Our Final Verdict
We give the Catlog Smart Cat Collar a rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars.
Design: 4.8/5
Functionality: 4.8/5
Phone App: 4.6/5
Value: 4.7/5
Ever wonder what your cat is up to when you’re not around? Or maybe you’re concerned about their eating habits or changes in behavior. Whatever has you curious about what your kitty is doing when you’re not looking, Catlog has your answers.
This cat tracking collar is more than a step counter. It uses advanced AI algorithms to detect when your cat eats, sleeps, grooms, drinks, and more. It takes this information and breaks it out into various formats that allow you to get an in-depth look at your cat’s day so you can keep better track of their health and wellbeing.
As the owner of a very mischievous, disaster-prone kitty, I was excited to try this smart collar out. After a few weeks, I can say it has done what I hoped it would do while offering a lot more than I expected. Find out what I loved about this collar and where it fell a little short in my full Catlog Smart Collar review, below.
About Catlog
Catlog, which is owned by RABO Inc, is a Japanese company started by Yukiko Iyo. In Japan, cats are almost as popular as dogs as pets, making it a fitting setting for this cat-centric company. Iyo started Catlog with a mission to help cat owners everywhere gain a better understanding of their felines so that they can live longer, happier lives.
Where Are Catlog Products Produced?
Catlog products are designed at RABO headquarters in Tokyo. The company makes two products, the Smart Collar and the Litter Box Monitor. Both are made in Japan.
At the moment, only the Catlog collar is available in the USA.
Which Types of Cat Is the Catlog Smart Cat Collar Best Suited For?
Catlog is a great option for indoor cats over the age of six months. Because it requires a constant wifi connection to transmit data, it is not a good choice for outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats. While kittens could wear the collar, the AI algorithms and collar sizes are made for cats who have reached or are nearing their full body size.
While all indoor cats can take advantage of the many features of this product, it is an especially great option for owners who want to keep an extra close eye on their kitty. Whether your cat has behavioral issues or health concerns, Catlog will warn of changes in activity, sleep, and eating patterns that may signal something is wrong. It can also help you determine the right amount of food for your kitty based on their activity, making it a great option for obese and overly skinny cats.
Smart Cat Collar Overview
Here is an overview of the Catlog Smart Collar by RABO Inc. We’ll look at how this collar works, its many features, the phone app, and the cost.
How It Works
Each Catlog Smart Collar kit comes with a base station and a collar. This station acts as both the charging dock and the connection between the collar and your phone.
To get started, you first need to download the app, then follow the prompts to connect the base station and add the collar pendant. To connect the base to wifi you need to ensure your router is running on 2.4GHz and does not use WPA3 security measures.
Once the app is set up, you can add a profile for your cat, including their age, weight, sex, and a photo of them. Once the collar is on them, the app will begin recording data about their activities throughout the day and night.
The collar uses intelligent AI algorithms to interpret your cat’s movements to determine what they are up to.
Each base station can connect to up to four collars.
Features
This intelligent collar has more features than many human fitness trackers.
In terms of basic functions, it detects and records different activities your cat engages in throughout the day and night, including:
- Eating
- Drinking
- Walking
- Running
- Grooming
- Resting
- Sleeping
In the app, you can see what your cat is up to at the moment and also access the “diary” page to see what they’ve been up to.
You can also take an in-depth look at each specific activity to see how your cat’s habits compare day to day, week to week, and month to month. Once you get enough data on each activity, the app will even tell you how your cat’s habits compare to other cats of similar sizes and ages.
Another great feature of this collar is the ability to compare how much your cat eats versus how many calories they expend each day. To activate this feature, you first must add your cat’s calorie intake.
The app makes this easy by allowing you to choose your food brand and recipe type to add preloaded calorie content. From there, you just need to measure how much you feed in grams and enter it into the app.
Catlog will then compare this number to how many calories your cat burns throughout the day based on its calculations.
One of the most important features this product provides is warning you when there is a change in behavior or activity, such as if your cat’s activity levels suddenly drop off or if they are not eating as often as they usually do.
The Phone App
All of the information Catlog provides is accessed through the phone app. This app is highly intuitive and has a lot of great features.
At the top of the home screen, it displays what your cat is doing right now. This data has about a two-minute lag time, assuming your cat is within range of the home base.
All of the data is recorded chronologically in the diary page, so you can easily look back on your cat’s day or even reference a day from weeks or months ago.
The app also reports the ambient temperature for the collar at any given time. This is a handy feature if your cat is home alone or out in their catio and you’re concerned they may be getting too hot or cold.
The app works smoothly, though gaps in data are common. I’ve also noticed that push notifications do not always go through, which can leave you with a dead battery you didn’t know about.
Cost
The Catlog Smart Collar system is available on Amazon for about $99. This includes the home base, pendant, and collar band of your choice. You can choose from red with a gold pendant or blue with a white pendant.
Collars are available in extra small, small, medium, large, and extra large.
In addition to the upfront cost, you must also purchase a monthly subscription in order to connect and use the Catlog collar. This runs about $14 per month per cat.
At the moment, there is no free trial period and no discount for a yearly rate.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Provides data on multiple activity types
- Warns of changes in activity
- Diary tracks months’ worth of data
- Tracks calorie intake and calories burned
- Provides ambient temperature readings
Cons
- Collar must be within range of base station to work
- Gaps in data are common
- Push notifications don’t always come through
Key Features
Easily Check In With Your kitty From Anywhere
With this intelligent collar, you can check in on what your cat is up to from anywhere. Whether you’re at work and worried kitty might be bored or you just woke up to a crash and want to see if kitty is downstairs playing, all you need to do is open the app. From here, you can see what your cat has been doing since the last time you checked on them.
Track Changes In Behavior
Catlog provides warnings of changes in behavior long before you are likely to notice them. It does this by comparing your cat’s typical activity, eating, sleeping, and grooming habits day after day. Any sudden changes trigger a warning in the app, giving you an opportunity to intervene before things become more serious.
Get Your kitty In Perfect Shape
This collar makes it easier than ever to figure out exactly how much food your cat needs to be healthy and happy. By inputting your feeding amounts and food type in the app, it will calculate how many calories your cat eats per day. It can then calculate how many calories they burn on average based on their daily activity numbers and tell you exactly how much you are over or underfeeding.
Is The Catlog Smart Cat Collar a Good Value?
Catlog is one of very few cat collars on the market made to track activity and behavior. Most options like it are focused more on GPS tracking than recording activity metrics. Truly comparable products range from slightly less than this one to almost twice as expensive.
While the system itself is a good value, keep in mind that you must also pay a monthly subscription fee. While all the features Catlog has make this fee worth it, it is not a small amount of money in the long term. Plus, it comes with no free trial period even with the purchase of a full system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use this collar outside of the house?
In order to send data, the collar must be within range of the base station and the base must have a wifi connection. While it is possible to set it up at other people’s homes, it will not work outdoors or at boarding kennels or vets unless you have access to their wifi.
How long does the battery last?
The battery lasts about 10 days and takes about 1 hour to charge.
Is there a warranty?
Each Catlog product comes with a 1-year warranty.
Our Experience With the Catlog Smart Collar
Anyone who has read my reviews before is probably familiar with my crazy rescue cat, Makoa. Among the many unique things about this Domestic Shorthair is his propensity for eating things he shouldn’t. Thanks to this condition, known as pica, he has already had two surgeries for intestinal obstruction in his short life.
While we do everything we can now to keep certain items away from him, the surest method to keep him from going under the knife is to watch his behavior carefully. If he eats something he shouldn’t and we catch it in time, the vet can typically get him to throw it up before surgery becomes a necessity.
This is where I was hoping the Catlog Smart Collar could help us out.
Since this innovative collar detects changes in activity and eating habits, I was hopeful it could help us intervene early if Makoa started to feel off for any reason.
The collar is small, super lightweight, and seems comfortable enough. It does not have a ring for a tag or bell but does have a breakaway clip, just in case. Makoa had no issues transitioning to this collar from his old standard kitty collar.
Unfortunately, getting this product set up proved to be more difficult than I expected, largely because of my internet settings. While I have never had issues with other wifi enabled pet products, this one has very specific requirements. Luckily, the customer support team was helpful and I was able to get the base station and collar hooked up so I could start using the system.
As soon as I signed in, I could see what Makoa was up to and review his activity on the diary page. This diary view is super helpful. It summarizes his activity at the end of each day, including how many times he ate and drank, and how many hours he spent sleeping, resting, and moving around.
From there, I can scroll down and get an hourly summary of his activities. From what I have seen, they are fairly accurate in reflecting his true movements and behaviors.
While Catlog provides some great insight into his activity, it is not comprehensive. Most hours throughout the day are missing an average of 30 minutes of data. This is true despite the fact that the Catlog home is centrally located and in an area where Makoa normally hangs out.
Despite these data gaps, I am able to get a good day-to-day comparison of his habits and activity levels. This means it’s easy to see changes that might indicate a problem.
After using the collar for about three weeks, I have yet to see any dramatic changes and the app has not reported any concerns. I have recently inputted his food amounts and am very excited to get information back about his food-to-activity level so I can better manage his hunger without overfeeding.
Overall, I have been very impressed with the accuracy of this collar and how many activities it is able to track. I also appreciate the many features, including the warnings about changes in activity and the calorie tracking.
Where I have been less impressed is with the large, unexplainable gaps in data throughout the day and night. But I am hopeful, given that this is a newer product for the US market, that these inconsistencies will be alleviated through software updates in the near future.
For now, I am eager to keep using this collar to help keep a better eye on my mischievous kitty.
Conclusion
For cat owners who want more insight into their kitty’s daily routine, the Catlog Smart Collar is a great option.
This intelligent, lightweight collar records your cat’s activities in real time (plus or minus two minutes) so you can see what they’re up to no matter where you are. And the activity comparison functions and daily diaries help you and the app identify behavior behavior changes that might be indicative of a problem.
While you can expect some data gaps and have to pay extra for a monthly subscription for this product, I think it is well worth the downsides given all it offers. This is especially true for cat owners like me who have a good reason to watch their kitty more closely.
