Marco Polo Advanced Pet Tracker for Cats & Dogs - GPS Alternative, No Monthly Fee or Subscription, Waterproof Long Range RF Finder, Anti-Lost Safety Collar Tag (1-Pet System)

Fourth update: I purchased this in December 2021, and it’s still working today, in August 2025, 3 years 8 months later. Still use this several times a week to keep track of my cat. Still happy with the product. (June 27, 2025) Third update 2.5 years after purchase: Still working, still able to track cat or missing collar. Below is my one year (1/2024) update. Today is my two year, 8 month update. Both receiver (collar) and base unit going strong. Batteries still going strong. The base unit has remained plugged into wall for more than 2.5 years, with only the exception if I’m tracking my cat. I ordered an extra collar pouch a year ago only so I could have a clean one to swap out when one is dirty. Both pouched are still intact. Nothing has changed from the first review. This unit is still working like the first day I tracked my cat. My cat didn’t come home this morning and by 9am I went tracking and found him in the middle of an acre of 8 ft weeds near the forest about two football fields away. Once again peace of mind knowing he’s ok. We’ve had lots of severe thunderstorms this spring and summer and I’ve been able, every time, to track him down and get him inside. Also when I hear coyotes in the distance, or foxes nearby, I’ll track him and keep him in for the night. FIRST REVIEW: “Still holding strong 13 months after purchase and frequent use” I use this product to track my indoor/mostly outdoor cat if not back home after 9pm or if bad weather is expected. The pouch the receiver slides into attached well on either a 3/8” or 1/2” breakaway collar on my 12 lb. cat. After a year, battery life on receiver (collar) still lasts at least a 4-6 weeks before I charge it. I like that the monitor (base unit) will indicate if the collar battery is low. I estimate I’ve tracked my cat (or his lost breakaway collar/receiver) at least 50 or more times with 100% success in an area of about 15-20 acres my cat wanders. I live in a rural area with heavy forest, hills, and ravines. Cell coverage is spotty in my area so this radio signal system was the way to go. The signal range depends a lot on the terrain, I’m probably at 1/4 mile with big hills and ravines, but I just have to wander the area and always eventually pick up the signal. I would assume in an open field or road or level terrain that range would be much longer. Takes a little practice at first, but instructions are thorough, and in my opinion, necessary to read through to understand the system. It’s a bit like metal detecting in that the monitor gives you direction and signal strength (as a percentage). I practice tracking my pet often so I remain good at it in case of a true emergency. I’ve also discovered his top hangout areas and track towards those areas first. The receiver seems very durable and is still working strong despite my cat coming home completely muddy or soaked at times. I keep the monitor plugged in 24/7 and in “monitor” mode which extends the battery charge on the receiver immensely because it pings the receiver every 40 seconds vs every 5 seconds when tracking the pet with the monitor in “track” mode. I haven’t turned off both the monitor or receiver in over a year and batteries still working great. Ive bought other radio signal products that have those little tag devices and they are vastly inferior because the battery life, range, and weather resistance is aweful and failed in less than 4 months, in my personal experience. I’m really happy with this device and the peace of mind it brings. The cat doesn’t mind wearing it either. I added a little yellow duck tape to the breakaway/receiver collar to find it more easily when the cat loses it.

As an engineer, techie & collector of too many gadgets, I’m pleasantly surprised at how well this system works. My dog, “Ovi”, is a wanderer & chaser of wildlife. He’s managed to find every little hole in the fence surrounding my 25 acre property. Thankfully, he always comes home after his adventures, but I wanted the ability to find him a little sooner than 4:30 am when I’m awakened to him barking outside my window, wet & dirty. I didn’t wish to go the cellular route due to the monthly costs. I figured there had to be a direct RF solution out there & thus came upon the MarcoPolo system & gave it a shot. Naturally, I was skeptical of the range claims. I.e. the “15 mile” walkie talkies that barely reach a few thousand feet. Hilly terrain, and obstacles such as trees & buildings tend to hinder RF, especially in the higher frequency spectrum(haven’t determined the frequency of the MarcoPolo yet). My property has lots of trees & is fairly hilly. I initially tested by putting the tracking tag at one end of the property & then went to the other end to see if I could pick it up. No problem. Then last night, whilst Ovi was spending the night at a family members house about half a mile down the road, I fired up the tracker from my bedroom window & was amazed that I quickly detected him! I still need to see how long the charge lasts in the tracking tag & hand unit. But based on other reviewers, I expect the battery life will be great. In some other reviews, there was one or two people that experienced very short battery life. Obviously it was a defect, but based on what I’m hearing about the well above average customer service, it doesn’t have me concerned. They would obviously be quick to remedy any problem that arises. As for how easy it is to use....very. At least for me-who tends to understand tech things pretty quickly. It may take a little longer to master for some. I’m actually surprised at the supposed “archeologists” that couldn’t figure it out. It ain’t that hard. Hope they’re not exploring anything important! One advantage of this system that most don’t seem to realize is the value during an extended search for a missing pet. Last year I spent the better part of a day searching half the county for a friends missing dog. We had numerous people out looking & thankfully he was picked up & taken to a local vet where his chip was scanned & made it back home. But I think about how much easier the search would have been if he had the Marco Polo tag on him. Even if he had quickly gone out of detection range, it makes the search area MUCH bigger per person. You wouldn’t need to drive around every street in a neighborhood. You would just need to drive near the neighborhood, as the tracker would pick him up if you were within range. A potential further development for this device would be to have a receiver that could be attached to a drone(not the tag itself, but the other end). The drone could then be used to do the searching from overhead. Yes-I’m an avid drone enthusiast. I’m already thinking about how I could strap the hand-unit to my drone so I could view the screen while flying. But alas...I’m rambling. Anyway-GREAT device. I’ll update this review if I come upon any issues. But so far, EXCELLENT. Update 7/10/19: Still 5 stars. Great battery life & has quickly located the wanderer every time! Only one small improvement I would suggest: Make the collar holder more durable. It's turned out to be a bit flimsy. I leave the tag on him 24/7, and with his various activities which involve water, rolling, plunging through shrubs, etc., the tag holder is falling apart quicker than I would expect. Looking closely at it, it does seem to be made of lightweight materials. I'm ordering a replacement to hold me over, but I'm going to see what else I can find, or invent, that would hold up to Ovi's adventures a bit better. BUT....all things considered with this system, to me, it doesn't warrant any deduction in stars.

Update Monday 9/24: Excellent response from manufacturer. New transmitter / receiver working as advertised. Used the transmitter on the old dog that might get fatigued or stuck down a creek bank - not that far away but still invisible to us. Definitely the system seems as though we could use it to locate her. It is not some sort of military spy-ware tracker to the nearest foot with a dotted line to follow, but clearly it can get us moving towards the dog's location. I am going to order another transmitter on the far-voyaging young dog to check the range and will update in a month or so. Update Tuesday 9/4: Left manufacturer a voicemail about 2 hours ago and got a fast return voicemail and then spoke directly to Tim, the owner of Eureka / Marco Polo. He will be shipping new equipment. He is clearly committed to this product. It is nice - OK wonderful - not to have to wade through 5 layers of robots to reach a human. ~~~~~~~~~~~ I am going to contact the manufacturer on Tuesday and I will update this review based on their response. I was looking for a system that would let me locate 3 50+ pound hounds who had decided to chase deer over hill and dale in the local national forest, where we hike every Sunday. Area is mostly deciduous trees, wide open at ground level or loose underbrush. Generally we are uphill of the dogs if they take off. So based on other reviews it seems like this system would work in this terrain for this purpose. I've used a variety of radio-based collar systems before but nothing with a longer range. Turned off by GPS systems for reasons other reviewers have mentioned plus $ for 3 dogs is like $1500. No problem unpacking and charging transmitter and receiver. Transmitter very solidly built and the fabric / velcro attachment to the collar was well designed - no way to shuck the transmitter. The received is kind of "The Jetsons" (I'm dating myself) or maybe an early Star Trek tricorder. Of note, it is basically impossible for the transmitter to accidentally turn off and for the receiver to accidentally turn on. Both pieces received separate overnight charges. Pairing was simple. Positioned collar on dog's neck as specifically described so that antenna wraps up the dog's neck. Receiver held out flat "like carrying a pan of water." First problem was that even in the parking area the receiver seemed confused and reluctant to find the dog who was maybe 100 feet away. We gave it time, walking along watching the screen and listening for beeps. There was a moment went the receiver really seemed to function as it was supposed to, the dog went downhill towards a stream and it found the signal through trees / low underbrush and seemed fairly accurate as to how far she was away. The arrow movements were improbable with large shifts when this would pretty much be impossible but at least we knew the dogs was alive and moving. However after that it was no dice. The receiver would not find the dog when she was on the trail with us and only 20 or so feet away. So we gave up. We went home and I tried again in the kitchen and the receiver said "no signal." I am re-charging the transmitter in the "on" mode so I can watch the blinking light change from once per second to every 10 seconds, indicating a full charge. However there was no reason for it not to be fully charged the first time. I'll update when I get a response from the manufacturer. Unfortunately due to schedules it will be 3 weeks before another hike.

We have 9 and 12 lb cats and we had to think long and hard about investing this much money on a tracking system. We love being outside and they love being near us. Before purchasing, we experimented with an airtag because the size seemed to be promising, but it was not designed for active tracking or monitoring so just didn't work well. For the health and safety of our cats, we decided to splurge for the Marco Polo. Being small animals, we selected the "Halypet" harness design as they appeared to be one of the few designs that could support the size of these trackers. As kittens the tracker was tricky to attach since it was bulky but when the cats grew into the adult size, they were much easier to attach. Still tricky but works. Just be sure to secure the Velcro on the holder after charging or you'll be tracking a dropped tracker instead of your animal. So very glad we bought this system! One of our cats responds 90% of the time to shaking the treat box so we rarely need to track her. The other loves to stalk rabbits, birds, grasshoppers, dragon flies, conifer bugs, squirrels and just about anything else that moves in the forest. She explores our 4 acres plus the neighbors' acreage. Since this cat not usually treat motivated, we have hunted her down in many places...under the neighbor deck hoping to get into their rabbit pen; exploring the steep brush covered hill towards another neighbor; and most significantly up 3 different trees where she could not get down on her own. One 75+ degree morning, a dog spooked her up a tree. Forgetting to look up, I circled for 20 minutes thinking she was hiding somewhere in the neighbor's wood pile. Eventually, I figured out she was staring at me from the tree the whole time. Hoping she would climb down on her own, I waited a few hours. As temperatures climbed into the 90s, it was time to get the extension ladder. She was glad to be rescued. We are grateful this has allowed our cats to enjoy the outdoors without overly risking their health and safety and we never let them out without their trackers. The system has worked exactly as expected every time - don't expect miracles - learn how to use it properly - and look up sometimes. Thank you "Marco Polo" team for such a great product! We and our adventurous kitties appreciate your ingenuity!

I love the Marco Polo! Best purchase ever! I live in the country. 5 acres with house and outbuildings, surrounded by 100s of acres of corn, tree lines, and soy bean fields. My only option of satellite internet is useless when it comes to tracking devices. I've tried many! Marco Polo works best. I'm willing to spend hundreds on the security of my dogs. But Marco Polo is cheap(shhh don't let company know!) and easy to use. There is a slight learning curve. Basically figuring out what is in the vacinity that may bounce the radio waves. Move a few feet and you get the correct direction. Also, the % distance needs practice to know how far it is in reality. Mine is on 24/7, to alarm if he's wandered too far (which has multiple settings to personalize too far) When the monitor alarm goes off, I have a dog whistle attached to the lanyard on the tracker. I blow the whistle a few times in his direction. Put it in tracker mode to verify he is coming in my direction, and he comes home to yummy treats. Never a scold! He's a terrier with a high prey drive. Might take moments, or maybe 10 minutes, but I can monitor his direction and distance with the Marco Polo. I've rarely had to go out for him. Only once I had to take the 4 wheeler out to fetch him. He was on the tail of a deer. Wouldn't stop. We were a good mile from home. Marco Polo kept me on his tail. That day alone was worth a 100 Marco Polos! Luckily I only needed one! The battery power is amazing! I charge the receiver on his collar once a month. The tracker is plugged in, in my kitchen mostly . I take it outside with me for most days. It's been known to be outside all weekend without hardly any battery usage. It has a battery meter that I've stopped watching. Don't need to, it's always ready to go. I've had the Marco Polo a year now. My dog likes to roll in anything. He's very hard on his collars. The Marco polo collar holster has been very durable, but I did just recently replaced it. You can order it alone on the website for I think 19 dollars. My dog has gotten his collar receiver very wet alot, but never actually submerged. He likes running through water and wet grass. But he no interest in swimming. I hope I've been helpful. I was at loss trying to monitor and keep my dog at bay. I wanted him to have some freedom without me having to worry. Marco Polo gave me that! I 100% recommend it!

I've been using this tracker to locate my male cat and it works well enough. We can't use a tracker that requires GPS, which most of them do, because we can't get a good cellular connection where we live, so I turned to this one. The pros: No GPS required. No subscription needed. Works in areas where cell phone service is poor. Batteries charge quickly. The cons: It can take a while for the collar and tracker to connect. No matter how close you put the two, it can take some time before they recognize each other. It really is a game of marco polo. If your pet goes out of bounds, you have to hunt around for the signal to lock on and guide you to where the animal is. It's a lot of trial and error but it does eventually work. The biggest con is that it's not as sturdy as one might think. The button to turn on the collar is made of some kind of soft rubber or similar material and is now starting to fail. It takes me multiple tries to press the button to get the collar to turn on or off now that the soft pad no longer accurately contacts whatever electrical innards actually activate the collar. Also, the actual tracking device is made of hard, inflexible plastic with two covers that open and close to theoretically protect the screen from damage. My teenager dropped the device once and one cover broke off. It was difficult to put it back on and after he did so, only then did he realize that he had left the electrical tabs that are hidden within that side of the cover outside of it. No amount of effort will get that side of the cover off without breaking it so outside the tabs remain. More recently, I dropped it and the other side of the cover broke off. Due to inflexible plastic hinges that broke, that side of the cover is now permanently broken. All in all, the device is still functional but a bit of a mess.

This is a lovely product that works as advertised - FOR DOGS ! The range is good and it's very nicely manufactured. However, I must give it a low rating based on it's suitability FOR CATS. Despite reviews to the contrary, it's simply TOO BIG for a cat to wear around the neck. My cat is a 13.5 lb male - he's young, strong and has a very solid build. He's not huge, but definitely larger than the average cat. Despite this, I could find no way to make this work for him - it's just a big brick under his chin. It bothers him, and significantly restricts head movements. The poor chap simply can't look down, and resting his head is difficult too. I have gone back to my trusted TabCat locator. I find that I can fit two of the collar mounted 'pucks' quite comfortably on his collar and they don't bother him at all. This gives me good redundancy from failure or battery exhaustion. The range of the TabCat is only 150 feet in real terms (and sometimes less than that) so I will continue to seek the ideal solution. I don't think it exists currently however.

I live in a hilly rural area surrounded by forest with no cellular service. After my cat disappeared, I thought for sure a predator got her so I was incredibly thankful when she returned three days later. After that, I immediately started researching locator options. The Marco Polo locator seemed like the best option out there and after using it for about a week now, I’m certain that it is. It has a highly directional antenna that allows you to get information on how far away your pet is and in which direction. The range is impressive, as well as the battery life. Mine is still indicating a full charge since the initial charge a week ago. There are two modes, one where you keep the handheld unit on the charger and continuously monitor how far away your pet is. You can monitor up to three pets simultaneously and set independent alarms based on how far away they get. The other mode is where you walk around to track the location of your pet and it does that incredibly well. No monthly service fees and no batteries to replace is a bonus. One of my cats is a small female. I thought the transmitter (‘tag’) might be too large but as long as the cat’s collar is at least 7 inches long, it fits fine and my cats don’t even appear to notice it’s there.

My indoor cat likes to go outside in good weather - something that I feel is important for her health and happiness. This however requires constant supervision and despite this she had disappeared occasionally for a day or so. The Marcopolo tracker has been a godsend. I have had it for about 4 months and use it daily. It works ALL the time with no glitches. I have found her in sheds, in other buildings and up to 500 yards away (I have not tested it further distances). I can use it at my farm which has poor cell service and it doesn't require a costly monthly fee. The customer service is fast and excellent. Kassia is a small cat 8lbs and it doesn't bother her at all to wear it .The battery life is excellent. I had tried the Tabcat v2pet cat tracker but it was unreliable. Only one of the 2 tags included would connect to the tracker and the tracker itself worked intermittently. Essentially useless.

good quality works well up to about 1/2 mile

We have Avery curious cat and knowing she can be found or call her if she goes out of range is reassuring

This tracker makes it so easy to find my wandering cat. It has given me complete peace of mind.

We have 2 young cats, one of which likes to wander, and since we planned to take them camping or on the occasional road trip, we wanted to have a way to find them if they went missing or got injured while at home or away. We've had the Marco Polo tracker for a few weeks now, and I am quite happy with it's ability to help us find them in any situation. If you are going to purchase this product, you should be aware that this is not a system that will pin point your pet on a map or tell you that your pet is 500 feet away in a particular direction, this is a technology that has been used for decades to track radio collared animals in the wild. The radio tag is fixed to your pet’s collar and communicates with a handheld unit using radio signals, the unit picks up the signals from the tag and gives you information about how strong the signal from the tag is and roughly what direction the signal is coming from. These signals can, and will, multipath off buildings or other obstructions, so the direction that the unit is pointing will constantly change (or it might be unable to calculate a direction for 20 or 30 seconds) depending on if it is picking up a reflected signal or a direct one, and the signal strength will also change constantly depending on the environment. You need to be patient while using the tracker, if the arrow is swinging back and forth by 90 degrees then head mid way between those points until the unit can get a more direct signal, then head in that direction and continuously narrow your search in that manner. Once you understand how to use the unit it is very easy to narrow down the area your pet is in, and then as you get closer you can zone right in on them relatively quickly, but it is very important to practice and become comfortable with the tracker before you try using it in a real lost pet situation while you are under stress. As an example, we got a new collar for one of the cats last week and it had a faulty quick release clasp on it, he lost the collar 2 days ago squeezing under a fence and came home collarless, we were able to find the collar and tag in minutes with the tracker. I also easily tracked the tag from ¼ mile away, and the signal strength was strong enough that I’m sure I could have tracked it from a mile or more without a problem, but the results will vary by the environment you are in.Once you get used to using the tracker it’s easy to get a good understanding of roughly how far away your pet is and roughly what direction they are in based on signal strength, and its great piece of mind knowing that you can go find them if you need to! All of the other systems that I could find on the market are GPS based and send data through cellular systems to your phone, you then track your pet using an app on the phone. It is a nice feature to see your pet on a map, but those systems do not work if you are out of cel range (read camping) or simply in a bad service area. On top of that they all require monthly or annual service plans above your existing cel plan in order to operate ($200 per pet annual roughly), and that adds up! Some of these products also use a Bluetooth connection, but Bluetooth has a very short range, so if they are more than 60 or 70 feet away it is useless as well. Update: We have been using the unit on a daily basis to get an idea of roughly where our roaming cat is, we have used it about a dozen times to find him, and have done so easily every time. We also took both cats camping for a week, and one night they managed to hook the zipper on the tent and both escaped. As soon as we realized that they had gone for a tour (it was suddenly very quiet after much action!) we jumped up, grabbed the tracking unit, and headed out to look for them. The unit homed in on them right away, and after a short walk down the path the unit pointed into the trees to my right, I turned my flashlight in that direction and there they both were, sitting happily on a log watching us search for them. Both of the cats are black, and we would never have found them if they hadn't come back on their own or if something had happened to them, the best investment we have made! I should add this note for those who want to use the system to monitor their pets and get notified when they stray. It was never our intention to use the unit to monitor our cats, only to find them if they disappeared, and it works great for that. But we started to leave the unit on "monitor" mode for the one cat that doesn't wander because we rarely need to track him, and it is suggested to do this in order to prolong battery life in the tag. I have found that the unit often false triggers the alarm when the signal drops out, it does kick off when the signal is picked up again, but it happens often. We have the volume on the alarm turned off, so it isn't a bother, but if your main goal is to monitor your pet this would probably drive you nuts!