GPS trackers for 3 cats and a Dachshund

Covering three cats and a Dachshund on one GPS plan is a smart idea — and it's more doable than most people realise. GPS trackers are genuinely useful here: cats roam unpredictably and Dachshunds, despite their short legs, can be surprisingly determined escape artists with a strong scent drive. The key thing to know upfront is that GPS trackers need a subscription per device, and while some brands offer multi-device discounts, you're still paying per tracker — there's no single unit that covers multiple animals. Coverage depends on mobile signal, so if you're in a rural area, check the network map first. To point you to the right tracker, can I ask: is your Dachshund mostly off-lead in open spaces, or is the concern more about garden escapes? And are all four animals already microchipped?

Perfect — that really narrows things down. For a garden-escape Dachshund and free-roaming cats, Tractive is the best fit here. They offer both a dog tracker and a cat tracker (the cat version is lighter, under 35g), and crucially, all devices run through one Tractive app and one account. Their multi-device subscription plan — called Tractive Family — lets you add multiple trackers at a reduced monthly rate per device, which is exactly what you're after. For four animals you'd need four trackers, but you'd manage all of them from the same map in one app. The cat tracker sits on a standard collar, and the dog version has a durable clip that works well on a harness, which is worth considering for a Dachshund's build.

It's meaningfully cheaper. With Tractive's standard individual plan you're paying around £3–4 per device per month depending on contract length. The Family plan reduces the per-device cost when you add more trackers to the same account — the more you add, the lower the per-unit rate. With four devices it works out noticeably less than four separate subscriptions. I'd recommend buying the trackers and signing up for the Family plan at checkout rather than activating them individually, so you're on the right billing structure from the start. Annual billing is also considerably cheaper than monthly if you're confident you'll use them long-term, which with four animals I'd expect you will.

If you have reasonable mobile signal in the garden and the countryside behind it, Tractive should work reliably. It runs on 2G/3G/4G mobile networks rather than Bluetooth, so it has a much wider range than something like an AirTag — several kilometres in open areas. The Tractive website has a coverage checker where you can enter your postcode and see which network the tracker uses in your area. The one situation where it can drop out is very dense woodland or deep valleys with poor signal, but countryside with reasonable coverage is exactly the environment it's designed for. For the Dachshund specifically, the escape alert feature is worth setting up — you draw a safe zone around your garden and get an instant notification the moment she crosses it.