As a cat owner it is important to ask yourself if you know what to do if your cat swallows or gets stung by a bee. Will you be prepared if this happens while on a family camping trip, or in the wee hours of the morning? Cats and bee stings can result in a serious situation depending on how many times your cat got stung and on what part of your cat’s body. Cats are curious animal, so when they get stung by bees it’s usually on the face, nose, or paw. The old adage, “curiosity killed the cat”, actually has an element of truth. Cats are nosy creatures, sniffing at anything of interest. Since felines find insects interesting, they sniff at them, and if they stick their nose where it doesn’t belong, that could turn out to be fatal. So, let’s take a comprehensive look at what happens if a cat got stung by a bee. Cats and bees Since their bodies are small, a bee sting can have a greater, faster effect on cats than it does on humans . Cats react to bee stings a lot like people do. You can expe...
The results of National Lost and Found Pets research survey, conducted by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), revealed that only 74% of all cats that have been reported lost over the past five years have been happily reunited with their owners.
The fear that their pet will go missing haunts every owner.
Cat tracking devices are quite useful in finding lost or stolen pets.
Microchipped Implant is growing more popular. The microchip acts as a permanent form of identification for your animal in the event they go missing.
Most commonly asked question among Cat owner is “Can I track my cat with a microchip?”
And the short answer is No.
Microchip implants don't enable you to do much other than report your cat missing and wait for it to be found. Your cat must be found, captured and taken to a vet or shelter to begin the process of reuniting the animal with its owner.
It seems that the most common misconception is that the microchip your cat’s vet implanted under the skin of your beloved cat is actually a GPS microchip device for cats that can help you locate your pet in case it gets lost. In fact, microchips for cats and GPS tracking devices are two different options.
There are three main technologies used in cat protection and recovery.
The main aim of this article is to compare these technologies; Cat GPS trackers, Cat RF Tracker and Microchip Implant.
MICROCHIP IMPLANT EXPLAINED
Microchip implants are approximately the size of a grain of rice and are implanted under the skin of the animal. The chip is inserted under the skin with a needle, a procedure which takes only a few minutes.
It is common practice to insert the chip, which is non-toxic and about the size of a grain of rice, between your cat's shoulder blades. It will not cause your cat discomfort or allergic reactions.
Because the chip is skin deep you may be able to feel it occasionally.
While a microchip actually contains a lot of useful information (unique ID of the chip, breed, description, vaccination schedule, owners contact details, vet’s contact details, etc.), it can only be read by a special scanner, once a lost or stolen cat has been found and brought to a shelter or to the authorities responsible for handling stray animals in the country.
These implants are in fact passive radio frequency devices – they do not have their own power supply and do not transmit continuous signal. This technology is used in many applications such as barcodes and passports. It uses electromagnetic fields to identify tags attached to objects.
Cat’s microchips are passive, meaning that they do not have an internal power source. Most of the time, it just lies there until it is activated by a reader. A vet or animal shelter will use a special reader to check for RFID tags in a cat. If a microchip is present, it is automatically activated, sending out the information contained in it.
In most cases, a microchip contains just a single ID number. When entered in a database, the ID number provides details of the pet owner including contact information, name, and location. This is why it is essential to keep your contact information up to date. It can mean the difference between finding your pet or losing it forever.
CAT RF TRACKER EXPLAINED
Cat RF tracker uses RFID technology which is the same technology used in microchip implant.
However, this trackers are external and placed on cat’s collar.
RFID works by having a small handset (usually the size of 4 or 5 credit cards stacked together) and a tiny unit that sits on the cat’s collar.
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This lightweight(6gram compared to GPS tag which is normally 30gram+) tag attaches to your cat's collar and comes with a dedicated handset that enables you to track your cat by bleeping and flashing more frequently the closer you are to them.
The handset works with directional technology so when your cat goes off for a wander, visual and audio cues make it possible to track your cat to within 2.5cm of its location.
The owner simply activates the handset by pressing one of the 4 buttons the tag is registered to and if the tag is in range, a series of lights will appear and make noise on the handset whilst a little beep will go off on your cat at the same time.
Red lights mean you are in range but not all that close, amber means you are near and green means your cat is just meters away, even if it still hiding from plain sight! The louder the sound, the closer the owner is to their cat!
With some simple training using food treats or tit-bits, you can get your cat to understand that when you press the button on the cat tracking handset to find them, that they will get some food.
This is often enough for most cats to start their journey home, often meaning that you don’t even need to get up out of your armchair to call them in.
The tags take CR2032 lithium batteries, which should last around a year.
CAT GPS TRACKER EXPLAINED
GPS trackers are not implanted underneath the skin. Instead, they usually appear in form of cat collars.
A GPS pet tracker is a waterproof battery-powered GPS device that attaches to your cat’s collar. If your cat gets lost, you can use the App on your smartphone to view their GPS location and see where they’ve wandered off to, so you can go pick them up.
A GPS tracker is much bigger since it contains a lot more equipment within it including a battery. This is actually one of the reasons why you will not come across a GPS chip for cats.
The tracker works by communicating with satellites and getting exact location coordinates. These coordinates are then sent over a cellular network or GSM to the pet owner’s mobile phone.
In addition to providing the exact location, modern cat GPS trackers offer supplementary features — message and email alerts, ability to create a designated safe area etc.
Most popular product in this category is Whistle 3 GPS Pet Tracker
Few Issues which I see with Cat GPS Tracker
- Battery Longevity – All electronic tracking systems will require electricity to function, in the form of battery power. We need to charge the battery every 2-3 Days.
- Cost- GPS trackers are considerably more expensive.Since it uses the mobile network it will need SIM card. Hence once you purchase the Device, you also need to pay a monthly fee.
- Weight- Tracking Device Weight might cause discomfort for cats.
- Network Strength- Since these trackers depend on the mobile network, it would be difficult to track if mobile network strength is low or negligible. This can be an issue in rural areas.
Conclusion
While no device can guarantee the absolute safety of your little companion, modern identification and tracking systems greatly reduce the risk of losing your pet and increase the chance that your darling pet will be brought safely back home in case it gets lost.