Comments on: The purrfect activity for a coffee break

The purrfect activity for a coffee break

Pope Guilty — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:01:17 -0800

The worst thing about cats is that you can't play with them unless you're physically present. Being elsewhere means being unable to play with a cat! It's a horrible situation, but now there's a solution. iPet Companion lets you select a shelter and control a camera and trigger toys in the selected shelter's kitty play room. If there's other people on that shelter's page, you'll have to wait your turn, but turns are two minutes long so there's rarely much of a wait.

By: tilde

tilde — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:16:50 -0800

I can keep a kitty playtime in my browser? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Look in your favorites, everyone! You get a kitty! And you get a kitty! And you get a kitty! Everybody gets a kitty!

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:26:04 -0800

That's great!

By: Just this guy, y'know

Just this guy, y'know — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:32:13 -0800

Wow! A whole host of cats several thousand miles away have just been doing a fantastic job of ignoring my actions. Just like a nearby cat would!

By: SpaceWarp13

SpaceWarp13 — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:02:55 -0800

But what happens when i get attached to the kitty? This is just a slow slippery slope to having a house infested with kitties.

By: flyingsquirrel

flyingsquirrel — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:03:41 -0800

OMG the shelter where I volunteer needs to have this!

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:05:31 -0800

But what happens when i get attached to the kitty? This is just a slow slippery slope to having a house infested with kitties. It's a feature, not a bug.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:07:48 -0800

The worst thing about cats is... oh the lists I could show you. (and I like cats)

By: gohabsgo

gohabsgo — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:07:49 -0800

This is kind of awesome. I wonder how could you create a setup like this for your own pet for while you're at work? My furry friend tends to get bored when I'm not around.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:10:23 -0800

Okay, so that was delightful.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:19:13 -0800

gohabsgo: I wonder how could you create a setup like this for your own pet for while you're at work? My furry friend tends to get bored when I'm not around. There's a link near the bottom of the page where you can sign up for more information about the home version.

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:41:17 -0800

The cats at the shelter in South Carolina have the coolest looking tree tower.

By: GallonOfAlan

GallonOfAlan — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:53:43 -0800

The worst thing about cats is that they are cats.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:54:51 -0800

The cats in South Carolina just totally ignored me. :(

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:57:25 -0800

There seems to be just the one kitten in Mississippi and it would rather eat than play. :(

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:58:41 -0800

Oh hey Dallas has humans!

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:04:52 -0800

In Dallas, it appears that toy #1 is stuck in the "on" position and clicking on the toy buttons does nothing. But you can move the camera around to stalk the shelter worker, which I guess is interesting.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:07:30 -0800

OK has anyone actually gotten the cats to respond to them because I'm on my fourth city and they've all ignored me so far.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:10:25 -0800

There was a cat in Iowa that was sitting next to Toy 3, and we played for a bit. At the same time, two cats were wrestling in the far corner. They didn't give a shit about the toys, but they were entertaining.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:13:06 -0800

ZOMG there is the sweetest kitten in Idaho looking right into the camera AWWWWW quick everyone go to Idaho cam

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:13:33 -0800

Yeah, Idaho is where the action's at. They've got a room of kittens who are responding to both the toys and the camera.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:14:51 -0800

I was all alone in Idaho and now you've filled up the queue!

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:15:39 -0800

If you pan the camera all the way to the right in Idaho, there's a kitten perched there who will look right into the camera at you.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:16:16 -0800

IDAHO HAS A LASER POINTER! I REPEAT: IDAHO HAS A LASER POINTER!

By: tofu_crouton

tofu_crouton — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:19:04 -0800

Mississippi kitten was doing the thing my kitten does when she's about to take a nap: curl up and chew on her tail. All alone in that huge cage full of toys and things to climb, I think Mississippi kitten might have a posher life than my cat who has to share space with me in our one bedroom apartment.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:19:50 -0800

FYI: The laser pointer in Idaho is Toy #2.

By: winna

winna — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:34:09 -0800

I hate to say bad things about Iowa, but theirs is broken.

By: spitbull

spitbull — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:54:48 -0800

I have no idea how these people got their cats . . . Oh fuck it.

By: unwordy

unwordy — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:02:18 -0800

What a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:04:34 -0800

There's a tabby in the Pinellas shelter who loves toy #3. Just sayin' ...

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:04:47 -0800

I liked the Idaho cats before they were cool.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:05:19 -0800

Oh wait sorry -- tabby decided to go and eat now.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:09:08 -0800

Meanwhile, the tuxedo cat in the Pinellas, after staring dispassionately at toy #3 as I flailed away, just wants to stretch out on a sunny windowsill and relax. I feel ya, bud.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:10:39 -0800

Idaho is... problematic right now.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:12:00 -0800

Yeah, some shelter workers came into the Idaho playroom a couple minutes ago and now they're blocking the camera or something.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:16:18 -0800

LOOK AT THE LINT. LOOK AT IT.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:28:00 -0800

If Idaho doesn't hurry up and uncover their camera, I'll be forced to interact with the cat lying next to me in bed instead.

By: Redfield

Redfield — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:40:08 -0800

Two minutes isn't enough time to get some of these cats' attention. This orange kitten in South Mississippi isn't interested at all.

By: Metroid Baby

Metroid Baby — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:48:52 -0800

It's like hot local cats in your area but real! moew meow meow!?

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 09:40:29 -0800

NO WHY IS IT TELLING ME TO USE INTERNET EXPLORER. Cats you are bad today.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 09:56:26 -0800

I had no probs with Firefox, elizardbits, if that helps.

By: Just this guy, y'know

Just this guy, y'know — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 11:14:14 -0800

The Idaho humans fed the cats and then kept putting the cats in front of the toys whilst I was playing with them. Idaho humans are the best humans.

By: judson

judson — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 11:30:05 -0800

Siverlight? please....

By: klarck

klarck — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 12:40:38 -0800

Via Grantland, here's streaming Christmas Cats TV.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 18:05:21 -0800

The worst thing about cats is that they are cats. Also, the best thing.

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 22:38:37 -0800

OH MY GOD! SOMEONE BUILT MY IDEA!!! THANK YOU MYSTERIOUS INTERNET STRANGERS!!!

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:23:41 -0800

Huh, interesting; going back on Twitter, looks like these guys built this about nine months before I thought of it. Still, seems like there was some cat app synchronicity happening in 2011, and I'm so happy this exists!