How to Skype with Your Pets on Vacation

Skype is a great way to stay in touch with friends around the world for free, so why not use your pets to call too? That’s how I did it.

Many travelers have to leave their best friends behind when they go to the city. It doesn’t matter if you are a dog lover or cat lover, you will probably miss them at some point when you go. If you are lucky to check a friend on your pet every two days, but it is even better to check your pet at any time. That is why I have created a Skype account for my pet calling and seeing what they are doing anywhere in the world.

These days I have two cats, not because I don’t like dogs, but because cats should be taken care of when I have gone for a long time. They just need occasional checkups from the neighbor to check the food, water, and dirt box -the way to go to the automatic :). Let me be clear, I love dogs too! It is expensive to take care of dogs while outside the city, so I can’t take care of the dog at this point of my life. It does not matter that you are an animal at home. You can easily examine them from Skype on the planet anywhere.

What will you need:

First you will need to download Skype. You will need this on both computers, which you use to call home and a pet will use your call to “answer” your call.

I used two laptops to do this but you would need two computers with webcam. If you use a desktop computer, you may need an external webcam with a long USB cable to get the best angle to see your pet. I think a laptop gives me the most flexibility and is easy to set up.

Setup

Create a Skype account for yourself and your pet. You need two separate accounts to do this. I have created an additional account for my cats called “El Gato”. Now I can call my cats from my personal account.

Now you will need to adapt some settings on pet Skype settings.

1. Sign in Skype (on a pet computer)
2. In the menu bar, click Skype > PreferenceAnd then click Calls.
3. I Calls Tab, under Incoming callsSelect Respond automatically And click Combination
   

4. Click on what appears in a pop -up window Respond to automatically with the video.

Automatically click the answer with the video

Once you change these settings, your pet does not need to learn how to respond to a call. It will be connected to itself and the webcam will be turned on so you can see them.

Skype call with cats!

Keeping your pet the webcam to the best place

It is completely dependent on you. You know where your pets like to hang or what they like to enter. I chose to set it on their food cups. When I called, I can call cats on me. I can also monitor their water and food levels and tell a friend when needed.

Adjusted to see the food level

Next steps

Skype video call as I call is ready to respond automatically so I can see what they are doing. In this way you do not need to train your own cat with calls for calls on your laptop. You may need to adapt the camera angle to find out that works best for your pet. You should examine it before departing from the city.

Keep the power source near your laptop so that if you are on leave, the battery does not die. If laptops are arranged near food and water, make sure it is safe from any potential damage. As you can see, under my cat came a little closer to my test run and went to my laptop’s keyboard. Just make sure it is well safe wherever it is.

Also, make sure to log in to your pet before leaving their Skype account on their computer. Otherwise you will not be able to call them unless they are logged.

Keep the laptop safe

And make sure you have a real human check on your pet while you are far away. It is great to check them, but human interaction is the most important for them. Listening to your voice through Skype can make them a bit useless. It would be better to have some practice sessions before you leave. Dogs rely on the smell so it can confuse them before. Make sure that your pet is fine with this method of communication before that, so when you call, you don’t give them surprise.

So have fun calling the house and saying greetings to your dear friends from abroad. You can do the job at work, but if your fellow workers think that you are crazy, don’t blame me.