Thanks to advances in technology, web cams are more affordable and easier to operate than a decade ago. With more people working long hours or traveling for their jobs and missing spending time with their at-home pets, web cameras serve many purposes:
• To visually check in on pets any time of the day via laptops, desktops, tablets and even smart phones. These “pet peeks” can offer visual clues as to why a pet has a behavior issue, such as house soiling, destructive chewing or clawing, vocalization or separation anxiety.
• To keep tabs on who enters and leaves the home, how long they stay and which room they enter.
• To serve as a less-expensive option to home alarm systems. Some web cams can be set up to deliver alerts on smart phones when movement is detected in the house.
• To be paired with motion detection and dusk-to-dawn outside lighting to act as deterrents for would-be burglars.
Given the choice, most pet parents would prefer to have their pets with them at all times, but that is not possible. Tapping into this love of pets, companies are creating web cams and two-way interactive wireless pet monitoring systems.
Here are a few of the popular products:
• Motorola Scout 1500: Retailing at $100-$199.99, this system features indoor and outdoor video cameras that allow people away from their homes to view, listen and speak to their pets via a wireless 3.5-inch color monitor. The cameras can be remotely controlled to pan, tilt and zoom. The system also has the capabilities to have the person playback prerecorded music for their pets, record still images and even be programmed to detect any room temperature changes (and alert in case of a house fire, for example).
• Dropcam: Retailing at $109.99-$199, this web cam enables a person to monitor their at-home pets in high definition via a browser or smartphone application. It has the capacity to dispatch emails and phone alerts to let you know when your pets are behaving and when they are getting into trouble. This Cloudsupported system can be viewed when you are in your home in one room as well as when you are traveling.
• EyeAnimal Pet Video Camera: Retailing at $72.22-$93.99, this product takes web cams to a different perspective – from the viewpoint of your pet – literally. This small camera is designed to be clip on to a pet’s collar and features a 4 GB storage option. The video camera weighs just 1.2 ounces and works with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. It enables users to see what their pets are doing and what pets see inside the home.
By Sarah Zumhofe
• To visually check in on pets any time of the day via laptops, desktops, tablets and even smart phones. These “pet peeks” can offer visual clues as to why a pet has a behavior issue, such as house soiling, destructive chewing or clawing, vocalization or separation anxiety.
• To keep tabs on who enters and leaves the home, how long they stay and which room they enter.
• To serve as a less-expensive option to home alarm systems. Some web cams can be set up to deliver alerts on smart phones when movement is detected in the house.
• To be paired with motion detection and dusk-to-dawn outside lighting to act as deterrents for would-be burglars.
Given the choice, most pet parents would prefer to have their pets with them at all times, but that is not possible. Tapping into this love of pets, companies are creating web cams and two-way interactive wireless pet monitoring systems.
Here are a few of the popular products:
• Motorola Scout 1500: Retailing at $100-$199.99, this system features indoor and outdoor video cameras that allow people away from their homes to view, listen and speak to their pets via a wireless 3.5-inch color monitor. The cameras can be remotely controlled to pan, tilt and zoom. The system also has the capabilities to have the person playback prerecorded music for their pets, record still images and even be programmed to detect any room temperature changes (and alert in case of a house fire, for example).
• Dropcam: Retailing at $109.99-$199, this web cam enables a person to monitor their at-home pets in high definition via a browser or smartphone application. It has the capacity to dispatch emails and phone alerts to let you know when your pets are behaving and when they are getting into trouble. This Cloudsupported system can be viewed when you are in your home in one room as well as when you are traveling.
• EyeAnimal Pet Video Camera: Retailing at $72.22-$93.99, this product takes web cams to a different perspective – from the viewpoint of your pet – literally. This small camera is designed to be clip on to a pet’s collar and features a 4 GB storage option. The video camera weighs just 1.2 ounces and works with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. It enables users to see what their pets are doing and what pets see inside the home.
By Sarah Zumhofe
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