Camera to monitor cats?

[LTMommy]

Does anyone use cameras to monitor their cat when you’re not home or when you’re asleep?

I’m planning to set a camera up near my cats’ food to monitor their food intake. I have one cat who is sick and needs to eat more and gain weight. My other cat is healthy and will eat almost anything and everything, which I’m thankful for! Right now, I put the healthy cat in the bedroom with food, water, and litter when I leave for work during the day. This allows me to monitor how much my other cat is eating. One problem with this is that I think my sick cat prefers to eat more in the middle of the night. I’m unable to close my healthy cat in a room during that time for multiple reasons. So while I think he’s eating more at night, I can’t be certain.

So, I’m looking for the following in a camera:

• Inexpensive
• Night vision
• Doesn’t require a subscription

Doesn’t have to be fancy, have sound, etc. I simply want to win it at the food dish to see who is eating. The less complicated the better - really looking for something that’s as plug and play as you can get.

Anyone have any suggestions from experience?

 

[suzeanna]

https://www.wyze.com/products/wyze-cam-pan-v2-sd-card-bundle?related_selling_plan=41618559008930 We have these (or an earlier version possibly), they work pretty well for what you mentioned. There's also a list of "events" whenever there's movement so that could help you look and see if the cat has been eating during the night.

 

[Alldara]

I don't use one personally, im a bit superstitious about leaving cameras running.

However, many people use used Baby monitors with video from second hand stores. They are usually made to watch sleeping children as well.

Once titled "Pet Cam" they are more niche and tend to cost more.

 

[Gizmobius]

I just recently purchased the Wyze v3 Cam and have been liking it so far! It has two way audio and according to the description it has night vision capabilities, though I haven't tried it out myself. So far, I only use the camera to check in on the boys upstairs while I'm downstairs getting their dinner and for any instances in the future when I'm away for a night so I can see how they're doing. The camera can be turned on and off within the app. No subscription is needed for the basic function of the camera.

For me, it was inexpensive enough that if I didn't like it, I wouldn't feel like I wasted a bunch of money and if I liked it, I could maybe someday get a bit more expensive of a camera.

 

[susanm9006]

I also have Wyze cams. One monitors the gate between Lola’s room and the hallway so I can see how the girls interact with one another. I also have one on my porch and one in the garage. Wyze only captures a few seconds of an event but if you put in your own SSD card you can look back at least a couple days and see everything.

 

[Caspers Human]

If you don't need to look in via internet, just go to the outdoors/hunting store and get a cheap trail cam... the kind hunters use to take pictures of game.

Trail cams have IR sensing for night vision. They have motion detection so that they only take pictures/video when something is in range of the lens. They can work for days or weeks without need of intervention. The only downside is that you'll have to download the pictures/video manually. (Depending on the model and the expense you want to pay, you might be able to find a trail cam that allows you to download via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi.)

 

[Antonio65]

I have a Foscam R2M, and recently I have added a Reolink Argus 3 Pro.
Both link to internet via your wifi home network so you can watch your place live from your smartphone. They also have a microSD slot for a memory card to store the images. They have night vision, motion detection and dual way sound.
The Reolink is battery operated, you charge the battery and forget it for several months so you don't need to run wires.

 

[Antonio65]

Trail cams have IR sensing for night vision. They have motion detection so that they only take pictures/video when something is in range of the lens. They can work for days or weeks without need of intervention.

My trail camera, a Victure, only work three to four days with a pack of batteries (4 AA batteries).

 

[LTMommy]

I have a Foscam R2M, and recently I have added a Reolink Argus 3 Pro.
Both link to internet via your wifi home network so you can watch your place live from your smartphone. They also have a microSD slot for a memory card to store the images. They have night vision, motion detection and dual way sound.
The Reolink is battery operated, you charge the battery and forget it for several months so you don't need to run wires.

Oh, now that I think about it, battery powered/rechargeable is probably the best bet for me based on where I want to put it.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I looked for one but they all need wifi. I only use my phone’s hotspot, and they don’t work with that.

 

[daftcat75]

The trouble with a baby monitor is that you have to be there when the event happens. There may be a notification that gets sent from the camera to the monitor. But if you're out, I don't think baby monitors are recording for later playback. I suppose you could get a nanny cam for that. But going down the baby monitor road is going to be more expensive than simply getting a wifi (or trail) camera.

I like the D-Link family of wifi cameras. You can get cloud recording for $2.49/month (or $25/year option.) I like cloud recording because then I don't need to be around when the notification goes off. I don't need to worry about SD card space management. You can set privacy mode on the cameras through the app if you don't want to be monitoring or recording at certain times. I have a lot of the 8000LH because they are about the same size and weight as a salt shaker. I use 3M velcro command strips to mount these where they are needed: one under a bookcase, one attached to her litterbox enclosure, one across the room that has a pretty good wide view of the main room. I also like the 8010LH which can be more easily mounted to a wall (again using nothing more than the 3M velcro strips) and angled up or down as needed. For a camera monitoring food, this is the one I would recommend. This one does have an SD card. But I don't know how many videos you can record to the SD card and whether the camera automatically takes care of deleting old videos. I only use it in cloud recording mode.

Amazon.com : d-link camera

 

[LTMommy]

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

My cat passed away tonight. Whatever it was that he’s been fighting for months finally got to him and it was very quick.

Now I only have my one little piggy cat who I don’t feel the need to spy on right now. Hopefully she will remain healthy for a long time to come.

 

[Meowmee]

Does anyone use cameras to monitor their cat when you’re not home or when you’re asleep?

I’m planning to set a camera up near my cats’ food to monitor their food intake. I have one cat who is sick and needs to eat more and gain weight. My other cat is healthy and will eat almost anything and everything, which I’m thankful for! Right now, I put the healthy cat in the bedroom with food, water, and litter when I leave for work during the day. This allows me to monitor how much my other cat is eating. One problem with this is that I think my sick cat prefers to eat more in the middle of the night. I’m unable to close my healthy cat in a room during that time for multiple reasons. So while I think he’s eating more at night, I can’t be certain.

So, I’m looking for the following in a camera:

• Inexpensive
• Night vision
• Doesn’t require a subscription

Doesn’t have to be fancy, have sound, etc. I simply want to win it at the food dish to see who is eating. The less complicated the better - really looking for something that’s as plug and play as you can get.

Anyone have any suggestions from experience?

I use the yi home cameras indoors, and the blink cams outside. All my outside guys are now inside so I don’t really use them as much for the cats now but I can still monitor stuff.

Neither one is terribly reliable though, they are wireless, and connected to Internet. One of the yi home cameras I think it has a broken charging connector cord so, I’m only using one now in Fred and Cinn’s bedroom. I didn’t have time yet to contact the company to get a new cord to see if that one one will still work.
The blink cameras really don’t work reliably anymore at all it’s kind of an on and off situation they do have a good customer service though if you call. I don’t pay for the yi cloud storage so it’s only six second videos but you do get alerts.

at one point I was thinking I would get a baby monitor for the bedroom where the cats are now but I haven’t done it yet.

 

[Meowmee]

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

My cat passed away tonight. Whatever it was that he’s been fighting for months finally got to him and it was very quick.

Now I only have my one little piggy cat who I don’t feel the need to spy on right now. Hopefully she will remain healthy for a long time to come.

Oh no, I am very sorry to hear that, hugs.

 

[Antonio65]

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

My cat passed away tonight. Whatever it was that he’s been fighting for months finally got to him and it was very quick.

Now I only have my one little piggy cat who I don’t feel the need to spy on right now. Hopefully she will remain healthy for a long time to come.

I'm so very sorry to read this, I hope it was a peaceful passing.

 

[Alldara]

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

My cat passed away tonight. Whatever it was that he’s been fighting for months finally got to him and it was very quick.

Now I only have my one little piggy cat who I don’t feel the need to spy on right now. Hopefully she will remain healthy for a long time to come.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[fionasmom]

We will lock this thread out of respect for the cat, who is just passed on.