Someone is peeing on the kitchen floor when we’re not looking.
Could be one of our two dogs, or maybe one of our two cats (less likely).
The only way I can figure out to learn who it is, is to get a spy cam of some sort to keep an eye on things in the kitchen.
Any recommendations? Thanks!
Wyze makes a variety of good security cameras. I have this model, which works fine. It allows you to pan and tilt it remotely so you don’t have to worry too much about aiming it correctly, and can be accessed over the Internet so you can view it while away from home. It also has a feature that automatically starts recording when it detects motion, which I haven’t used too much but sounds like it would be useful for your situation.
Yeah, another recommendation for Wyze if your primary criterion is “cheap”. I wouldn’t exactly call them “good” per se… our house has like ten of them, usually in various states of unreliability… but well, they work at least 80% of the time. For their price, that’s good enough.
I might add that on top of just motion sensing, they can also track that motion across its field of view. Get the dual perspective one and you can have one camera stay in place while the other seeks: Wyze Duo Cam Pan | Two 2K cameras - With Pan and Tilt
You can also pay an (also cheap) monthly subscription to have an AI evaluate the footage and alert you like “A dog enters the living room, stares at the camera as a challenge, and proceeds to urinate.” (or something like that)
I hope this isn’t a hijack, but once you ID the culprit, get him/her to the vet. The best little pussycat in the world (50 years ago, sigh) peed repeatedly in the kitchen and we didn’t figure out until way too late that she had kidney disease. We thought she was being a jerk, but it was a cry for help.
An old phone can be used for this. There are many motion activated recording apps available.
I see armloads of television baby monitors at thrift stores. I doubt they motion alert or capture or anything, you’d have to watch it, but the price is right (edit: I’d target $15 or less) and you could get started today.
Thanks. Both dogs have already been to the vet, and their urine samples were clean.
You might also look on Amazon for “game camera”. These are outdoor battery powered units intended to monitor a wild game trail or feeding site. And take low-light photos whenever something shows up. Which is pretty much exactly your use case: catching a pic of critters skulking around in the dark in a specific area.
Amazon has thousands starting at $20.
Note however that, at least in my experience, many game cameras have little or no networking capabilities. They record onto internal memory, and to view the recordings you need to physically plug the camera into a computer, or remove a memory card and plug that into a computer. It’s less convenient than a camera that lets you view recordings and live video from a phone app.
Thanks for the ideas everyone.
At the moment I have my $20 flip phone sitting on the kitchen floor recording video.
(Of course all the animals are elsewhere, sleeping soundly.)
Does “when we’re not looking” mean in the daytime, when people are around? Or more like at night or when people are out?
By the way, if price is the main concern here… I have a pile of slightly older Wyze cams I can send you (free, except maybe you can pay shipping) if you want. They work fine, they’re just slightly less fancy (in things like resolution and nighttime vision/color) than the most recent generation.
The subscription is optional too, so it’d just be a free cam you can use. I’ll reset them for you beforehand so you can just download the app and connect them as though they were new.
DM me if you want one or more of 'em.
Their cheapest ones are $30 new: Wyze Cam OG | 120° FOV Plug-in Security Cam with Spotlight
Or you can sometimes find them on sale for like $15-$20. I think when I got mine a few years back they were $9.99 each during a sale. Guess AIpocalpyse is making everything more expensive.
Seems to happen mostly during the daytime. Which is puzzling because the pups make it thru the night without having to pee, evidently.
That is very generous of you. I’ll let you know if I need one.
To know when they are peeing, you could use leak detectors. They’re typically used to detect water leaks, but I would guess they would work for urine as well. Some even have wifi support and will send you a notification when they detect moisture.
This. If a cat pees outside the litter box, it’s often because it HURTS to pee and they associate the litter box with that, i.e., *Maybe it won’t hurt if I pee somewhere else."
In fact, if you suspect the cats, I’d take them both in to be checked. Kidney disease is a terminal condition and a serious UTI can be fatal very quickly.
Dogs? I dunno.
Carry on.
Tapo 1080P cameras are about $20-25 each. You can insert a microSD card to create more storage, also you can set them up with motion detection so they only activate when they sense motion.