Interactive Pet Camera from Furbo
I spent quite a while researching interactive pet cameras. As Shasta aged, I knew I wanted to be able to keep better track of his health. An interactive pet camera in addition to his Whistle monitor were the PAWfect solutions for us. I even dubbed his time with his Fubo camera “The Secret Life of Shasta”.
This is an unsolicited review. Furbo has not sponsored this post nor have I been compensated in any way. Denise’s Dog Dish & Shasta’s Yorkie Yap/ denisegruzensky.com only shares information about things we feel you will benefit from as well. Furbo is not responsible for the content of this post.
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Senior Pet Health
Knowing your dog is the greatest gift you can give your senior. Just like humans, as a dog ages their ability to fight infections decreases, their risk for injuries increases as does their general aches and pains. Even the most observant pet parent can still miss warning signs. This is one of my biggest fears. I knew I caught Harley’s diabetes early as well as Shasta’s Cushing’s disease and Arthritis. These chronic illnesses put them at greater risk and made me additionally worried I might miss a critical, life-altering sign/symptom. My solution: using a combination of Shasta’s Whistle Monitor (more to come in a different post) and a Furbo Camera.
Why Furbo?
I knew I wanted an interactive pet camera. I also had some very specific expectations of what I wanted it to be able to do:
- I wanted to be able to watch Shasta during the day and night.
- We needed to be able to see most of the living room with a single camera.
- I wanted to be able to take both pictures and video.
- I wanted to be able to hear him and speak to him (2-way audio)
- The app needed to be both Android and Apple compatible (I’m a droid girl and my hubby is an iPhone boy)
Bonus: wouldn’t it be cool if it could toss treats?
Enter an Indiegogo campaign I came across during my research. What is Indiegogo? A quote from their site, “Giving entrepreneurs everywhere a platform to launch new and groundbreaking products before they go mainstream”. Fubo looked like it met all my specifications plus the bonus of tossing treats. I decided to donate to their funding campaign. That means if they are able to manufacture and bring the Furbo to market we get one if not we are out our contribution. I took a chance. If you have ever done this you know the next step… waiting.
Secret Life of Shasta
I’m going to let the images and videos speak for themselves. We LOVE our Furbo.
Interactive pet camera-Furbo Pros
- Camera capture
- Video capture
- Nightvision
- Two-way audio
- Barking alerts
- Android and iPhone compatible
- Treat dispenser
- 4x Zoom
- Live stream video. I’m going to confess. I eat my lunch at work with the camera on.
- Smart privacy mode to ensure your home stays private.
Interactive pet camera-Furbo Cons
- I am unable to switch between taking video and photos on the app easily.
- Camera and videos are a bit grainy even more so when using the zoom.
- Top, where treats are loaded, is fairly easily removed for the clever dog. We rectified this by placing it up high where Shasta could not reach it.
- Specifically for Shasta, talking to him drove him crazy. He would look all over the house for us so I stopped talking to him but listened to him regularly.
Summary
As our pets age, it is more important than ever to be able to track their health. What we choose (our favorites) are the Whistle monitor (watch for a future post) and the FURBO Interactive Pet Camera. It is fun regardless of the type of pet you have or their age.
What a brilliant idea. I would never have thought of an interactive pet camera as a tool to monitor pet health!
Between the Furbo and Whistle, the combination is great for monitoring health.
My friend has the Furbo and she loves it! I have a Petcube, and for a while I had set it up near the food dish so I could monitor how much Lola was eating. It really helped and was insightful. Your videos are adorable.
I’m so glad you are both finding your pet camera’s helpful and fun!!
Cool! The sound of our voices would drive our dogs nuts too! I never even thought of something as intense as this, although I love the idea of the treat dispenser. A really cool option for those pet parents that can’t be at home – and I keep saying I want to see what ours do on the rare occasion they are alone!
Yeah, we had to stop speaking to him. I started throwing him treats when he stopped barking when I realized I was rewarding it otherwise. BOL
At the BlogPaws conference last year I saw quite a few people with the Pet Cube and was intrigued. It seemed like a nice way to monitor their world when you’re not there. I think it would be especially useful like you mention, to monitor for any signs of ill health. I’m always worried about my senior cat when both my husband and I are gone for the day. Something like the Furbo would come in handy.
I met the people from Pet Cube at the previous BlogPaws conference. Furbo had more of the features I was looking for at the time. I really relaxed more knowing I could literally keep an eye on him. 😉
That’s amazing, I’ll definitely be looking into this, I need extra ‘eyes’ on my grandpa cat!
Please keep me posted!
We have the Furbo too and I use it to monitor Mr. N. It’s hard not to keep watching it all the time!
I LOVE it!
Thank you for the thorough review! I’ve seen this product and wondered if people liked it.
My pleasure. I am glad you found it helpful. I waited until we had been using it for quite a while so I really knew what we liked and what could be improved.
I can see how this would bring a lot of peace of mind to people while they are away from their pets. I don’t think my dogs would like us talking either, it would just upset them to not be able to find us.
Yeah, that part was difficult for Shasta but he did learn, if he stopped barking, he might get a few treats. 😉
Love it. I am with Cookie all day and all night. But if I wasn’t, I would absolutely want to at least be able to check in on her.
I am PAWsitively jealous! I’d LOVE to be there all day and night.
We are fortunate enough to have an experienced caregiver to take care of Soldier when we are away. At 18 years old, we simply can’t board him anywhere. The Furbo would be great for day trips when we might not need a caregiver.
During the last 6 months, Shasta started going to Daycare in addition to his Whistle monitor and the Furbo became a way to peek in and say hello to him and my mother (grandma doggie care) when we were away…
I want one! I’ll admit I’ve been wanting an interactive pet camera. My dogs are fantastic while we’re home but can sometimes be naughty if they know we are away. Being able to check in with them and speak to them as well may just solve the problem.
Those videos will be PRICELESS, can’t wait to see them!
I have an interactive camera, but a different brand. It’s great when I’ve had to be out of town and I could check on the girls. I became concerned when I would talk to them and they would come towards the camera, looking for me. I wondered if it made them depressed because they could hear me, but not see me. I still use it a lot to monitor them when I’m not home.
I definitely think this is a good investment and I would be curious to see what Babu does when i am not at home:-). The photos and video are so clear, plus Shasta (love that name) is a cutie!
Beyond being able to keep track of his health, it is really fun to watch and take Videos and photos. 🐶🐾💙
We have a Petcube and know that the Petcube Bites dispenses treats similar to this. The dispenser is, I think, a really cool thing for dogs and will keep them SOOO entertained 🙂 but, like your pets, our cats freak out too when we speak from other places!
I love that your camera has a nice wide view which makes keeping an eye on your dog much easier and the privacy control is so reassuring. It is so important to know you the pet owner are in control isn’t it?
It’s great that you helped these entrepreneurs get started with this product. Like everything, it will be tweaked along the way to meet the needs of the consumer. I have security cameras set up to watch Gusto when we have have to leave for a few hours. I have the ability to talk to him but haven’t done that…glad you let me know how upsetting it was for your baby to hear you but not see you nearby.
Hmmmmmmm…..before this article I would have said I didn’t want an interactive camera. Now I am not so sure after your excellent piece.
Wow,that’s big. Thank you and keep me posted!
Furbo looks like a really interesting tool. I think the captured images you show look terrific, better than many I’ve seen. Definitely a useful tool, thanks for sharing.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
We have an interactive security camera that we use to check in on the cats when we are away. It is so much fun! It has 2-way audio, and it can rotate and zoom in and out. The Furbo sounds really great too. Love all the little clips you captured!
Wow! Really great!
Thanks for sharing this important post with us.