Don't buy or use this F**k**g litter robot killer (infographic and video)

This is a cross-post as the information needs to spread around the internet like manure over a farmer's field 😱. Look, when a device made in China ends up killing cats it gets me very annoyed. And there is a long history of China shipping crappy products from their country to the West which kill cats and dogs.

Cycles vertically - a scissor action by Michael Broad

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Do cats actually use cat beds?

Yes, cats do use cat beds but it depends on several factors whether they will or not and when it happens. And the idea of a 'bed' is very fluid for a cat. It might be a bed like you see in the photo or it might be under a bush in the backyard or on a dinning room chair which is pushed under the dinning table (a roof over the head). It might be a vase containing a pot plant. I've seen that before.

Often it might take a long time before they use a new bed. A cat product that you thought would be very welcome and used all the time as it was expensive might be resoundly rejected.

The clamshell type bed referred to in the article. Image: Quora.com.

You might know that the problem with cats and cat products is that people buy the product because often they are designed to be attractive to people but cats have a different perspective on human made products and what is attractive 😉👍.

They don't think of beds or any other commercial item as being good because it's expensive or because it is of high quality. Domestic cats are not concerned about quality and expense. They just take a fancy to something and an old cardboard box might be as popular as the most expensive cat bed you ever saw.

That said, sometimes they come around to using the new product. Or they may use it for a while and then move on to another one and have a kind a rota system where they will use different locations in different beds over the month or year.

They might have a preference after a while and stick to that reference and then occasionally move out from it and try something else and then move back to their favourite place.

In this instance, concerning the photograph on this page, a quorum.com user asked whether cats actually use cat beds because she got him a bed and would not use it. No surprise there for me.

It is the bed you see in the photograph. A kind of clamshell. Very plush and soft she said. And she learnt that cats do come around to using these products sometimes. There's no guarantee though.

In this case he ignored it for two weeks and then when she came home from work his toy was gone and later that night he slept in it (with his toy). He then regularly used the bed.

Each cat has their own preferences and you can't really decide beforehand exactly what your cat might like. You might think you can but I don't think you can predict the outcome. That's why I sometimes believe it is foolhardy to buy nice products for your cat. Sometimes they simply go to waste.

My failure - I should know 😊

I have a beautiful bed for my cat. It was manufactured in The Netherlands and shipped over. It cost me about £200 and it's a nice piece of furniture. He used it once, perhaps twice but has not used it again and it's been in my house for nine months now. It was a waste of money (perhaps) and is now a decorative item!

The £200 bed my cat rejected. He used it once and not since. I hope he tries it again.

He might use it one day. I'm not sure why you didn't like it. Perhaps it's just the way he felt and there's no knowing. It may have been because the product is made of wood and it had been polished. The smell of the polish had not subsided enough before they shipped it. It may have been about the smell which put him off.

He preferred an old cardboard box from Amazon which is not untypical of domestic cats. He now sleeps in the utility room on a shelf which is well protected and warm and cosy and not far from the boiler.

I guess, if you wanted your cat to use a bed you should put it near the boiler. 💕🤔 Warmth is a massive factor. But this clamshell-type bedding you see in the photograph looks incredibly warm so I would see it as being successful normally.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

American families dump pets as costs surge

NEWS AND COMMENT: Although some shelters have quite definitely gone against the grain in terms of having too many cats and dogs to rehome [check out the empty shelter], in general, The Times reports that US families are dumping pets as the cost to keep them has become untenable. This is mainly due to inflation and lack of proper long-term budgeting, I believe.

The Times reports that American animal shelters are at their most overcrowded in years. The reason? Fears over the economy. And the end of boom times when many dogs and cats were adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

I feel (I hope not harshly) that many people adopted dogs and cats who shouldn't have. This was impulse adoption without really doing due diligence to figure out the costs and even more importantly to check out the health of the animal that they were adopted. 

That last point particularly applies to the French Bulldog which is one breed which is being dumped on shelters faster than many other breeds. Clearly the owners have found out how expensive they can be to take care of.

RELATED: The French bulldog money pit and dogflation.

However, many adoptions were carried out responsibly. Many people relinquishing their companion animals have lived with them for a long time. It's be tough for some to consider relinquishing their pets.

However, according to the Shelter Animals Count, there are an estimated 250,000 more companion animals in shelters this Christmas then there were over the same period last year.

And it appears that many if not most kennel operators say that they are in crisis. Their facilities were already overcrowded before the Christmas festivities.

As mentioned there was a sharp rise in pet ownership during the pandemic. One in five households in America had a companion animal according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

There are fears over the economy in America and the rising cost of living. The cost of owning a pet is out of reach for many. They decided to abandon their animals.

Kim Alboum, of the Bissell Pet Foundation, an animal welfare organisation, said that "The economy right now is really challenging for a lot of families. And with the housing crisis, people are losing their homes and our having to downsize or move in with others. And this is a recipe for disaster for people that have larger dogs."

The Times reports that shelters are experiencing a big influx of puppies in particular including those of the French Bulldog breed as mentioned. There's been a period of inflation recently in America resulting in vets and pet product businesses raising their prices making it even more expensive to be a pet owner.

I'm told that veterinary prices jumped by 9% from November 2022-November 2023 according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Pet food costs rose by 5.6% over the same period.

Sarah Barnett runs an animal shelter in Philadelphia. She says that she has seen hard economic times which has challenged pet owners financially.

She said that people are losing their jobs have to decide between putting food on their table or feeding their companion animal. They've been left with few options.

Obviously, many people giving up their companion animals have had a very long term and good relationships with them. And I agree with Sarah Barnett in that not all people self-indulgently adopted cats and dogs during the pandemic. 

Lesson?

The story really highlights a very valuable point namely that looking after a companion animal properly is expensive. You can't do it properly on a shoestring. Perhaps the first stage in the adoption process is to check your budget, work out the maths, and make sure you maximise the chances that you can and will be able to afford to look after your new friend to a good standard for the remainder of their lives.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Social media "influencers" must put an advert label on their video if they're paid to promote a product

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has introduced rules which affects how TikTok influencers and other social media users promote products of all kinds including cat products which is my area of interest.

I have just visited a TikTok page where the influencer appears to me to be promoting all kinds of cat products including a cat massager which amusingly appears to be operated by a blue British Shorthair cat (Ciccio) without any intervention or help from their human caregiver!

You can see the video below.

To me, the video promotes this product. But I don't know if this woman or man (I think it's a woman) is being paid to promote it. But she does tell viewers that there is a link on her TikTok page where interested viewers can find out more about the product.

That seems to be a way of selling this product but I can't be sure. But under the ASA rules if an influencer is being paid to promote something they have to put on their video or over the video a label to tell viewers that they are being paid to promote the product.

I'll quote The Times newspaper which explains it nicely:

Since then the ASA has drawn up rules that state that influencers are required to put an advert label on content if they have received payment, and any other incentive or are personally or commercially connected to the brand."

And The Times newspaper reports that ASA did some research to find out whether people were complying with this rule and it showed that 65% of adverts on social media were still insufficiently labelled. 

The rule applies to all kinds of social media content but often times it is on TikTok which has become a very powerful promotional tool for advertisers.

In essence, these people are advertisers. TikTok has become an advertising medium effectively and a very powerful one because the video you see on this page has been seen 48 million times. My guess is that a lot of people have bought this product on the back of the video.

Screenshot.

The TikTok account is cicciothebrit.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Deciding what type of cat litter material is the best for you and your cat

In broad terms, there are six types of cat litter substrate (material) and each cat owner has their personal choice. The infographic below covers the pros and cons succinctly. Personally, I have always used sawdust turned into wood pellets because I thought this was the best in terms of the environment, odour retention or odour control and for the health of my cat.

One of the great issues with cat litter material is the dust that is kicked up by the cat when they are rummage around. If the litter material is clumping and that dust gets into their lungs it can clump inside the kitten or cat. This is clearly very bad for health. 

The most notorious cat litter material - allegedly - which does that is lightweight clay-based litter and the manufacturer Tidy Cats comes to mind the most and I have an article on it which ranks highly in Google search results. There is strong evidence that this litter is dangerous to cats although no doubt it is still popular which, personally, I find disturbing.

And that's another factor in deciding which litter to buy. The weight of the litter itself in large bags is a problem or can be a problem for many women and a lot of women live alone with their domestic cat companion. That was the modus operandi of the Tidy Cats manufacturer; to serve those women.

Clumping clay litter is the most common type and it is said to be easier to clear up the litter tray because the urine is in clumps. Although personally, I don't find it any easier than wood-based because although it clumps sometimes it doesn't always absorb all the urine leaving some unabsorbed urine in the tray. To be honest, I find wood-based litter better in terms of absorption.

Below is an Infographic on the different types of litter material and the pros and cons of that material which may help you decide which kind the purchase. I hope that you find it useful.

Freddie Mercury's favorite cat waistcoat at auction will fetch far more than the estimated £7,000

The hand-painted favourite waistcoat of Freddie Mercury is under the hammer at the moment. The waistcoat contains images of his cats, one of which is Delilah, his favourite cat. Freddie was a great cat lover. I think he preferred them to people. The waistcoat is estimated to fetch between £5000 and £7000 at the Sotheby's auction. I would expect the price to be much, much higher than that. I will try and update this page if and when I hear the result of the auction but I do know that the gate outside his home covered in graffiti achieved as I recall something in the order of £400,000 which was massively higher than the auctioneer's estimate. 

Update: it sold for £139,700!!

RELATED: Freddie Mercury’s favorite cat DELILAH.

Freddie Mercury was much loved. His possessions are very desirable. His cat waistcoat was one of Freddie's favorite possessions therefore my estimate for the price would be something well over £100,000 at a very rough guess.

93% of the lots were sold above the estimate at Sotheby’s New Bond Street auction rooms, London, UK.

Above: Freddie Mercury’s favorite waistcoat (hand-painted with portraits of Freddie’s cats): Estimate £5,000–7,000.

Pets at Home reports higher sales because of Covid

 

Pets at Home. Image in public domain.

UK - NEWS AND VIEWS: The Times reports that the pet products chain, Pets at Home, has reported higher sales because customers continue to splash out on cats and dogs that they bought during the Covid-19 pandemic and this applies despite the squeeze on incomes because of continuing inflation.

This is a reference to the fact that during Covid-19 a lot of people bought cats and dogs, mainly dogs, as companions during that long period of furlough when people were stuck at home, driven, you could argue, to adopting a companion animal to keep them company. They also have the extra time on their hands to go for long walks with their newly acquired dog!

And now of course these people need to purchase pet products for their newly acquired pet. The fact that they are spending money on their pets despite a squeeze on their income indicates that there is still a little bit of fat in the system in terms of family budgeting or they are prioritising the health and welfare of their companion animal over other expenditure.

The group reports that group revenue at the pet-care retailer, which also offers veterinary services rose 7.9% year-on-year to £436 million in the three months to July 20. Veterinary and retail sales rose by 16.3 and 7.1% respectively.

The group believes that they are acquiring new customers at an 'impressive rate' according to the chief executive.

Adjustable anti-scratch cat shoe is an abomination

Get this picture. What do you think? Your answer depends on whether you want a living toy as a companion animal or a real cat (or as near as we can allow it). The woman/man who owns this Ragdoll cat believes in living toys and shuns the idea of allowing a cat to be a cat. Although there is one upside. They would probably have declawed their cat but for these ghastly bootees.

Read this provocative article about cat ownership: De-sexing our cats changes them from real animals to living toys.

Bootee on all four paws to stop scratching. Image: Reddit.com.

The manufacturers of these bootees are feeding the human fear in some cat owners of cat scratches and furniture being scratched. It is exploitation of a human problem that should not exist. 

Far better for the cat owner to learn to live with cat claws. To learn how to 100% avoid being scratched which is possible by observing cat behavior and understanding how to avoid scratches. 

To change one's attitude about furniture being scratched occasionally as this can be radically reduced by buying a great cat scratching post and putting special double-sided tape on those parts of the furniture which are targeted by cats. 

Training Your Cat to Use a Scratching Post and Where to Put It

There are far better ways to deal with cat claws which are an integral part of the cat. They are so important even when not used as defensive weapons. 

Cat Claw Anatomy Facts For Kids

Anyway, how does a cat feel with this human invention strapped to their paws? They can't feel alright. It must be discombobulating. It must be uncomfortable. 

It is the solemn duty of a cat owner to make their cat as happy as possible. Attaching these monstrosities to their paws achieves the opposite.

Automatic cat feeder controllable by a smart phone is a bad idea

The Mail Online promotes what the author considers to be a wonderful device for a cat owner. It says that you can feed your kitties from your phone. The device costs about £80. It is an automatic cat feeder which will keep your pet happy but not hungry and it can even stop them from overeating! Great.

And they start off by saying that if you go out to work during the day and then after a hard day's work you like to have a pint with your pals in a local public house, and then get home around 10 PM, you can feed your feline during those long hours apart.

Automatic cat feeder controllable by a smart phone is a bad idea.

This must be a very poor idea for a cat owner and worse for their cat. The device promotes feline separation anxiety. It encourages people to stay away from their cat all day and long into the evening.

RELATED: How long can I leave my cat ‘home alone’?

And if their cat lives in an apartment with nothing to stimulate them throughout those long hours, what are you going to end up with? A nervous, anxious cat, stressed up to the nines. It is just not going to work.

Dry foods

This high-tech piece of kit feeds dry cat food all the time as it has to. It can only feed dry foods. The general consensus today is that you should feed dry cat food occasionally or perhaps at night for grazing but it is not a good idea to feed dry cat food 100% of the time because it is too unnatural. 

Domestic cats do not compensate adequately for the unnatural dryness of the food which means that it keeps longer and therefore is more convenient for the owner but in terms of pure feline health it is not as good as a good quality wet cat food.

Cystitis

This is the kind of arrangement that could lead to the cat suffering from cystitis because there is not enough liquid in their diet and too much stress in their life. A recipe for this well-known bladder infection.

Voice recording

It seems, however, that the manufacturers have, to a very minor extent, taken on board what I mention above about separation anxiety. A nod to the problem and a weak attempt to deal with it. 

They allow the cat owner to record their voice into the machine which then plays it back automatically. This allows the cat to at least hear their owner's voice.

Is that going to be enough? No, is the short answer. I am sorry for being so negative but I do not believe that these sorts of devices are useful. They may be worse than that. They encourage poor cat caregiving.

Lifestyle unsuited to cat caregiving?

They encourage people to believe that they can work all day and go out all evening while believing that they are doing a good job in looking after their cat companion. I am afraid not. There is no substitute for being with your cat. With making contact with your cat. With playing with your cat. And with petting your cat.

Domestic cats like contact. They need physical contact. They want to feel the hand of their owner. They want to touch the hand of their owner. They want to sit on their lap and so on. All this is obviously impossible if the man or woman is in a wine bar chatting with his or her mates after a hard day's work.

Firstly, I don't think a person should have a cat companion if they habitually work long hours and then go to the pub afterwards. This person should suspend the idea of being a cat owner and wait until their lifestyle is more suited.

And don't believe what the bumf says about this device. It misses the most important aspect of the human-to-cat relationship: direct contact with your cat and being in the presence of your cat on a regular and substantial basis.

Cat head backyard fence is delightful

Well, it is the first time I have seen a fence like this, and I am impressed. It is uncomplicated. It weathers nicely and in fact the weathering of the fence makes it look better. The slats are staggered which makes them more distinct and I like the way the slats are separated slightly so each one becomes a cat. It's an ideal fence for a cat lover obviously.

Cat head backyard fence is delightful. Image: Twitter.

You just have to make sure that you don't live next door to a cat hater! Because if you did it would irritate them tremendously. I don't think it would cost that much for a carpenter to create this and add real character to your backyard or back garden. Or perhaps it would be better in the front yard so the world could see it more easily.

Here is a closeup:

Here's your chance to stop your cat bringing in prey! OnlyCat cat flap.

If you are one of those cat owners who really objects to your cat occasionally bringing in prey animals, through the cat flap, into your home and really can't wait to do something about it, well you can now! You can subscribe or you can be an early bird and buy this smart cat flap today and get big discounts. 

OnlyCat® cat flap. Screenshot from their kickstarter programme.

On the downside, its projected retail price is £499. Sadly, I will have to conclude that that is just too much even if you don't like your cat bringing in prey. You've got to have quite a lot of disposable income to want to pay that kind of money for the convenience of a bit of peace and quiet. And don't forget even in homes with cat flaps sometimes the backdoor is open or the patio doors are open in warms summers. The cat will prefer that route of entry.

And the UK is currently embarking on a cost-of-living crisis which is set to become much worse when gas and electricity prices more than double shortly.

That said, it is, by the look of it, an excellent product. It is called OnlyCat®. You can get a discount if you participate in the kickstart program and there is about 23 hours of the program remaining. The manufacturers have been backed by 57 people to the tune of £24,504 as at the date of this post.

If you purchase the cat flap before it goes into manufacture in the UK, it will cost £379 which is 24% off the retail price. The estimated date of shipping is April 2023. This discount has been claimed by, on my understanding, 22 people. If you pay a £7.99 p subscription which I believe is another way of acquiring the device now, you pay £149 for the device.

This would seem to be a way of getting around paying the heavy initial charge. And distributors can buy 10 OnlyCat® cat flaps for £3,690 which is a 26% discount.

Your cat, they say, will typically kill 110 animals per year and bring 80% of them inside the home. They use advanced AI vision technology to detect the prey. It can detect mice, birds, rabbits, rats, squirrels and other animals large enough to be seen by the camera.

RELATED: Smart cat flap donates money to a bird charity when cat with prey tries to enter.

If your cat approaches the cat flap and tries to get in with a mouse in their jaws the cat flap won't open and they will have to turn away and eat the mouse in the backyard.

This cat flap connects to your Wi-Fi and sends a short video clip of your cat's movements to your smartphone. You will feel connected to your cat and receive an alert whenever he or she attempts to bring prey into the home.

The video explains all.

For pets, a wearable fan made in Japan

NEWS AND COMMENT: Cats and dogs in Japan can now wear a wearable fan to cope with the modern-day high temperatures caused, it is believed, by global warming. The picture looks extraordinary. This is a battery-operated, 80 g (3 ounce) fan which is attached to a mesh outfit and which blows air around the cat or dog's body. It all looks a bit over-engineered and contrived to me with the decoration as well. Or perhaps that was added by the dogs' owner.

Wearable fan for pets. Image in public domain.

Veterinarians teamed up with a Tokyo clothing manufacturer to make this clothing accessory. It does point to a new problem however. With these extraordinary temperatures, cats and dogs with long or dense fur find themselves in an environment which is unsuited to their anatomy.

Wearable fan for pets. Image in public domain.

The president of maternity clothing maker Sweet Mommy, Rei Uzawa, was inspired to make the device/clothing when she saw her own chihuahua exhausted after a walk in scorching summer weather.

As is the case with the UK, there's been no rain and in Japan the hot weather came early. She believes that they have the right product for the market.

In Japan the rainy season ended in late June and they have suffered the longest heatwave on record with temperatures up to 35°C for nine days. This is very similar to the UK which is going through an extraordinary heatwave and drought.

Mami Kumamoto,48, said that she normally uses dry ice packs to cool down her dog but believes that the fan makes the task easier. She lives with a miniature poodle whose name is Pudding and a terrier named Maco.

It costs around ¥9000 in Japan which is about £55 in the UK and $68 in America.

Samsung use a cat to promote its new 200MP sensor for Galaxy S23

Galaxy S23.

Samsung has developed a 200MP sensor for its new smart phone. This means that the sensor has 200 million pixels. Professional 35mm SLR cameras, even today, have 24MP sensors and therefore Samsung is really pushing the limits. And they chose a cat for their advert. What else? However, increasing the number of pixels does not automatically increase the quality. There are other issues to take into consideration.

The advert shows a photo session of a cat and the resultant huge billboard taken from the photograph. It looks impressive but it seems to me that the sensor is better than the lens and better than the printing process. 

If you're going to achieve fantastic definition and detail, every step in the process has to have equal quality. Another barrier to seeing that quality is that we all look at our pictures nowadays on a computer screen. The computer screen's quality is limited by the number of pixels. Therefore, it is doubtful you will see the improvement in quality.

However, one advantage of such a large sensor is that you can crop out the centre portion which turns the camera into a digital zoom while maintaining decent quality even at very extended zoom ranges.

Nonetheless, I am delighted that they chose a cat as the subject matter for their promotion. It isn't the first time. Back in 2019 another smart phone manufacturer, Xiaomi, included a 108MP sensor in their Mi Note 10 phone. They used a cat as well in their advertising.

Samsung use a new 200-million-megapixel sensor in the new phone camera and use a cat to promote it

There is speculation that the Samsung sensor which is labelled as the ISOCELL HP1, will be in the new Samsung Galaxy S23.

China's Ora Good Cat electric vehicle is ideal for cat lovers and environmentalists

It's coming to Europe and I would hope that it is coming to America. It is a good looking EV (electric vehicle) from China called the Ora Good Cat, which is an interesting name. I've decided that it is a name designed to attract people who like cats and who live with them. And the classic profile of that kind of person is a woman, specifically an independent-minded woman concerned about the environment and therefore in the market to buy a compact EV 😊. In a woke age of strict equality we can't exclude cat-loving men either! Although the design is so obviously targeted at women.

Ora Good Cat EV from China. Manufacturer: Great Wall Motors.

And if the marketing bumf is to be believed then this is a good EV. The biggest worry about EV is the mileage on one charge.

They say that the car does 501 km or 311 miles on one charge. I think you could sensibly reduce that to about 250 miles on one charge under real-life circumstances which includes putting on the air conditioning under cold and hot weather conditions. And the amount of miles you get from an EV depends on how you drive it. You have to drive EVs differently to standard petrol and diesel cars.

RELATED: Woman recovers the bodies of cats hit by cars and reunites them with their owners

I would expect that this car has a breaking charging system. This is a gear you can select so that the car breaks when you lift your foot off the accelerator. And in breaking it charges the battery. You let the car slow itself down without using the brakes. It takes a little while to adjust. But it substantially increases the mileage you obtain on one charge of the battery.

RELATED: Friendly reminder to tap your car hood before starting the engine!

As mentioned (twice already 😕) the car is designed with women in mind in my opinion. It's quite compact which is why I'm surprised at the extent of the mileage they say can achieve. Batteries are big and heavy which is why EV's with a long-range are big cars. They are too big for the average motorist in my view.

This car is described as a 'subcompact' and it is made by Great Wall Motors under its electric vehicle brand, ORA, since November 24, 2020. I believe that it is already on sale in Thailand where it has caused a stir. The date of this post is November 27, 2021.

The design is retro which is popular. Sales formally began on November 24, 2020. It's quite a quick car because the electric motor develops 143 hp. That will mean that the car is quite nippy.

Scientists say that domestic cats prefer to get free meals rather than work for them! Big deal.

I really can't understand what the UC Davis scientists are getting at in this study, which concluded that cats prefer to get free meals rather than work for them. They say that cats are unusual in that they prefer to eat from a bowl, given to them, rather than use an interactive feeder which makes it harder to get at the food. This is an invite for cat haters to say that cats are lazy good-for-nothings.

My cat using an interactive puzzle feeder. He is going against the grain in this activity according to the UC Davis study.

They say other animals, even giraffes, prefer the challenge of trying to get to food i.e. work for it, and don't like it served up. I find it extraordinary and I find it even more extraordinary that the scientists have spent time to come up with something which is very obvious.

Domestic cats have been domesticated for 10,000 years. They have become accustomed to feeding off bowls provided by their human caretaker. The domestic cat has been trained to eat from a bowl. They have learned to ask for food with a meow. This is how they interact with their human companions. It's a form of mutual training. The cat training the human to provide food and the cat eating food largely when and how the human desires.

So, what do you expect? You cannot expect a cat to prefer to use a puzzle feeder unless there is some other benefit in using it. Interestingly, my cat at the moment prefers to use an interactive, puzzle feeder rather than eating dry cat food from a bowl (see above). However, there is a good reason; his dry food bowl is on the kitchen counter. He has to jump up to it, whereas, his puzzle feeder is on the kitchen floor. It has to be because it's a ball and he pushes it around which allows pellets of dry cat food to fall out.

I think that animals find the route of least resistance when they are looking for food, given the choice or opportunity. The same applies to people. And what is strange is that in the write-up of this study they say that a body of research shows that 'most species' including, as mentioned, giraffes and wolves prefer to work for their food. But these are wild animals. How can you compare wild animals with domestic animals? I don't think you can, certainly not in this context.

Perhaps the write-up is inadequate or incomplete. But for me, this study is hopeless and lacks common sense. It lacks accuracy. The scientists say that domestic cats aren't lazy. But they also say that the reason why cats prefer to freeload for their food is unclear. How can it be unclear? Am I missing something? The reason why they freeload for food is because it is easier to get their meal that way.

Cats don't think rationally but they know how to get a meal more easily.

Associated: Contrafreeloading and the domestic cat - this is the same story but written up in an entirely different way. The lead author for this study is Mikel Delgado, a cat behaviorist and research affiliate at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Your phone will tell you when your cat is content or in pain

It's in development but a cell phone app which has been created using artificial intelligence can read your domestic cat companion's facial expression to tell you whether she is happy or sad, content or in distress and in pain. The technology is based on studies, recently conducted, which concluded that the various elements of a cat's face change position relative to each other when they are in pain just like the human's; although for domestic cats the changes are quite subtle as we well know. Cats tend to hide their pain and they tend to hide themselves when in pain.

 Your phone will tell you whether your cat is happy or sad. Image: The Times. Sorry for stealing it.

But the beauty of this application for cell phones is that cat guardians who are uncertain about how their cat is feeling can photograph their cat full-face (a bit like a passport photo) and then ask the software to analyse the image.

The software has been programmed with thousands of images of cats and AI used those images to work out their feelings. Software can then produce a readout for the owner.

The image on this page shows you some of the facial expression differences between a happy and a sad domestic cat. I think perhaps the better description of the difference is between a contented cat and a cat in distress or in pain. 

You'll find that a cat's face tightens up when they are in pain and their eyes become more squinty. In short, their face becomes more tense which actually is what happens to people as well. Although the domestic cat's ears become flattened and rotated outwards compared to in the alert position facing forwards and direct.

You can download a beta version of it using a desktop computer as I understand it by going to the website: Sylvester.AI 

You might like to click on that link to see where it takes you. It is said that the accuracy is as high as 97% provided you give the software a decent quality front-on image of the cat's full face. I think there will be some failures because some cats are camera shy and, in any case, it can be difficult to provide a high-quality image of a cat.

I think what I might do is write another post about how to achieve that. It does take some skill. The app has been developed by an animal health company in Canada. It is a collaboration between an AI company and a cluster of other companies involved in sectors ranging from animal health to sleep gadgets.

Necomimi cat ears move to reflect your emotions

Necomimi cat ears are a Japanese invention by Neurowear. You wear them on your head but the clever bit is that they incorporate a brain sensor which allows the device to pick up your emotions and the ears move accordingly. 

 Necomimi cat ears respond to your emotions. Picture in public domain.

They seem to be a bit of a cult cat product because in the UK as there is a set of the last unit of the first ever batch on sale for £1000 on eBay! I think the normal cost of the Necomimi brainwave cat ears in the UK is about £90. Back in 2012 it appears that the price was $99 in the US.

They also have a loudspeaker which emits purring or meowing but it can be turned off. They are a novelty product. That's the way I see it. They are for cat lovers who want to amuse their partners, perhaps at a party. They make a good present to a partner if they are particularly keen on domestic cats. The word Necomimi is derived from 'neko' and 'mimi' meaning 'cat ears'.

Apparently, they've been out of stock for a while but you can (or will be able to) buy an upgraded pair from Neurowear via online retailers. They've created a new and improved version and they're currently going through a crowdfunding campaign which is going well by the way. 

Neurowear is a gadget project organisation in Japan built on the idea that you can augment the human body. Necomimi is their first project.

The ears read the brainwaves through a sensor on the left forehead (see photo above) and the headband is connected to the left ear lobe (not sure why!). The ears turn up or down based on the wearer's electroencephalogram (electrical potentials recorded at the scalp) which are influenced by the wearer's emotions and thoughts. 

The headband is manufactured by NeuroSky. They run for four hours on four AAA batteries.

The ears are interchangeable between cat, dog and devil horn ears. Comment: there has been a little bit of a trend with wearing cat ears in Japan. I have noticed this. The Japanese do like cuteness. It is part of their culture. Wearing cat ears makes the wearer look cute. In Japan the culture of cuteness is called Kawaii. Kawaii is popular because it is an escape from long working hours and social pressures. It allows adults to emulate youth.

CAT-ZILLA Tokyo's giant 3D cat

Cat-zilla. Photo in public domain.

This amazing advertising in Tokyo has been in the news for a while now. Through the use of clever technology and by looking at the correct angle, viewers get the impression that the cat is enormous and moving. It is advertising for Cross Shinjuku Vision. The cat is a tricolour or calico or tortoiseshell-and-white. They all have the same meaning. The cat is a Japanese Bobtail and the tricolour coat is the preferred one for this cat breed.

Please note that the tweet below will probably stop working and simply be a link. It should show a short video.

CAT-ZILLA: Pedestrians in Tokyo are marvelling at the city's latest high-tech billboard, which shows a giant 3D cat. https://t.co/ny5bOCBY7Q pic.twitter.com/ZNSDZmo7AQ

— ABC News (@ABC) July 11, 2021

Here's another video from CBS News which also eventually stop working! For the time being enjoy it

Backpack-style transparent cat carrier with airholes

You'll either like or loathe this product of the modern age. It is a transparent, backpack-style cat carrier which allows you to take your cat wherever you go in safety. It is a substitute for a cat stroller and designed for full-time indoor cats I believe. It gets them outside in safety for a bit of mental stimulation. I can't see it working for all cats because a lot will feel too confined. Perhaps they quickly adapt and are passive because they are interested in the surroundings. 

I would have thought that the vast majority of domestic cats would not willingly jump into this backpack or become anxious when it is closed. But perhaps I am wrong. Cats do like small boxes! But boxes are different. There are certainly some cats who'd like it because they'd like the whole experience and learn to put up with the confines of the clear plastic bubble.

Backpack-style transparent cat carrier with airholes. Photo: Twitter.

Amigurumi Maine Coon - cute

This is such a cute Maine Coon crochet amigurumi cat. I knew that the cat was knitted or created by human hand, obviously, but I didn't know what amigurumi meant. Apparently it is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. 

Amigurumi Maine Coon - cute. Photo: Etsy.

Cute amigurumi are the most popular. A translation of amigurumi is "crocheted or knitted stuffed toy". So these are toys for humans I guess. I suppose they could be toys for cats to but they would destroy them. That said the best cat toys are the ones that can be destroyed because they mimic more accurately a cat attacking a prey animal. 

I'm wasting my time discussing that because no one is going to let their cat destroy such a beautiful amigurumi. What's so attractive about this object is that it only costs £5.45 p in the UK. I think that's a remarkably cheap price for such a beautiful object. The comments are good. There have been 408 reviews and these amigurumi are a 4.5 out of five star in reviews. You can buy this on Etsy, an online marketplace.

Amigurumi are usually crocheted out of yarn or thread using a basic crochet technique but they can be knitted. You can use single crochet stitch, double crochet or invisible decrease. It can be and is normally produced in sections which are then sewn or crocheted together but they can be made in one piece. The stuffing can be standard polyester, cotton craft stuffing or wool. It may also be an improvised material made from other sources. The amigurumi maybe stiffened so that it can sit up by using pipe cleaners or floral wires. In order to make the object stable pebbles and stones or plastic pellets can be inserted inside so the weight is distributed towards the bottom which lowers the centre of gravity.

The creator has really captured the essence of the Maine Coon with the large lynx tipped ears, square muzzle and plumed tail. Well done. Super cute and well made. Well done.