Ever wonder where your cat goes and what it gets up to? Then you’ve landed on the right webpage!
A good cat tracker will help you work out exactly where your cat goes, how long they go there, map their route and potentially much more!
Table of our Top Four Pet Cat Trackers:
Pod 3 ¦ Tabcat ¦ Weenect ¦ Novita ¦ Pod 2 ¦ Girafus ¦ Trax ¦ Tractive ¦ TK Star ¦ G-Paws ¦ Petkit ¦ Pyrus ¦ TrackR
Above is a table showing what we believe are the very best four Cat Tracker devices currently available in the UK, our list includes GPS cat collar, tag trackers & radio frequency trackers, each one chosen and reviewed careful by us – you can read our review of each tracker underneath by simply clicking the name of the cat tracking device in the table or you can skip straight to the device you are interested by using one of the links above.
If you’re not quite sure which device is the best fit for you please have a quick read through our buyers guide here.
Here is our complete list of the best cat trackers available at the moment along with a review of each one:
1. The Pod 3 Tracker
Click image to view details on Amazon
Click image to view more detail on Amazon
The long-anticipated Pod 3 tracker is finally here. At first glance it looks like they have done a great job of bringing all the best features we have seen across the spectrum of different cat trackers and combining them into one market-leading device.
The Pod 3 is being marketed as more than just a pet tracker, it can also be used for tracking pretty much anything that you can attach it too. The Pod 3 uses GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even mobile connectivity meaning that it will always be discoverable providing the battery hasn’t run out!
Before I get onto what is so great about this tracker let me first mention the one thing that may make you think twice about buying the Pod 3. This is their subscription fees. While not extortionate paying for the data tracking services will cost you an extra £49 a year or £6.95 a month (the first three months are free). However I consider that a small price to pay to keep your pet safe with what is undoubtedly the best tracker in the business.
Click image to find out more on Amazon
The Pod 3 Light
The Pod 3 Power Dock
The Pod 3 Battery Module
The Pod 3 Sound Module
The Pod 3 Ultrasonic Module
This module emits a high frequency noise which humans will be unable to hear but pets, including your cat, will hear it instantly. You can easily train your cat to associate this noise with a treat or meal times so that as so as your cat hears it they will come running back home.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Interchangeable modules | £49 a year or £6.95 a month subscription cost (after the first three months). |
| Fully waterproof | |
| Up to 5 days battery life | |
| Works in over 175 countries | |
| Ability to create multiple safe zones. | |
| Has all the top features you'd expect of a top of the range tracking device and more! |
2. The Tractive GPS Tracker Review
The Tractive is a great cat tracking device which starts at a very reasonable upfront price.
The Tractive has all the features you would expect from a good quality digital GPS cat tracker. It has the fencing function which alerts you if your cat strays too far, it also tracks and records your cats adventures and total mileage.
One feature unique to the Tractive is it’s ability to award points to your cat, much like the Fitbit, for calories expended, thus allowing cat owners to compete for bragging rights over who has the most physically fit cat!
Another unique feature is the variety of different covers available for the tag. Most Trackers only offer one style of tag but the Tractive has a range of different designs. For example some include Swarovski Crystals embedded in them (for the more refined cat!) and others feature camouflage designs and are made from a more hard wearing material to suit more rough and ready cats and dogs!
The Tractive also boasts a few extra features that I had never thought of before. One is a clip loss alarm, if the tag is removed from your cat’s collar you will be notified on your phone. Another very handy safety feature is the heat alarm, if the temperature gets too hot for your cat to safely function in your will also be alerted. The tag also has a built in torch which is automatically activated when it gets dark, this makes it much easier to spot your cat when you’re out and about looking for it!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clip loss alarm | |
| Built in torch | |
| Customisable covers | |
| Over heating cat alarm | |
| Awards your cat fitness points based on its level of activity |
The New Tractive GPS cat collar coming later this year
Tractive are also bringing out a new tracking collar (shown above) designed specifically for cats. later this year, you can find out more about it on the Tractive site here.
3. The Weenect GPS Collar
Click image to view price on Amazon
The Weenect Cat Collar is (as of September 2017) Amazon’s best selling pet tracker. This is no surprise because the Weenect is a superb pet tracker which ticks all the boxes (and more) while being very reasonably priced.
The Weenect syncs with the Weenect GPS app which is available on iPhone and Android devices.
The app allows you to see where your pet in three distinct ways:
- Map – This shows a simple map interface with your pets location clearly mapped out on it making it easy to find where they are.
- Compass – Yes you’ve guessed right, this method shows a simple compass showing the direction and distance of your pet.
- Radar – This is a cool virtual reality type interface (think Pokemon Go), which shows you where your cat is and how far away they are through a camera interface.
One of the most unusual features of the Weenect is the fact that it can be used to call your pet! The Weenect uses a microphone and speaker to allow you to call your cat from the app on your phone to calm them down or tell them off for not coming home.
The Weenect tracking device communicates with the tracking collar every 30 seconds regardless of how far away your pet is. One of the useful features of the Weenect is that you can get the collar to ring, this is particularly useful if your pet has disappeared within the confines of your home. You can also use this feature to train your cat to come running home when the collar rings.
A few of the other features of the Weenect Cat Collar are:
- It is the world’s smallest cat tracker weighing only 25grams.
- Very good battery life lasting 4 days when left in standby mode and it only takes 3 hours to recharge fully.
- Allows you to set up Geofences so that you can receive alerts if your pet wanders too far.
- Water resistant casing which will keep the tracking collar fully operational regardless of the weather.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Water Resistant | Minimum £3 a month SIM card fee |
| Great price with plenty of features | |
| Only 25grams |
4. The Tabcat Tracker Review
The Tabcat is another Radio Frequency tracker. The stylish trans-receiver and small discreet tags look much better than the chunky Girafus RF model. The tags are the smallest we have seen at 32mm x 6mm making them perfect for any cat regardless of their size.
Click image to check price on the Tabcat site
The Tabcat tracker does has a few drawbacks though, the trans-receiver can only pick up signal from the tags if they are within 122 metres. The Tabcat company insist that this will be sufficient, however in my experience it is not uncommon for a cat to travel much further than that if something catches their eye or nose!
The tags are also neither waterproof nor water resistant. They do sell additional covers which will protect the tag from water damage but the lack of built in water resistance does seem like a bit of an oversight.
One cool little feature of the Tabcat is that by pressing the button on the Trans-receiver you will make the tag beep. You can easily train your cat to associate that noise with a treat (simply press it and give your cat a treat a few times) so that when they hear the beep they will come running back!
This tracker is a lot noisier than a GPS tracker (which uses an app on your phone to locate your cat) as it uses a series of lights and beeps to guide you. The beeps increase in frequency as you get closer to your cat.
The Tabcat is a fairly simple system to use which requires very little setup and there is no annual subscription fee to pay as is the case for most GPS tracker devices.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Small tags - ideal for smaller cats. | Range limited to 122m |
| No Annual Fees | No mobile app |
| Beep sound which you can easily train your cat to respond to. |
Table of our Best of the Rest Cat Trackers:
The table below features the best of the rest which weren’t mentioned in our top four table. There are some great contenders in here so do have a good look through and let us know which one you go for.
**Currently Unavailable**
5. Novita – KIPPY Life – GPS Cat Tracker Review
The Novita Kippy life GPS tracker is a full bells and whistles GPS tracker that does everything you need a tracker to do and far more. You can locate your pet anywhere at anytime by using the mobile or desktop app which gives real time tracking (not ten minute location updates as some trackers do). One of the problems with real time location tracking is that the battery is liable to run out quite quickly however Novita promise that their rechargeable batteries should last up to 20 days, though tests show that 16-17 days is a more realistic battery lifespan for an active pet.
One of the downsides to this tracker is that due to the power demands of live location tracking the batteries are quite large and therefore the tag is fairly bulky weighing 50 grams and measuring 60mm x 30mm x 20mm so this may not be suitable for a small cat but shouldn’t be a problem for a bigger cat.
One of the best features of the water resistant Novita Kippy Life Tracker is that it allows you to setup a virtual fence. To do this you just need to mark out an area of the map on the app, when your cat leaves that area you will receive an instant alert on your phone. You can track multiple pets using this tracker and can actually setup different virtual fences for different pets (it may be useful to have a close one setup for your dog and a further one setup for your cat).
You can also see your cats location history using the Novita Kippy Life app, which will give you a detailed map showing exactly where your cat has been exploring and where it’s favourite spots are.
It also allows you to track how much activity your cat has done (as in how many miles/kilometres a day your cat has travelled and estimated calories burnt), so if your vet has told you that your cat requires more exercise this is the perfect app to use to ensure that your cat gets in shape!
The tech lovers out there will also be pleased to know that the Novita Kippy Life uses clever telephone signalling triangulation methods to locate your pet when GPS signal is unavailable so even if the GPS let’s you will still be able to find your cat!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Virtual fence | Expensive |
| Calorie expenditure tracking | Possibly too big for smaller cats to carry comfortably. |
| Location history | |
| Long lasting rechargeable batteries | |
| Real-time location tracking |
6. The Pod 2 GPS Tracker Review
Pod is a stylish tracking brand which is the result of a successful Indiegogo campaign from early 2016 which was launched when the founder of the Pod company lost his dog. A compelling story but one wonders why he didn’t just use one of the already existing pet trackers on the market. Anyway the guys behind the Pod 2 believe they have created a market leading device which beats every other pet tracker, we will let you make your own mind up though. This is the 2nd generation of Pod trackers and it’s definitely one of the best smart trackers available.
One of the great things about the Pod 2 tracker is that the team behind it are very pro-active and are constantly looking for ways to improve and develop their tracking device as you will see if you look at all the great new features in the Pod3 which is out now – the great news is that anyone who has purchased a Pod 2 will get a 30% discount on the new Pod tracker – click here to find out how to claim your discount.
At only 29 grams it is significantly lighter than it’s closest rivals. It is more or less the same sort of size as rival tracking tags at 23mm x 50mm. As with many of the leading cat tracking devices that is a bit bigger than is ideal for small cats. Some smaller cat owners who have used this reported that it got snagged in foliage and the cat slipped its collar (at least they’re easy to find though).
The cylindrical shape is a step away from the traditional rectangular tag. The shape minimises uncomfortable corners for your cat to potentially hurt themselves on if they were to fall awkwardly.
A cool feature that rivals didn’t think of was Wifi connectivity, the Pod 2 tracker can connect to your Wifi when your cat is at home. This allows for much more accurate location tracking which makes it very easy to find your cat when it has disappeared behind or beneath a piece of furniture in your house!
This cat tracker also provides plenty of data on the mileage your cat has covered, calories burnt and even what speeds your cat is travelling at!
There is a rolling fee with the Pod 2 cat tracker as they have a Global Telco deal with Vodafone (meaning that you can use the cat tracker it any country in the world where you can get signal) however this means that there is a £29 per year charge which you are free to cancel at any time.
The Lithium Polymer battery should last up to 5 days. Two batteries are provided so that while one is charging you can still track your cat. A small docking bay is provided which plugs into a USB port to allow you to charge the batteries, the batteries should charge fully within two hours.
The Pod 2 app is available on iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Wifi connectivity to make it easier to find your cat in your house | £29 annual charge (after the first year) |
| Only 29 grams | |
| Location history and virtual fence | |
| Exercise tracking | |
| No annual fees for first year after purchase. | |
| 30% discount on future models for all existing users. Find out more here. |
7. The Girafus Pro-track-tor Radio Frequency Cat Tracker Review
The Girafus Pro-Track-tor is a great alternative to more expensive GPS trackers. The Girafus Cat Tracker uses Radio Frequency signals which your receiver box interprets to work out how far away your cat is and which direction the signals are coming from. One of the best things about Radio Frequency trackers is that there are no monthly fees that are common with GPS trackers.
However one problem with Radio Frequency tracking is that the range is limited to around 500m from your receiver box. This shouldn’t be a problem 
as most cats wont travel more than 500m from their home, however if your cat is particularly adventurous then a GPS tracker would be a more suitable choice.
If however you would rather avoid the monthly fees of GPS trackers but would still like to gather some data on what your cat gets up to then we recommend that you pair a Radio Frequency Tracker with a bluetooth activity tracker such as the PetKit Cat activity Monitor.
You can track up to four cats using the Girafus tracking device however you will have to buy additional tags for each of your cat, it is best to buy four at once as there are significant discounts for bulk buying them together, whereas if you buy them individually you can pay up to £25 per tag.
This is one of the lighter clip-on cat trackers, with the tags weighing only 4.2 grams your cat shouldn’t be bothered by the additional weight. However although the tags are very light they are larger than you would expect and can look quite cumbersome on a smaller cat, they measure 28mm by 38mm so aren’t particularly discreet.
The Girafus Tracker is very much a plug and play device requiring next to no setup, just clip the tag to your cat’s collar, turn on the tracking device and you are good to go! It is also splash proof so will be fine if your cat gets caught in the rain. It is not water-proof, but we all know cat’s hate swimming so that won’t be a problem!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheap | Range limited to 500m |
| No Monthly Fee | No mobile tracking app |
| Track up to four cats | Large tag |
| Simple to setup |
8. The Trax GPS Tracker Review
Trax is one of the smaller tracking devices on the market weighing only 27 grams and measuring a diminutive 54mm x 38mm x 10mm it is perfect for small cats.
Trax is a real time tracker which comes with a built in SIM card that has two years of free data and data roaming on it, after two years of use a small rolling annual fee is required to keep it running. Trax works in over 30 countries and is one of the more durable tracking tags as it is water resistant and copes well in hot climates too.
The Trax app interface is very easy to use and easily connects to your Trax tag with no problems. The Trax app incorporates a few cool features which we haven’t seen on other cat tracking apps. One of these is augmented reality, the app will use your camera phone (a bit like Pokemon Go) to overlay directions onto your surroundings and indicate how far away your cat is.
Perhaps the only downside to this tracker is the battery life seems to be much shorter than on comparable trackers, often only lasting for a couple of days. This is probably the reason why it is so small as I imagine they have put a smaller battery in it in order to save on space.
The app has all the features you would expect from a smart phone tracking app including Geo-fencing. Their Geo-fencing also includes a scheduling feature so that you can turn your fences on or off at different times. For example if your cat is supposed to stay in the house whole you are at work you can set up alerts for if your cat leaves the house and then schedule that Geo-fence to turn off when you return home.
Another interesting feature of the Trax phone app is that it allows you to set up speed alerts. Part of the reason for this is that this tag can also be used for tracking children and parents may wish to set up alerts if their child suddenly gets into a car, this feature could be useful if you are particularly paranoid about a potential cat-napping!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free mobile data for the first two years | Very limited battery life |
| Very small |
9. The TK Star Premium GPS Cat Collar Tracker Review
The TK Star GPS Tracker comes built into a pre-existing collar which is available in six different colours (orange, yellow, blue, black, green and red). Because it is designed and shaped to fit around the collar it seems to hide it’s size better than other tracking tags.
The tracker unit is 70 mm x 37 mm x 20 mm and weighs 45 grams (excluding the weight of the collar). As with most smart location trackers there is an annual fee to cover the cost of the SIM card data which is used for the GPRS service. The tracker requires a standard sized SIMcard.
The Tracking App (TKStar GPS Tracker Mobile App) is currently only available on the App store of the Google App store so you will require an iPhone or an Android phone.
The app has a lot of features which will be familiar to cat tracker users such as the geo-fencing features. As well as real time tracking. The real time tracking isn’t quite as live as other real time trackers but rather updates it’s location every two minutes, this does however have the benefit of saving battery and with care the battery can last up to ten days if you make use of the sleep mode when you don’t need to track your cat’s whereabouts.
The stand out feature of this cat tracker is that it has a call in function which allows you to call the tracker and listen in to what is going on wherever your cat is!
Another useful feature of this device is that if you have no mobile data available you can instead text the tracker and it will send you back co-ordinates to it’s location.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Call in function so you can hear what your cat is up to | An annual fee is required |
| Can send you a text message with it's co-ordinates if you lose mobile data | Updates location every two minutes rather than real time (hence the battery lasts longer than most) |
| Long lasting battery life |
Oue Last Few Cat Trackers Table
The final few trackers are in our table below.
10. The G-Paws Activity Monitor Review
Weighing only 12 grams and measuring 3.5cm x 1.5cm x 1cm, this tiny tracker packs serious punch for something so small. Apparently it is so small that a pigeon can wear it and fly with it comfortably, so your cat shouldn’t have any problem carrying it around!
Before we delve any further into this tracker it is important to notice that this tracker only shows your where your cat has been retrospectively. What this means is that you cant access live data on your phone or computer showing you where your cat is right now you can only see where your cat has been when it comes back and you plug the device into your computer. Consequently this may not be the best tracker for cat owners who want up to date data on their cats whereabouts, however if you are simply curious as to what your cat gets up to in it’s free time then this is a very good option which is very affordable and has no ongoing fees as it works purely with GPS and requires no SIM card.
The G-Paw device comes with 2 plastic containers and a USB cable. The two plastic containers and blue (for dogs) and orange (for cats). They both attach in different ways with velcro straps which are pushed through the containers. These are carefully considered so that they are as unobtrusive as possible for your dog or cat.
The software for this device is installed on your computer and will be downloaded onto your computer automatically from the device when you plug it in using the provided USB cable. To see what your pet has been up to simply plug the device back into the computer after your pet has been on it’s adventure and the data will be uploaded onto your computer in the form of a map with a clear path of exactly where you cat has been.
Charging on this device takes around three hours and the battery typically doesn’t last for more than 5 or 6 hours of constant use.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheap activity monitor. | You can only see where your cat has been when it comes back and you upload the data to your computer. |
| Very small and lightweight. | Very limited battery life. |
11. The Petkit Pet Activity Monitor Review
Before we get started on this one it is important to first draw attention to the fact that this is not a GPS tracker but rather a pet activity tracker so if your pet goes missing this wont be much use. When your pet returns however you will be able to download plenty of data about what they have been up to via bluetooth to your phone.
The Petkit Activity is an affordable starter tracker for anyone looking to get into cat activity tracking, the mobile Petkit app (available on iOS and Android) has a great user interface which also includes a chat option so you can chat option so you can chat directly with customer service staff from the app if you are having any technical problems with it. The interface is very simple to understand and navigate around a and has clear metric tracking functions which can give you loads of data on what exactly your cat is doing. It can track the amount of sleep sleep, calories burnt and general activity levels of your cat as well as being able to provide a rough measure of your cat’s overall health and estimated mood.
The collar tag itself is quite small weighing only 8 grams and at 31mm (diameter) x 8.9mm (thickness) it attaches nicely onto the collar like a name tag, the tags are available in either white or pink and is waterproof and dust-proof.
As this is not an actual tracker but rather a statistics recorder it could be a good affordable piece of kit to accompany a radio frequency tracker to provide all the data that you don’t get with that type of tracker.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Makes a great & affordable addition to a Radio Frequency tracker for additional data with no rolling costs | Not a location tracker |
| Cheap and no ongoing fees |
12. The Pyrus Tracker Review
Weighing in at 150 grams this tracker is a bit of a monster compared to some of the more dainty products we feature on this page. However we have decided to include it because although it is unsuitable for all but the biggest of cats it is a very reliable tracker which offers a lot of features at a very low cost when compared with it’s closest rivals, and one of the great benefits of having a much larger tracker is that it is capable of storing a much larger battery, this means that the Pyrus tracker can happily go a whole week without requiring a recharge – significantly better than the battery life of a mobile app based tracker .
Measuring 8.5cm x 5.5cm x 12 cm it is much bigger than most products on the market and it perhaps best attached to your cat via a harness as it may be quite cumbersome if carried around the neck.
The Pyrus operates using mobile signalling so you will require a normal sized SIM to get it working. In order to set it up properly you will need to:
1. Buy a SIM card
2. Open the back of the Pyrus tracker, and write down the ID Number you find there.
3. Put in the SIM card and turn on the tracker.
4. Ensure that your SIM card has some credit on it
5. Sent a text from your phone to the Pyrus tracker SIM card.
6. Download the Aibeile app onto your phone (available for iPhone and Android devices).
8. Turn on the app and put in the device ID you recorded earlier.
In order to get this tracker to share its location with you all you have to do is then call the SIM card you have installed and you will receive a Google maps location of where your cat is. The mapping on this tracker is particularly accurate and is usually within 15 feet of the exact location. The app also allows for mapping and location fencing to be setup which are features you would normally not expect at this sort of price point.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very affordable. | It is HUGE. Too big to be worn on the collar. |
| Very good battery life. Only requires charging once a week. |
13. The TrackR Bravo Review
While this tracker has been marketed as more of an all around tracker (for your keys and wallet) it can also be used for tracking your cat.
At only 31mm x 3.5mm it is roughly the size of a £2 coin making it one of the smallest tracking tags we have seen.
This tracker has a few unique features including the ability to setup an alert on your phone if you leave the house without the tag, obviously this is a useful feature for your phone or keys but maybe not so useful for a cat as you may not wish to take your cat to work everyday! It also features a phone finder so that you can press the tag and your phone will ring, again not a feature that comes in particularly useful for tracking your cat but I thought it was worth mentioning!
The TrackR Bravo Tracker makes use of a fairly simple app which indicates roughly how close you are to your lost cat (or item) via a hotter or colder interface rather than exact location mapping.
This system doesn’t have any annual fee as it does not require a SIMcard nor does it make use of GPS tracking but instead works via Bluetooth. This is fine when you are in the house looking for your cat however when you are outside it then uses a system whereby the tag will connect to the Bluetooth of anyone who happens to use the same TrackR Bravo app and alert you to its location through the app.
This is potentially quite limiting particularly if you live in an area with a low population density as the chances of someone who is using the app walking past your cat are fairly low, also the app will only give you the last recorded location of your cat so by the time you get there chances are your cat will have moved on.
At the moment it is difficult to recommend this tracking device for anything other than finding your cat inside your own home but if that’s all you want it for then it is certainly up to the job!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very small and light | The use of crowd sourced bluetooth tracking means that this device is severely limited as a reliable tracker |
| Cheap and no ongoing fees |
The Buyers Guide:
There are a number of important factors to consider when looking to purchase a cat tracking device. Below we break the factors down starting with the most important first:
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GPS or Radio Frequency?
Radio Frequency trackers are much simpler and therefore much cheaper to both purchase and run, requiring no annual fees (as is common with GPS trackers). However they are limited in that they provide pretty much none of the trackable data which you get in abundance with GPS trackers. GPS trackers allow you to record all of your cat’s activity from the convenience of your phone. If you’re not fussed about having tons of data about what your cat does and where exactly he goes then a Radio Frequency tracker would be the logical choice. If you like to have loads of data and like to be able to pin point the exact location of your cat at any given moment then you should definitely invest in a GPS tracker.
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Battery Life
There is a surprisingly large amount of variety in the battery life of different trackers, particular with the GPS trackers which record a lot of data. Some of the smaller trackers struggle to make it through a day without a recharge whereas bigger versions (presumably with bigger batteries) will happily last up to ten days. If you can’t be bothered perpetually charging yet another electronic device then make sure you opt for a tracker which isn’t quite as energy hungry! Pro-tip; Radio Frequency trackers use significantly less battery (they last for weeks!).
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App Functionality
Most GPS trackers make use of mobile apps for ease of use. However some apps offer very basic functions such as location updates every two minutes and nothing else! Whereas more advanced apps such as the POD2 have a huge array of functions including virtual fencing, calorie tracking, distance covered, top speed and more! Don’t make the mistake of presuming that just because the tracker you bought has an app it is going to be able to do everything you could ever dream of, do your research first and make sure the app has all you need. Most apps can be downloaded from the app store or Google play before you purchase a device so it is a good idea to do this before investing to allow you to get a feel for the functions and usability of the device.
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Price Range
You can expect to pay between £60 – £150 upfront for a good Tracker depending on what you are looking for. However it is important to remember that most GPS trackers will charge an annual (or sometimes monthly fee) for mobile data usage, this can add up and easily add £30-£50 per year to your initial cost.
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Size
There is a vast range in size differences from one tracker to another. The smallest tracker featured on this page weighs only 4.2 grams, while the biggest weighs 50 grams. Most cats won’t notice 50 grams however if your cat is particularly small or young the bigger 50-gram tracker may obstruct your cat’s freedom of movement to a small extent. Small is always better for the cat, however the problem with small is that battery life tends to rapidly diminish with size so it may be worth going for a slightly bigger tracker in order to reduce the amount of charging you will have to do.
View our table of the best Cat Trackers
Our Hopes For the Future of Cat Trackers:
All of the devices we have looked at on this page bring different things to the cat tracking table however we are already looking forward to the future of cat tracking and will be certain to keep this article updated with new devices and new innovations available in the UK’s cat tracking industry.
A few key areas which I personally think cat tracking devices should look to improve are:
- Significantly smaller tracking tags – The Trax is a reasonable size (due to its small battery) but most of the other trackers are quite bulky.
- Longer battery life, as with mobile phones battery life on these things quickly drains, particularly on the trackers which use mobile apps, even the more efficient ones rarely promise much more than ten days of battery life before a recharge is required.
- In-built cameras. One or two trackers have experimented with this but none have had a good go at doing a great job of it. We have reviewed a few home cat cameras many of which also dispense treats but it would be great if more trackers were willing to incorporate a camera into their tracking devices. We would love to see a feature whereby you can turn the camera on from your phone and see what the cat can see live.
Thanks for reading our guide! If you have any questions at all about any of the tracker devices listed here or any suggestions as to new trackers which should be added please do leave a comment or get in touch via the contact form and I will be very happy to help.
I’m a Pod 2 user, but would like to try something smaller. I guess the size really has to do with the functionality. This write up makes that pretty clear. For now I’ll stick with the Pod 2!
Yes Pod 2 is very much the market leader at the moment, the Pod 3 is coming soon though so watch this space!
The Pod3 is out now Jessica – see our review here: https://www.tuxedo-cat.co.uk/best-cat-trackers/#Pod3
Do you think you’ll buy it?
I’ve been using the Pod2 for a couple of years and it’s great! Would highly recommend!
I’ve tried it too, the one thing that could be improved is the battery life, though this is the same with all the smart trackers, so definitely rate it as the best of the mobile app trackers.
Have you tried using anything else?
Your title says GPS trackers yet you include RF ones?
This is true, I intended for it to be just about GPS trackers but there are a few great RF alternatives out there that I ended up putting in too, maybe I should amend the title!
Do you use a cat tracker HMD?
Which RF tracker did you go with?
Hi, I’m not bothered about where my at has been but more where he is when he hasn’t been home for a few days, eg shut in a shed or on someone else’s lap – I think he has found himself a holiday home 🙁 . I’m lousy at changing batteries and don’t really do techy stuff, could you point me in the right direction please? We live in a rural location but said cat would be somewhere in the village I suspect as he’s turning into a porker! Many thanks.
Hi Jess,
Thanks for stopping by, I would recommend the Novita Kippy Vita. It has an app which will show you exactly where your cat is and the battery lasts up to 20 days, probably the best battery life of any of the trackers which use mobile apps.
Let us know how you get on!
Under pros for the pod 2 it states 50% discount on future models for all existing users. I have a pod 2 that has recently broken, how do I go about getting 50% off the pod 3?
Hi Louise,
I’ve just checked and the discount is now 30% (apologies – I’ll update the article!). To claim it you just need to login to your pod app and then click on your pet picture and then the pod picture to get your Pod ID.
Send this to the guys at Pod either by email or through their live chat for a quick response and they will send you a discount coupon back which can be used in the site shop. Hope that helps!
I’d be careful about the G-Paws system, apart from the shop page, the rest of the website no longer works, you cannot register the product and we can’t get our computers to recognise the devices
Contacting the seller is pointless, as they do not respond
Thanks for letting us know about that one Gillian, that is the last thing you want from a tracker! I will update the article shortly…or possibly remove it from the list.
I think you might have the size wrong of the Novita Kippy no.3.
No way is it 600mm x 300mm x 200mm.
That is massive. Try 60mm x 30mm x 20mm! 🙂
Oops thanks for pointing that typo out. That would make it bigger than almost all cats! I’ll get it fixed!
Hi there. I ran across another product called PawTrack. It’s different in that it’s an actual sleek flat collar tracking device designed just for cats. Do you have any experience/thoughts about that product?
Hi Kat, I have come across the PawTrack too, I haven’t yet reviewed them but we mad add them on here in the future. They look like a very good collar tracker that tick all the boxes as far as I can see. I’d probably still go for a Pod3 given the choice but the PawTrack looks like a high quality alternative and I like that it’s built into a collar rather than being a bulky attachment.
I lost the will to live with the Pod3, which is sad as I was a massive fan of my Pod2, so upgraded using the 30%. Bought the Pod3 in May17 with the XLBattery, and finally I received it Dec17 (without battery as they were stillnot available), and it was awful, with GPS not connecting, battery dead in 20hrs (should last 4days). Pod said I had been sent US stock along with many other patiently waiting customers and they’d swap it out in January. March18 I was still waiting for a Pod to get me my May17 order sorted, still getting excuse after excuse, constant delays and failed promises. I gave up and demanded full refund which I got.
Now on the lookout for alternative, possibly the new Pawtrack collar with delayed launch May18.
So sorry to hear of your bad experience with the POD3, I know many people have had good experiences with it. Do you live in an area with poor reception at all?
Hi Dan, Have read your reviews and thought I had decided on the Pod 3 but on reading the reviews on the argos site, I’m now not so sure. Like Kat, I have also come across PawTrack and like that its a collar. We live in a rural area, so the cats may stray across fields etc, so I need some decent coverage and also need to buy 2 so I need to make sure I get it right 😉
Let me know how you get on with the pawtrack, I’ll definitely get it added on here at some point!
Thanks. That’s my number one concern with all the other products…. just can’t see MY cat wearing anything the size of the pod3 even though they show pics of cats on their Site.
Yes that is the one issue with it, it is fairly bulky.
The Weenect is a good alternative which is often overlooked because of it’s low price. The Tabcat is also very good too if you don’t need all the digital data tracking.
I isit family in U.K. And live in Dubai. I fly my two fur babies in and out need something compatible can you help pls
Hi Sophie,
most of these trackers should function fine in both the U.A.E and the U.K.
Personally I would recommend either the Pod 3 or the Tractive.
Do let me know which one you choose and how you get on with it.
Hi, our cat is a house cat (on recommendation from vet) and we only really want a tracker to help us find her if she ever decides to run past us when a door is open and go for an explore. We’re not that interested in where she has been or how active she is, we only really want to know her specific location if she does get out.
Reading the reviews we prefer the idea of one of the trackers with an app that can show us exactly where she is, instead of following a beep that might lose track if she roams too far from us, but there doesn’t seem to be something that just gives us the basic location, they all seem to have a load of additional functions that we don’t really need. What would you advise?
I see you responded to Jess B’s comment mentioning the Novita Kippy Vita but that link seems broken, so I wasn’t sure if there was now something better out there.
Hi Keiren,
The Novita Kippy Vita could well be a good solution for you guys, sorry about the broken link I have fixed that now!
Let me know how you get on and which tracker you end up choosing,
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey dan, looking at the pod3 and weenect in isolation, which would you recommend and why?
Whatever I buy I am going to need 2. They also need to be part of or attached to a safetycollar as I get through about 10 lost collars a year.
One of my cats stays close to home (I think) the other one roames well over 100m so the radio frequency devices are out.
I live on a housing estate with some woodland attached and am interested in knowing the history of where they go, but not nessesarily the fencing with notifications as I spend most of my working day away from a mobile so a web based option would also be useful.
Thanks
Hi Emily, thanks for paying us a visit.
I would recommend the Pod 3 as they are one of the few trackers that allow you to view their data through a web based browser.
They can easily be attached to a safety harness and tick all the boxes you have mentioned plus loads more.
Do let me know which one you go for and come back and let me know how you got on with it, thanks!
Hello, I have a deaf cat that I let out into our garden which is huge but she wanders off and can’t hear me calling her. Which device would be best for her, she is a smallish Persian female. I just need to know where she is and to locate her rather than where she has been.
Many Thanks
Jean
Hi Jeanie,
I would recommend the Tabcat, it’s a fairly simple Radio frequency tracker which doesn’t use a mobile app or anything to record where they have been. It directs you to your cat using lights and a series of beeps which get quicker the closer you get to your cat.
It’s a reliable tracker which I’m sure you will be happy with, do let me know which one you go for and how you and your cat get on with it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Dan, thank you for your reply but I feel with such a large area to look and find her, the beeping system could have me walking all over the place lol, I need something small and maybe if she is hiding and not moving ( she has a collar with lots of bells on) the maybe something that can beep? I don’t mind paying a subscription but because she is petite the device needs to be small. Thank you 😊
Hi Dan, and thanks for the reviews. This is a minefield for us, as we live in a very rural area with barely-2G coverage plus trees and bushes galore. Our large garden is supposedly cat-proof-fenced, but we have a youngster who sometimes gets through to the road, so we really could do with a device that tells us exactly where he’s been (RF is not sufficient, as it would be a random chance that we’d track him on one of his escape bids). Would the multi-technology Pod3 cover the gaps in coverage, do you think?
Just another aside re. G-Paws: I bought one a while back and it would never so much as switch on. Very poor quality and absent customer service too.
Hi Amber,
I agree with you here the Pod 3 has GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile tracking capability so if coverage is a problem it’s a great option as you have a lot of different ways of keeping track of him.
GPS often works well for people in rural areas with low mobile coverage, so i would definitely go for the Pod 3, it’s the market leader for a good reason!
Also you can use this link to get 5% OFF all Pod products Storewide.
thanks for visiting my site, please do come back and let me know which one you bought in the end and how you get on with it,
thanks,
dan
Hi again Dan. Well, after all I said there, and a lot of research, we went for the Tabcat after all. It came down to the potential (in)precision of any of the other devices, which we decided might cause more concern rather than less.
It’s true that we are still going out every hour or so to check on our youngster, but the great thing is, if Tabcat tells us he’s in the other direction, we can come straight back in!
I must say, it’s also great fun – for us and the cats. They seem to like the bleeping, and associated it very quickly with us. As some other users have said, it’s also turned out to be an alternative way of calling them – without the hoarseness or annoyance to neighbours that the conventional method entails! My husband was sceptical at first, but he’s a complete convert.
Many thanks for your input in any case – much appreciated.
Hi Amber, thanks for coming back and letting me know how you got on, I do love the tabcat, so long as you aren’t worried about being able to track their data on your phone it is a brilliant little tracker which is very reliable and gets the job done well!
Hi I have a neutered Tom aged 13 years old. Despite this he is a wanderer and can be gone 24 hours or more causing no end of worry! He is quite a small Tom as well and often comes back having been in some kind of scrap and having lost his collar. I’d love to know where he goes and would like an efficient small tracker also cost is important. I’ve read all the reviews and still can’t make my mind up.
Hi Andrea, thanks for stopping by, I would recommend either the Weenect based on it’s value for money or the Trax based on it being nice and small.
Do come back and let me know which one you decide on in the end, thanks.
I tried the Pawtrack and it’s potentially absolutely great. When it was working it tracked my cat extremely well. The problem was that it wouldn’t stay on him, and that led to other problems and eventually to me losing my money.
The first time it came off I found it again with very little trouble by activating its bleep. I was worried though because he’d barely been wearing it three days. I put it back on him and it barely lasted two days after that, and that’s when the real trouble started. He lost it just before midnight on a very wet night and because of the weather and other problems I wasn’t able to get out and look for it immediately. By morning, when I’d expected to get a good fix on it and activate the bleeper it had malfunctioned due to water getting into it. I eventually found it in a neighbour’s back garden but it was dead as a dodo.
Pawtrack replaced it, and said they’d improved the fastening to address the problem – it was obvious I wasn’t the only one experiencing this. However, within a day he’d lost it again, this time by the side of a road, and by the time I found it, it had been run over by a car and smashed. Pawtrack refused to accept liability and I lost about £150.
The incident with the car was pure bad luck, but the collar was coming off far too often. My cat has never lost his ordinary collar, not even during the two months when he was lost and living wild in the hills (the reason for wanting a tracker collar). The combination of the thing repeatedly coming off and its not being waterproof is lethal. It’s not possible to ensure that it doesn’t come off and lie in the rain overnight, but if that happens it’s dead.
I tried the GPcats thing, but it wasn’t tracking accurately in my area, which is odd because the Pawtrack was. But the manufacturer said the collar was working OK when I sent it back, so they refunded me the money.
I would try the Pawtrax Halo, but they say it’s not recommended for cats with necks less than 22 cm in circumference and that’s quite big – bigger than my boy. They also have a draconian no-refunds policy which includes saying they won’t accept a return made because the collar can’t get a signal in your location. I can’t afford to lose another chunk of money like this.
I had another scare today when my cat didn’t come in in the morning and I had to leave for an all-day appointment. He did come back, but I was worried sick all day. I need something that would at least locate him if he vanishes again but I simply don’t know what to buy. I really wish the Pawtrack was a bit smaller and lighter AND ACTUALLY STAYED ON THE DAMN CAT (and was waterproof enough to survive a wet night out) because it was brilliant when it was on him.
What to do?
Hi Morag,
thanks for sharing your story, some cats seem to have uncanny knacks for losing them perhaps by wriggling through unseemingly tight spaces all the time, who knows!? The trouble is cats that are good at escaping from their collar will escape regardless of what tracker or collar type you use.
I wonder if it would be worth considering getting a chest harness for your cat and securing the tracker to that?
Do let us know what you decide on!
Thanks & good luck!
Hi Dan
I think the problem I had is a specific fault in the Pawtrack. It has an unusual velcro fastening and I noticed a lot of people on their own forum complaining about the collars coming off. The fact that they modified the fastening suggests they were aware of the problem but I don’t think the modification has helped.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the damn thing was waterproof. However, rain happens, and if a collar has a tendency to come off it’s only a matter of time before it ends up lying in the rain for long enough to be drowned. That’s the main reason I wouldn’t go for another Pawtrack.
Jori isn’t a habitual collar-loser. He has never lost his ordinary collar in a year of wearing it. When he got lost and was living wild in the hills for two months he still didn’t lose it, and indeed it was that collar being noticed by someone who had seen the lost cat posters that eventually reunited us.
I really don’t want to send him out on the prowl in a harness, the idea makes me quite nervous. I also think the Pod is too bulky and will swing like a pendant from his neck which I don’t think is satisfactory. I want something that’s either built into an integral collar or that’s small enough to clip on to his collar without dangling like a pendant.
Based on your reviews I was wondering about the Trax. I don’t mind charging it every evening – I was doing that with the Pawtrack anyway – so long as it does last a couple of days. What do you think?
To be honest, I’m still shaking, after having spent today imagining he’d vanished again. I’m being ridiculously paranoid, but after having spent two months searching for him, then him coming in injured a couple of months after I got him back, I just can’t help worrying.
I wonder if anyone has thought of kinetic charging in the devices to cut down on size but retain a good battery time?
Great insight here! I’m open to more tracking devices from those who could recommend. GPS 3G signal specific. Thanks! This is for my free-spirited cat’s own good.
Thanks for your message Abby, which devices have you used in the past?
I am awaiting the new launch of the Pawtrack latest collar. It looks good and due out mid May, but that has been delayed since January.
£125, with free first year subscription , £45 annual after that, slightly more if monthly.
We are also eagerly awaiting the release of that tracker, it sounds very promising!
My ginger cat just disappears and shows whenever she like, that is why I badly need a pet tracker. I’m looking for a device with geofencing capabilities thanks for this list.
Hi Tiffany,
The Pod 3, Tractive, Novita, Pod 2 and TK Star trackers all have geofencing capability.
Hope that helps,
Thank you for this list! I’m glad you’ve posted about this. By the way do you still have any suggestion on trackers that already uses 3G? Thanks!
Hi Janica, glad you like our page.
A lot of these trackers do use 3G too.
In stock trackers mentioned on our page that use mobile data include: the Pod 3, Weenect, Tractive, Novita, Trax, TKStar, Gpaws & Petkit…in fact pretty much all of them except for the radio trackers!
Looking at the comparison table, it shows there are really a lot of good products to monitor my feline pet. It helped me narrow my choices down.
There’s certainly a lot of choice, which one did you choose in the end?
Hi,
I have a cat and have been using the track active. For a while now however we live behind a train line and the cat has now lost the device twice the second time is somewhere we cannot get out so it is now lost. I like the track active as if he has been out a while I can flick up the app and see where he is but the issues with the clip coming off is a real problem. What else would people suggest that is similar !
Hi Kay,
I would recommend the Tractive which features a clip loss alarm so you know when it has come off your cat. Tractive are also bringing out a new tracker in the next few months which is built into a collar so in theory should be much harder to lose so it may be worth waiting for that.
The TK Star is also a good option which is underrated in my opinion. It is built into a collar so again is harder to lose.
Both of these feature app integration which gives you all the data you need.
Hope that helps Kay.
Hi Dan!
Looking for a pet tracker for my 4 cats. Can only see 2 trackers on your list with multiple pet tracking. Would you recommend the Tabcat or the Girafus? I know you have the Tabcat in your Top 4 list but the reviews on Amazon aren’t great. They are all neutered so shouldn’t stray too far but still concerned about the Tabcat only being able to track for 122 metres. However it seems smaller and less cumbersome than the Girafus so would be inclined to go with that one. But then the Girafus has GPS and a mobile app whereas Tabcat doesn’t. I’m in a rural location. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shirley,
Cork, Ireland
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for stopping by, sounds like you have quite a handful of cats there!
I’ve just noticed that Tractive have updated their app now so you can track multiple cats on it if you have more than one of their trackers (I’ve updated the table too).
Although the Amazon reviews for the Tabcat aren’t great I personally am a big fan of it and think it’s a great option if you aren’t bothered about having the app for them. Not many cats ever seem to go out of range on it despite its limited range!
The Girafus is also a good option though can be a bit too bulky for some smaller cats.
Hope that helps,
Thanks,
Dan
I prefer to use a GPS tracker with Geofence feature because i am busy at work and my cat is free whether it is inside or outside of our house. By the way thank you for sharing this blog to us cat lovers.
Geofences are great aren’t they? glad you like the blog Shirley, thanks for visiting.