A big part of my job here at The Verge is to find deals on tech that readers will like. But in my personal life, I’m not spending anywhere near as much money on tech as I am on food, litter, and other supplies for our two cats. Sad, but true. If your life is also ruled by furry (or feathered, scaled, shelled) friends, perhaps your interest will be piqued by Amazon’s five-day Pet Days sale happening through 2:59AM ET on Saturday, May 16th.
There are a ton of products available that have some sort of discount attached — too many to list out individually. In case you don’t want to sort through all of the deals, I’ve attempted to do you the favor of plucking out seven noteworthy discounts for cat and dog parents.
The product I recommend to all pet owners is Bissell’s Little Green upholstery and carpet cleaner, which is $99.99 at Amazon (originally $129.99). It’s the fighter you need on your side to help you get nasty stains out of your carpeted floors and stairs, rugs, couch cushions, and more. The portable cleaner works with Bissell’s cleaning formula, and the purchase includes a sample of the product. It also comes with a cleaning brush and crevice tool for sucking yucky stuff out of corners.
While not a quiet machine to use, it’s valuable in that it’s a way to undo your pet’s accidents (it’s great for getting out coffee stains, too).
Pet owners have a special connection to their animals, and many can intuit what their pets need based on how they’re trying to get our attention. But wouldn’t it be great if your pet could put in a little more effort? I’m not saying that this 10-pack of voice-recording buttons will suddenly turn your pet into Sapphie, but at $19.76 (just a few bucks off) for the kit at Amazon, it seems fun to try. Each button can record up to 30 seconds of voice clips.
The Litter-Robot 4 self-cleaning litter box is a big ticket item for cat owners looking to delegate the stinky chore. There’s a bundle that has been discounted recently at Amazon that includes the little box plus a starter kit of accessories for $799.99 (typically $860). The whole point of getting the Litter-Robot 4 is to make your life easier, scooping less, and doing other stuff with your time that hopefully doesn’t involve hunching over. The accessories included (three OdorTrap packs, 10 liners, 30 wipes, and two carbon filters) make it so you need to interact even less often with the litter box.
There are countless Wi-Fi-enabled cameras you can get to remotely see what your cats are up to, including those that cost less than $20. For my money, I’ve been satisfied with the TP-Link Tapo 1080p indoor camera that’s $17.99 at Amazon
It may be more basic than what some pet owners want. And yet, it’s capable enough that I’ve used it as a baby monitor. It has pan and tilt functionality so you can see around the room, and its feed is viewable in the Kasa app, which is convenient if you have other TP-Link gadgets. It supports motion detection, two-way audio, night vision, and the option of cloud or microSD card storage. There are pricier options out there made to ease concerns for pet parents that can dole out treats and what not, but if your pet doesn’t need as much attention, this’ll do fine.