Save Cats

Check what your home camera observed around your parked car before you start the engine.

Save Cats helps you notice when a cat may have gone under the car and shows when monitoring is unavailable. A separate Android phone stays home, plugged in and on Wi-Fi, as the hub. Your daily Android phone or iPhone is the viewer. You need a compatible accessible local RTSP/ONVIF camera stream and a clear view of the car and nearby ground. Works with cameras that share a local stream, such as mains-powered TP-Link Tapo and Reolink, iCSee/XMEye, Hikvision, EZVIZ, Dahua, Imou and most DVR/NVR recorders. Does not work with Ring, Google Nest, Blink, Arlo, Xiaomi, Wyze, Tuya/Smart Life or battery cameras.

Pair phones with a QR invitation or a manually entered code. See warnings, recent cat visits, photos and monitoring gaps. Request a current still before leaving, record that you inspected the car, and choose your optional alerts. A missed check remains last-known information; the hub controls warning acknowledgement.

Continuous video stays on the hub. For automatic image classification, one to three small moving-object crops (usually three) go to Google Gemini through Vertex AI (global endpoint; may be processed outside the EU). Authenticated EU Storage photos are at most 150 KB / 1280 pixels, capped at 60 per home with 14-day access (150 / 30 days for photos uploaded while a member supports the home). Photo settings and the privacy policy explain this data flow. Camera credentials stay encrypted on the hub.

Accounts are anonymous and pseudonymous; no name, email or password is required. Delete your account from Settings; on the hub, home deletion stops monitoring and removes the home’s cloud data for all members. Uninstalling alone does not delete cloud records. See our deletion page for requests after uninstall.

Save Cats is free, with no ads or tracking. Optional monthly Supporter subscriptions provide longer photo history and a badge; detection and alerts stay free. Only store-returned subscription products and localized prices appear.

Inspect the vehicle, knock on the hood, honk, then wait before starting. A camera cannot see inside the engine bay. Detection can miss a cat, especially with blocked views, poor light or monitoring gaps. No warning is not a safety guarantee.

Recent changes:
Under-car detection rebuilt: the car outline now follows where the car is actually parked (day and night), the alert shows the exact moment the cat disappeared, and a cat coming out on either side of the car is recognised. More photos per visit and a steadier camera stream.