (fenced-in)
backyard but since I don't know where Scooter goes it will be
interesting.

There is a camera (I've seen it at Target) that hangs around the cat's
neck and takes pictures, but it seems pretty intrusive.

I'm going to have to invest in one of those! My youngest cat went AWOL
last weekend and it took around 9 hours to find her. She somehow got
trapped between a shed and a garden wall and it was only by the
slimmest of chances that I found her as neither myself, the owner of
the shed or the owner of the garden wall realised there was a gap of
around 6 inches between the shed and the wall.
--
amicalement,

Daniel



That was truly a miracle. Did she/he meow to alert you? If not, that
could have been fatal. Cats love to investigate small spaces.


I've read that indoor cats that get out are so scared that they will
not make a sound even if they recognize you. YMMV of course.

But I love the Loc8tor. The range is limited and you have to remember
to change the batteries every few months, and it is around $160. If a
cat gets sick I can track down where it's hiding. In the summer, when
the back door is open, I can find them inside or in the yard. If I
just can't find one and am curious where it went, I can find it.

"Daniel Bernard" wrote in message
...

My Loc8tor pet pack has arrived. If she gets lost or trapped again
this will save me time and heartache and her from any possibly injury.

How far is the range?

I bought something called the Photomate 887 (or 877?). It's a GPS data
logger. It's about the size of the end of my thumb. It can record it's
GPS position once per second. It's intended use is to clip to a belt or
back-pack and record your position during some activity (hiking,
vacation) and you want to know where you've been (say, to plot on google
earth) or to record the GPS position of any pictures you took along the
way.

It's small enough to clip to a cat's collar, and it lasts about 11 hours
on a single charge. It's got great GPS reception out doors and
sometimes indoors.

I've had it on most of my cats to see where they go during the day. I
can plot their entire track on google earth or play it back to get an
idea of how long they spend at any particular location. As you might
expect, cats are creatures of habbit, and they end up going to the same
places or coving the same ground. So I know the particular habbits of
my individual cats. Some only visit the backyards of my immediate
neighbors, and roam up to 300 meters away.

This Photomate logger also has bluetooth, and it will transmit it's
coordinates via bluetooth as well as log them. I'm experimenting with a
long-range bluetooth receiver (Aircable Host XR) and outdoor antenna and
I should be able to track them in real time for some distance beyond 100
meters.

On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 10:40:03 -0600, "Kelly Greene"
wrote:


"Daniel Bernard" wrote in message
.. .

My Loc8tor pet pack has arrived. If she gets lost or trapped again
this will save me time and heartache and her from any possibly injury.

How far is the range?


It doesn't seem to be very large. You certainly aren't going to be
able to track a cat from a block away. But maybe within 200 feet or
so. And that is plenty for an indoor cat that gets out; most don't go
very far from home. But they do hide.

On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:59:10 -0500, 7 of 9 wrote:

I bought something called the Photomate 887 (or 877?). It's a GPS data
logger. It's about the size of the end of my thumb. It can record it's
GPS position once per second. It's intended use is to clip to a belt or
back-pack and record your position during some activity (hiking,
vacation) and you want to know where you've been (say, to plot on google
earth) or to record the GPS position of any pictures you took along the
way.

It's small enough to clip to a cat's collar, and it lasts about 11 hours
on a single charge. It's got great GPS reception out doors and
sometimes indoors.

I've had it on most of my cats to see where they go during the day. I
can plot their entire track on google earth or play it back to get an
idea of how long they spend at any particular location. As you might
expect, cats are creatures of habbit, and they end up going to the same
places or coving the same ground. So I know the particular habbits of
my individual cats. Some only visit the backyards of my immediate
neighbors, and roam up to 300 meters away.

This Photomate logger also has bluetooth, and it will transmit it's
coordinates via bluetooth as well as log them. I'm experimenting with a
long-range bluetooth receiver (Aircable Host XR) and outdoor antenna and
I should be able to track them in real time for some distance beyond 100
meters.

Very good stuff. Technology is getting very useful. Soon we'll be able
to call our cats on the Kitty Phone and tell them to come home for
dinner. Oh, right, they probably don't need to be reminded of that.

So, for $77, I can see where Scooter goes:

http://www.semsons.com/ph887migpsre.html


Not necessary for my indoor/backyard cats, but something that might be
fun for Scooter. I don't think I can justify the expense at the
moment. Having just received the outdoor heating pad for my outdoor
cathouse, and the Litter Robot for the indoor brood, I think my
discretionary feline funds are in very short supply.

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:02:48 +0000, Daniel Bernard
wrote:

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:23:48 -0500, dgk wrote:

On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:59:10 -0500, 7 of 9 wrote:

I bought something called the Photomate 887 (or 877?). It's a GPS data
logger. It's about the size of the end of my thumb. It can record it's
GPS position once per second. It's intended use is to clip to a belt or
back-pack and record your position during some activity (hiking,
vacation) and you want to know where you've been (say, to plot on google
earth) or to record the GPS position of any pictures you took along the
way.

It's small enough to clip to a cat's collar, and it lasts about 11 hours
on a single charge. It's got great GPS reception out doors and
sometimes indoors.

I've had it on most of my cats to see where they go during the day. I
can plot their entire track on google earth or play it back to get an
idea of how long they spend at any particular location. As you might
expect, cats are creatures of habbit, and they end up going to the same
places or coving the same ground. So I know the particular habbits of
my individual cats. Some only visit the backyards of my immediate
neighbors, and roam up to 300 meters away.

This Photomate logger also has bluetooth, and it will transmit it's
coordinates via bluetooth as well as log them. I'm experimenting with a
long-range bluetooth receiver (Aircable Host XR) and outdoor antenna and
I should be able to track them in real time for some distance beyond 100
meters.

Very good stuff. Technology is getting very useful.

Auto sensor infra-red bowls, for example, are a great way to keep
flies away from moist cat food during the summer.
http://www.uneekplanet.com/index.php...&products_id=7


There is actually a need for something like this, but using IR instead
of Infra-red. I have one cat that eats everyone's food, and one grazer
who eats a little and then comes back later. What I really could use
is a bowl that recognizes a particular cat and opens up only for that
one. Since my cats have IR tags keyed to each cat, that should be
simple.

Right now, Espy goes hungry and Marlo is getting fat. A bowl keyed
just to Espy would be great.

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:19:00 -0500, dgk wrote:

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:02:48 +0000, Daniel Bernard
wrote:

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:23:48 -0500, dgk wrote:

On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:59:10 -0500, 7 of 9 wrote:

I bought something called the Photomate 887 (or 877?). It's a GPS data
logger. It's about the size of the end of my thumb. It can record it's
GPS position once per second. It's intended use is to clip to a belt or
back-pack and record your position during some activity (hiking,
vacation) and you want to know where you've been (say, to plot on google
earth) or to record the GPS position of any pictures you took along the
way.

It's small enough to clip to a cat's collar, and it lasts about 11 hours
on a single charge. It's got great GPS reception out doors and
sometimes indoors.

I've had it on most of my cats to see where they go during the day. I
can plot their entire track on google earth or play it back to get an
idea of how long they spend at any particular location. As you might
expect, cats are creatures of habbit, and they end up going to the same
places or coving the same ground. So I know the particular habbits of
my individual cats. Some only visit the backyards of my immediate
neighbors, and roam up to 300 meters away.

This Photomate logger also has bluetooth, and it will transmit it's
coordinates via bluetooth as well as log them. I'm experimenting with a
long-range bluetooth receiver (Aircable Host XR) and outdoor antenna and
I should be able to track them in real time for some distance beyond 100
meters.

Very good stuff. Technology is getting very useful.

Auto sensor infra-red bowls, for example, are a great way to keep
flies away from moist cat food during the summer.
http://www.uneekplanet.com/index.php...&products_id=7


There is actually a need for something like this, but using IR instead
of Infra-red. I have one cat that eats everyone's food, and one grazer
who eats a little and then comes back later. What I really could use
is a bowl that recognizes a particular cat and opens up only for that
one. Since my cats have IR tags keyed to each cat, that should be
simple.

Right now, Espy goes hungry and Marlo is getting fat. A bowl keyed
just to Espy would be great.

Oops, IR is Infra-Red of couse. I meant RF.