A pet monitor is an electronic device you can use for remotely monitoring pet animals you left unsupervised at home. The monitors range in price based on the functions it features. An upscale model would not only allow the owner to keep track of their pets' activities but even to interact with them if necessary.
The purpose of a pet monitor is to help owners get some peace of mind whenever they have to spend time away from their pets. Whether it is for work, family, or if you ever muster enough courage to go out for a night without them. You need not be worrying sick for them the whole time. You can quickly check up on your pets by tapping your phone a few times.
Why Monitor Pets?
While you are hopefully well acquainted with how your pet behaves when you are around, how much do you know if they act out when after you leave? A pet will, nine out of ten times, hold a healthy attachment to you as an owner, given you treat them right.
However, dogs, for example, have not only physical but emotional needs. The fact is that if your pets do, in fact, love you, they do enjoy spending time with you regularly, and I mean really on the regular.
Ever raised a domestic pet like a dog since infancy? If so, you would certainly know that when they see you walking out the door without them, they go berserk. This is a phenomenon known as separation anxiety which, in all fairness, we humans are also victims of.
For us, while in our infancy, we might be able to rationalize the reason why someone dear to us left us alone; pets tend to act out. When separation anxiety takes hold of a pet, they will start to express changes in their behavior.
What Our Pets Do When We Are Not Seeing
One of the most common occurrences pet owners can observe it's that, upon returning, they find an unholy mess. Piss on the carpet, thrashed sofa, the living room used as a bathroom, etc. Dog owners with particularly lively pets are certainly familiar with what I just described.
But not all pets express themselves like this. Some will lie quietly, still in a somber mood, as if they are not exactly sure of what to do with themselves now that you are gone. This depressed behavior would certainly fly out the window the moment you come back and walk through that door.
However, what if you could help relieve their anxiety sooner without having to rush home. What if you could show your pets that you are still thinking about them, that you care about them, even if you are not there.
What if a device could let you monitor how your pet is doing without you from wherever you are and give them some reassurance if they needed? What if you just start using a pet monitor?
Why Use a Pet Monitor?
Besides the aforementioned fact that, yes, you will be able to monitor your pet through camera surveillance which video stream you can access from your phone, there's more to the pet monitor.
See, depending on the model, you would also be able to talk to your pet through a built-in speaker in the camera. Believe it or not, hearing the sound of your voice can do wonders to uplift their mood.
On another note, surveillance of the pets sometimes also means surveillance of the house. Some pets are prone to emotional outbursts during your absence. These might translate into violent behavior, and with the camera, you can keep track of the havoc it wreaks.
If, however, they are quiet, but something happens that startles them, the pet monitor can capture the event as it happens. All in all, the pet monitor represents a new medium for you to interact and care for your pet. Yet, did you know that a smart camera can do the same and, in some cases, more than a pet monitor.
Advantaged to Using Smart Camera as A Pet Monitor
What features does a smart camera have that makes it an upgrade compared to a 'dumb camera'? Well, enough features that it can certainly double as a pet monitor.
First and foremost, a smart camera is internet-enabled, meaning that it supports connectivity with other devices over the internet. Just like your smartphone represents a massive convenience advantage over a landline phone, so does the smart camera.
An Easy Installation
Thanks to its connectivity, the smart camera only needs the cable of its power adapter plugged in order to operate. No extensive cabling running to its NVR hub unit. The setup now consists of simply syncing both devices through the internet in contrast with CCTV units of old. Thus, making the installation considerably easy.
Watch From Anywhere
The Network Video Recording, better known as the NVR hub, is an internet-connected device. It stores all the footage recorded by the smart cameras connected to it. The fact that it's internet-connected means that, by syncing a mobile device to it, you can view the recordings stored inside.
It is thanks to this device that you will be able to use your smart camera as a pet monitor to check on your pet from anywhere. Something otherwise impossible via CCTV systems.
Built-in Speaker
Some smart cameras are not only content with letting you see but want to let you verbally interact with the surveilled subject, in this case, your pet. When checking the video stream through your phone, you can toggle the speaker function to speak through the microphone.
The sound will come out of the built-in speakers of the camera currently facing your pet, much to their surprise and excitement.
Motion Sensing Recording
Some smart cameras incorporate motion sensors in their design. These are able to pick up movement and, in the minute they do so, then and only then will they start recording. Why? Because it saves both energy and storage space.
By only starting to record whenever your pet moves, you can save hours upon hours of tons of footage of them just lying asleep. Moreover, a motion-sensing smart camera can double up as home security as well, picking up and recording anything that could remotely disturb your pet.
Alternatively, you also change the settings to make your smart camera act as a 24/7 pet monitor whenever you need it to. Sometimes you just want to watch that good boy fast asleep, eh?
Push Notification
Married with the motion sensing-triggered recording just mentioned, the smart camera will send a push notification to your synced device. A nice little way to let you know whenever something of interest might have happened with your pet. Better check that video stream.
Optimized Playback
A neat little trick of the smart camera is that it does the video compression inside itself. For context, video compression in old CCTV systems happened in the DVR hub device, which lagged the real-time playback somewhat. The fact that the smart camera's NVR device does not have to deal with this allows it to offer an almost completely seamless playback when accessed by synced devices.
Using A Smart Camera as A Pet Monitor – The Takeaway
One of the often-touted benefits of technology is that it allows us to feel ever so close to people that are far, far away from us. Well, you can add pets to that saying because their relationship with you can benefit just as much from it too.
The pet monitors its one way in which tech enables your pet to feel even more close to you. That way, it further strengthens the relationship between pet owners and loyal friends.