How I set up the ultimate home cat monitoring system with Eufy cameras

My wife and I like to travel. Sometimes we’ll go away for a long weekend; other times, we trek to another country to spend a week or two seeing the sights. Our main concern when we’re away is our cat, Mr. Giggles. Though cats are more self-sufficient than dogs when left alone, Mr. Giggles can still get lonely. 

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To stay in touch with our kitty, we’ve set up a series of security cameras around the house. Here’s what we use and how we use them.

Seven must-have features 

To find the right security cameras for our purposes, we first discussed what features we needed.

1. Two-way audio

We wanted a two-way audio feed so we could hear Mr. Giggles and so he could hear our voices as well.

2. Night vision 

We needed cameras that could deliver a clear and bright feed, both day and night. I tried a couple of basic cameras in the past that had grainy video feeds, especially in low-light conditions, and we were unhappy with those. For the new cams, I wanted ones capable of 4K resolution with good night vision.

3. Room panning

We wanted a camera with a 360-degree panoramic view capable of panning around the room.

4. Person or pet tracking 

We needed a camera that could detect and track the movement of a person or pet and follow them as they moved around the room. I also wanted a camera able to pick up sounds and distinguish different ones among people, animals, and other sources.

5. Recording 

We wanted a camera able to record the movement of any person or animal that popped up in its view. With that capability, we can view the recording to watch any specific moment.

6. Alerts

We wanted a camera that could send us alerts if it detected movement or sounds within the coverage area.

7. Local storage 

We wanted a camera that could record and store video footage locally onto an SD card. That would spare us from having to pay a monthly storage subscription.

Our camera of choice

That last option about storing the footage locally was probably the toughest one, as many of the cameras we considered required a monthly subscription for cloud-based video storage. But after reading reviews and checking out several models, we narrowed the choice to an Eufy Indoor Cam E30. This seemed to be one of the few that checked all the boxes on our wish list.

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Initially, I bought just a single unit to see how it would fare. After that one did the trick, I bought two more models to position them around our home.

How we picked locations

I bought three cameras to cover all the possible spots Mr. Giggles might hang out. That meant the kitchen, where we put his food bowl and automatic water feeder; our bedroom, where he typically naps during the day and sleeps at night; and a guest bedroom, where he sometimes rests when we’re not home.

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To provide the right view, I positioned each camera on a table or shelf. I also angled each one to cover the right area. For example, I placed the kitchen camera with a view of the food and water dishes on the floor. To augment that spot, the camera’s 360-degree panoramic view provides a wider angle when needed.

How we use the system

With all three cameras set up, how do we use them to keep tabs on Mr. Giggles?

We use the one in the kitchen to make sure he’s eating and drinking throughout the day. The food bowl uses a timer to give him a certain amount of wet food every couple of hours, so we know when he should be eating. The detection feature also automatically records any movement in the kitchen, so I can play the recording at different intervals to check on his dining activities.

We use the one in the bedroom to check on him when he’s napping or sleeping. We also talk to him through the camera. Like some cats, Mr. Giggles can get uneasy if we’re gone for a long time. By talking to him, he can at least hear our voices, disembodied though they may be, and know we’re still around somewhere.

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And we use the camera in the guest bedroom just because that’s where Mr. Giggles will typically be if he’s not in the kitchen or our bedroom.

You may ask why we don’t just put Mr. Giggles in a pet boarder or kitty day camp. We tried that a few times, and he just didn’t take to it. He’d be noticeably anxious after we’d pick him up, and he didn’t always behave at the facility. Since he seemed much more comfortable at home, we decided to stop boarding him. Instead, we hire a cat sitter to come to our place each day to feed him fresh food, check on his water, and make sure he’s OK.

Even with the cat sitter popping by regularly, we still use the security cameras to check on Mr. Giggles. We can see him in different rooms, day or night. We can make sure he’s eating and drinking. And by talking to him, we feel connected to him even when we’re away. And we like to think he feels the same.