When the cat’s away…
you can keep a watchful eye
Eyenimal Petcam From €67, eyenimal.com
They say it’s a dog’s life but what exactly does a pet’s life look like? When we’re out, what do they get up to? Where do they go? If you’re a cat owner, you’ve probably even wondered about feline fidelity and maybe your furry family member even has another family on the go?
With all those questions to be answered, I bought a Petcam from Eyenimal, which makes a host of products for pet owners.
It is a small camera that attaches to a pet’s collar and records video and sound of their view of the world. I’m an animal lover without a pet, so I needed the participation of a cat-owning neighbour to press the Petcam into service, but I ended up with more than one volunteer.
Unpacking the Eyenimal revealed a small, well-made little camera. At just over an ounce, it’s light which it obviously needs to be. It’s small and unobtrusive for a pet to wear, and measures around two and a half inches across and is about half an inch deep.
This means, even a small pet can wear it and probably not even notice there’s something extra on their collar.
It comes with a USB cable, a manual and a little name label for the camera. There is a USB socket on the rim of the camera for charging and connecting it to your computer to download recorded footage.
The camera attaches like a pendant to a cat collar and it felt securely attached and unlikely to get lost. There’s just one control button on the camera, and that turns the power on which is indicated by a small blue light. Then, a second push of the power button puts it in to record mode and the light flashes.
My neighbours’ shorthaired moggy, Poppy, was a little curious for a few minutes but seemed happy enough with her new accessory and it wasn’t long before she tottered off on neighbourhood patrol.
The camera has a battery life of about two-and-a-half hours between charges. When she returned, we connected the camera to my laptop and transferred the video to review.
The picture quality isn’t highdefinition, but it’s decent. The 600 x 400 resolution is recorded at 29 frames per second, so it does provide nice clear footage. Also, there’s plenty of memory to record the video, as the Eyenimal has 4GB of memory built in.
The footage we recorded was fascinating. From greeting feline friends in the next garden, to a dalliance with a magpie this little camera is like a door into a Looking Glass world.
Even seeing how often your pet stops to drink or just nose around is fascinating.
Seeing how a cat traverses walls and roofs with the expertise of an Alpine climber secured my eternal admiration and little Poppy was still back in time for dinner.
One useful feature is its splashproofing, though full waterproofing would be useful in case your pet takes a dip while on their travels.
I’m sure the novelty would wear off eventually but I found this a remarkable little gadget. If you had a pet who was returning with scratches or marks, you could check on what exactly they’re getting up to. If poorly, you could keep an eye on where they’re drinking.
Most rewarding though, you get to experience the social life of your pet and that’s a busy place as it happens.
SEEING HOW YOUR PET NOSES AROUND IS FASCINATING