So this is the 4th of my series of blog posts reviewing our cat tracking collars and app from KADDZ, check out #KADDZ to see my whole series of blog posts on these collars.
This time I said I would go into some of the reports under the individual cat profiles, more and more of which become available as more and more data is collected by the collars.
Right so from the profile screen you see you have a button called…
Click on this and you will get the following screen…
In this post I’m going to focus in on the 1st 3 reports available from this list…
Heatmap
This is one of the most fascinating of the report as it tracks on a map where your cat spends most his/her time, I found this particularly fascinating when this report first became available as my perception was that the cat I was looking at was out all the time! However the heatmap showed otherwise and actually if you looked at it in percentage terms you can be quite surprised at the results. The other cool thing about this report is you can break it down to show their movements for day and night together and separately at just a click of the central button…
Interesting Paths
This report makes a list of all of your cat’s individual journeys, you can then click into each one to see how they have got from A to B, and all their stops along the way. To get the most interesting reports it’s best to click on the ones with the most stops. Here is the list view:
Here is an example of one of the Interesting Paths which Akita has taken:
You’ll find as you gather more data that your cats have quite a specific routine of how they get to and from all of their favourite places, this is just so fascinating.
Current District
This is a daily report to show you a ring fenced off area of what your cat’s current district is. It shows you a date in the top right corner of the report, so you can always see what day you are looking at, it then has a highlighted ring fenced area on the map along with drop pins with times showing the points which they have registered as being situated throughout that day. You can simply click the arrows on each side of the map to look at the report for the previous day and then to come back to the current day so that you can compare and contrast. You can also, as with all maps on this app, zoom in for more detail if wanted/required and change between as normal and satellite map based on preference as described in my last post. A few example screenshots given below:
In my next post I will go into some of the remaining reports available in more detail… we continue to be very impressed by these collars and their functionality. If you have any questions at all please comment below and I will answer wherever I can, and if not direct your query to my contacts at KADDZ directly.
Check out #KADDZ to see my whole series of blog posts on these collars.
You can also check out their company using the following links:
KADDZ on Facebook
Hi Gill
Been reading your blogs with interest re the Kaddz collars. I also had a cat (Hendrix) go missing in January this year and when we finally got him back after 18 days, we started using the pod trackers. Another excellent tracker.
I just wondered with Kaddz, if either of your cats has lost one yet. I think this collar could be more appropriate for Jagger due to some extra features Kaddz has. But when they had breakaway collars before, they were always losing them. We switched to elasticated when we got their pods. I don’t want to be a nuisance to our neighbour’s! I realise they have different weights but your experience would be helpful.
Many thanks, Clare.
Hi Clare,
My apologies for the delayed response. Thank you for your comments and questions. Oh I feel your pain with Hendrix, I’m so glad he returned.
We also looked at pod trackers before we went with KADDZ, I would say that KADDZ are definitely more designed specifically for cats they are perfect size and shape for them.
How have you found the pod trackers?
Yes, we have had a couple of instances where the KADDZ safety release mechanism has been activated and so the cat and the collar have been separated, it is worth saying that we are both really pleased that this mechanism does exist and it does give us peace of mind that if the cats do get caught on anything then the collar just releases, based on the weight setting which you have picked, without causing your cat any distress.
This has happened twice with our cat Akita and both times we have been able to track the collar using the search mode and got the collar back. Unfortunately when this happened with our other cat Medes his collar released in an area without any mobile signal, something which is impossible to control, and so we have unfortunately not been able to re-find the collar as a result before it ran out of battery.
In summary,it may happen that a collar get lost. However in mostly of the cases the collar has been found again thanks to the search mode (which also allows to enable the LED and sound buzzer) as long the battery is still ok and the collar hasn’t been lost in an area with a bad GSM/GPS coverage. KADDZ tech department is able to check the log files which helps in mostly of the cases to retrieve the last submitted GPS coordinates more accurately, in order to find the collar.
In the past 6 month we had around 4 cases where customers (including us) reported us lost collars. If the collar can’t be found, we offer usually a replacement collar for a discounted price. And of course the we also transfer the Data subscription to the new collar.
Hope this helps and answers your question – please do drop me a line if you have any further questions.
Best Wishes
Gill
Thanks Gill, that’s not too bad, I used to get through a lot of breakaway collars so hopefully the collar will only come off in a well covered area! I do worry with the elasticated collars but (touch wood) no problems to date and none lost!
I did receive my Kaddz collar today but I don’t have the strap for the 4kg weight tension but after contacting them, they have already confirmed they are sending one to me. Jagger is a 6kg Bengal so I definitely need the 4kg weight tension!
As with all pet trackers, the pod is also a work in progress. I’m waiting on a replacement for Hendrix as the casing has cracked. However, the new pod will have a stronger and more resilient case so it shouldn’t happen again. My two enjoy rolling around on concrete so they get bashed up pretty quickly – and no doubt the Kaddz collar will too. Even though Pod is based in Australia you still get a response within 24 hours if you have a problem and they always replace the pod free of charge if there is an issue. I’ve been very impressed.
But Kaddz definitely have some great features on their tracker (having read your blog!), so I’m looking forward to trying it out, plus I’ll have a spare in case of any lost collars!
Anyway, I can’t complain about breakaway collars as hendrix’s saved his life. For the first time ever, someone called me to say they’d found it – and I discovered he was 10 miles away, as he’d climbed in a van and jumped out at the next stop. So at least I then knew where to look!
Thanks again, Clare
Wow your cat certainly gets up to some adventures! Even though Mede’s collar is currently missing he wore it for long enough for us to have real idea of where his territory is. The horrid thing when he went missing in January was that we had just no idea! Best of luck with trying out KADDZ. 🙂
Hi
Been reading with interest and have still not decided on whether to get a Pod or Kaddz. A couple of questions, is there much adjustment on the collar, also when it ‘breaks off’ for whatever reason, does it still continue to tranmit GPs and GSM, oh and when on the cats neck it the GPS locator part at the top of their neck.
Kind Regards
ray
Hi Ray, Thank you for your comments and questions. Yes there are several options in terms of tightening and loosening the collar to adapt to your cats neck, as you can see in my 2nd kaddz post (http://www.jamjargill.com/cat-parenting-kaddz-product-review-pt-2/) where I have photos of all the different components which make up the collars so that you can see. If the collar is in a signal area when it comes off your cat then yes it will continue to transmit until the battery runs out and it is in this window to use the search function in order to find the collar. In terms of where the GPS transmitter sits on the collar, you can position it initially wherever you choose, however it is the heaviest part of the collar so it stands to reason that it will end up hanging down, but we have had had no problem with the collar transmitting as a result of this. Hope this answers your questions, please just let me know if you have any further questions. 🙂