@Strelniece

Hello,
Thank you for sharing your detailed use case.
At the moment, the features you mentioned—such as triggering recording only after a specific movement duration or  trigger the camera directly using an external third‑party sensor through the Tapo app are not supported on the Tapo C200C.  However, you may consider using Tapo sensors, depending on how you would like the trigger to work.

To better understand whether this could meet your needs, could you please help clarify:
What kind of trigger are you expecting (for example, motion, door open/close, temperature, etc.)?

What action would you like the camera to perform after being triggered (such as starting recording, sending a notification, etc.)?

Regarding the issue of your cat being misidentified as a person, this can happen depending on the camera angle, size of the object, and movement pattern. We recommend referring to the following guide for troubleshooting and optimization tips to reduce false person detections: 
1. Adjust the Person Detection Area: Define specific zones where you want the camera to look for persons. This helps ignore unneeded areas. 

2. Adjust the Sensitivity Setting: Fine-tune how sensitive the camera is to movement. A lower sensitivity can help reduce alerts. 

3. Maintain an Optimal Detection Distance: For the most accurate detection of specific targets like people, we recommend positioning the camera so that the subject is between 1.5 meters to 5 meters (approximately 5 to 16 feet) away. This ensures the target appears at a suitable size and proportion within the camera's field of view, allowing the detection features to analyze it most effectively.

Best Regards.