u/simAlity

I am an agent for the Cat Distribution System. Which is to say that I volunteer for a rescue as a foster mom. I have distributed almost 50 kittens. But I only have one cat of my own. I always said that if one came along that my cat actually liked, I would consider keeping them. But I never thought this would happen because my cat doesn't like kittens. Well this isn't a kitten. And my cat doesn't hate him.

Okay, seriously, how long does this post body need to be? I can't think of anything more to add. Still not long enough? How about now? Thank you!

He is 7 weeks old.

I have never seen a kitten with this eye color before. Anyone else? He is around 7 weeks old.

(Yes, I am aware that this baby has a URI and is significantly underweight. He was only rescued two days ago. We're working on it.)

My indoor-outdoor cat went missing for 7.5 weeks in 2021. After she returned, I bought her a tracker. I wasn't sure how well it was going to work, but I literally, physically could not keep her inside and I needed some way to ensure she wouldn't get lost again.

That was 5 years ago, and we are still using it. I chose the jiobit because tractiv hadn't come out with a cat-sized model yet. It slips onto her collar without any additional clips (although several clips came with the device).

My big concern before buying the tracker is Gina would just pull the collar off. Previously I had not been able to keep a collar on her for more than hour hour. But she doesn't mind the jiobit. I think the weight of the tag helps the collar not irritate the back of her neck.

I also stopped using breakaway collars which come off too easily. Instead she wears an elastic buckle collar that stretches enough to come off her head if it gets caught on something but otherwise stays around her neck. I use hair ties to keep the tracker for sliding to the collar's buckle (which interferes with the electronics). The collar has to be replaces every six months or so.

This thing has saved her life. One time she went wandering in a different direction towards a VERY busy road, but I was able to get her before she went far. She's also learned to run home anytime I hit the "alarm" button.

Its not perfect. Technically the tracker is supposed to alert when she wanders more than a 100ft, but its more like 100m. Also, when it does alert, the first location dot is always WAY wrong. It takes a minute for the location to actually center in on where she is and those minutes can be agonizing. It took a while to get accustomed to all of the locator's quirks.

On the plus side, the battery lasts between 3-7 days before it needs to be charged. Actual life depends a lot on how much time it spends outside "safe" locations. Its also small enough not to look odd on Gina's collar and light enough not to hurt her neck.

The jiobit went out of production about a year ago but you can still get them on facebook marketplace. Tractiv also offers a cat-sized collar and I haven't heard anything bad about it. there are also a couple of cheaper alternatives that I don't know much about.

Not being able to find Gina was always the worst part about letting her be indoor-outdoor. This makes it easier.