Are you familiar with the expression “While the cat is away the mice will play“? Simply put it means when someone is not around to keep an eye on things chances are someone might be up to mischief.
As a pet owner I am often curious as to what our five cats and dog do when we are not at home. We are certain that they go on furniture that they are not suppose to. We make sure to cover my husband’s chair and the couch with old sheets just to be on the safe side.
Our dog has a tendency to harass the cats, especially our youngest cat Bella. We wonder if he goes after her when we are not around, or do all of the animals just sleep?
My husband used to have a co-worker who had a dog named Sara. The guy was single and that dog was his world. She meant everything to him.
He was curious to see what she was up to when he was at work. So much so that he set up video cameras around his house so that he could check in on her while he was at work. He jokingly referred to it as “Sara Cam”.
My husband saw him checking on his dog a few times a day. He told me that he never saw the dog do much more than sleep or get something to eat or drink.
I’m pretty sure that is what our pets do when we are not home, but I do wonder if they get into mischief.
When we are home our dog barks like crazy at the delivery men. We wonder if he does that when we are not at home, or if he only does it to “protect” the family?
A while back I was sent to review a Motorola SCOUT1 digital wireless video pet monitoring system with Wi-Fi connectivity and two-way communication. In addition I was also sent a Motorola Scout 1500 which comes with two indoor/outdoor cameras. Sadly we live in a condo and are not allowed to hook up anything to the outside of the building. We also don’t have a yard. We’re going to hold on to it in hopes of buying a house some day in the near future. My father could also use the monitor for his dog.
We did set up the Scout1 wireless system. We have it set up on the top corner of my desk. It gives us the best vantage point considering the kitchen, living room, dining room and hallway are all open to each other. We tend to close the bathroom and bedroom door when we are not at home so the pets cannot go into those rooms.
In order to view the action you need to download the FREE Monitor Everywhere app. This will allow you to view what is going on at home from your smartphone or tablet. You can also view online via a computer. That is how my husband views what is going on at home. I have the app on my phone.
We have a bit of a hard time getting everything to sync up. My husband is an IT (computer) tech and he found the set up to be a bit tricky. It was more so getting our monitor to sync up with the app. After a few tries we were able to get it to work.
The Motorola Scout1 allows out control the monitor from the Monitor Everywhere app. You can take photos, record video, zoom in and out and tilt the camera up and down or pan side to side. I like that feature about the monitor so you are able to get more than one static image. You are able to zoom in on your pet and move the monitor around a bit (remotely) to locate where pet is.
We have discovered a few things using the Motorola Scout1. Our one cat does go on the couch when we are not at home, but she goes UNDER the sheet we put on it to protect it. We also found that our dog goes in the litter box and eats whatever “packages” the cats left in there. We had our suspicions, but no proof. After we discovered that we realized we had to move a chair in front of the litter box to keep him out of it.
We also suspected that our dog was eating our cats’ food. We have to keep their food on a cabinet so that our dog Espn canned eat it. Unfortunately we need to keep a set of pet stairs next to it because one of our cats has a hard time jumping up on the cabinet.
Sometimes we find that the entire bowl of dry food is empty with not even a crumb to be seen. Our cats would never lick the entire bowl clean. We had a feeling our dog was getting up on the cabinet, but again, we had no proof.
The monitor revealed the truth – our dog does go up on the cabinet and eat the cat’s food. He doesn’t go all the way up the stairs. He only goes on the first two steps and leans over into the dish. We also saw that he’ll stand next to the cabinet, go up on his hind legs and tip the food dish slightly on it side so the dry food is in reach.
He’s one sneaky dog. 🙂
For the most part the cats don’t do much. We’ve seen two of our cats get into a bit of a fight (nothing serious) and a few times the cats would go on the coffee table and take a nap (which they know they are not suppose to do) but aside from that they seem to behave themselves when we are not at home.
The monitor also allows for two way communications. That means you can talk to your pet while you are at work or not at home. We tried this a few times. The cats don’t even seem to hear us when we talk to them. Our dog will perk up and look around. He will even walk around as if he’s looking for us. I don’t think they truly “get it”.
The monitor can also work at night via infrared night vision. We find that it’s difficult to see what it going on at night. The image quality is not that good.
Overall the image quality is not high quality (day or night). I guess it’s OK since you just want to take a peak at what is going on with your pets when you are not at home. It’s not like you are going to turn the footage into a movie where you would need high quality images.
I am not going to share any photos/video from the monitor for safety reasons. I wish to keep the layout of my home private. I’m sure you can understand.
I think this monitor is not only great for monitoring your pets, but also your kids and the safety of your home. I have teenagers. This monitor allows me to see when they get home from school and what they are doing when they get home. I’m NOT suggesting that you spy on your kids with such a monitor. But I do think it’s good to know that your kids are home safe and sound in case you have a child that walks home from school and/or is a “latch key” kid.
The unit sells for $299 and is available at several retailers like Amazon and PetSmart.
I like the idea of being able to see what my pets are up to when I’m not around. My pets have not been overly active the times I’ve checked up on them (except our dog) but it’s still fun to see what the “mice” (our pets) are doing when the cat (me and my family) are away.
What do you think about the Motorola SCOUT1 digital wireless video pet monitoring system? Is it something you would use with your pets? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Kimberly
*I received free samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Auriette says
I would love to have a system like the Motorola WiFi Pet Monitor. We have nine cats, so it’s hard to tell who’s climbing places that they shouldn’t, who’s getting sick and throwing up, etc. It would be fantastic to be able to check on them throughout the day or even try to set it up to record while we’re gone so we can review the “tapes.” Unfortunately, with all the vet bills we’ve had lately, I can’t afford the $299 price to get one.
Jenna Z says
We can’t see our whole backyard from our back door and I was JUST wishing I had a camera placed so that I could see what they’re up to without having to walk ALL the way back to the bedrooms to peak out the window. By the time I get back there, the mischief is already done!
Linda Szymoniak says
I would really love a setup like this one for two reasons. 1) my senior girl, Suki, has me worried and I monitor her closely when I’m home – this way I could also keep a close eye on her while I’m out of the house, and 2) it would be fun to see just how my “pack” (five Treeing Walker Coonhounds and three cats) act when I’m NOT around. LOL!
brad m. says
I would love to be able to see what my two dogs do in the house while away from home. One of them is the one who gets into things. I think I know which one but I sure would like to have this in my home plus for security too!