Cat, puppy, sick animal: when a camera is worth it
Freshly operated, very young or old and frail: with an old phone as a pet camera you keep pets in view without constantly checking.
It is not only dogs left alone that are a case for the camera. Often there are special phases in an animal's life when you would like to check more often but cannot sit in the room all the time.
Puppies and kittens
Young animals sleep a lot but suddenly wake up and get up to a good deal out of curiosity. With the camera you see when your puppy wakes at night and needs to go out, even before he whines. That helps with house training. With kittens or hand-reared litters, regular glances into the whelping box are reassuring without you disturbing the mother every time.
After an operation
A freshly operated tomcat in a cone, a bitch after surgery: the vet says “watch whether he eats, drinks and behaves calmly”, and you do exactly that best from a distance. Animals often relax more when nobody is sitting next to them all the time. Motion alert in Complete tells you when something changes in the picture, and with the recordings you later show the vet what happened.
Old and sick animals
With an old dog or a cat with kidney problems behaviour changes gradually: less movement, more frequent trips to the water bowl, restless nights. Because such changes are easy to overlook when you live together, the camera can help make them visible. Note anything unusual with the time and show it at the next examination.
Several animals, several rooms
Cats have their favourite spots, and they change. With several cameras in the Complete plan you can observe up to four places, for example living room, hallway and litter tray. That is also useful if two animals do not get along and you want to know where the friction is.
Practical notes
Set the phone up so the animal cannot reach it: cats love warm devices, and cables are exciting to them. Fix the phone securely, ideally in a holder or on a shelf, and lay the cable so that nobody can pull on it. In the dark the app's automatic exposure helps; more in the article Night vision and dark rooms. And think of warmth: if the phone runs permanently, it does not belong in the sun or in a closed box (Round-the-clock use, battery and heat).
What the camera does not replace
The camera shows that something is unusual, not what it means. For vomiting, apathy, difficulty breathing or restlessness that does not stop, you go to the vet, not to the next recording.
