Have a cat that won’t stay off your counters? I do. I finally got fed up with it enough to do something about it: scare the crap out of him with a motion-detecting blender (while recording the results for my own amusement, of course).
Confused at what you’re looking at? This is a repeating shot of security camera footage of my cat jumping on the counter – in search of a plant to munch on – and initiating my Blender Defender. Take a look at the following comic to get a better understanding 🙂
 
Videos
Sorry, but you’re going to have to pretend you can hear an extremely loud blender while you watch these clips
Details
If you were to walk in my house, you may see something you dont normally see in a kitchen. On the wall, to the left of my sink is a webcam (network camera). It is plugged into the network jack and screwed into the wall plate cover, supporting itself. It doesnt get it the way, nor do we ever have to think about it. The camera is being monitored for motion by my computer upstairs in our office.
The camera itself is one of the cheapest network cameras out there, the DCS-900. It can be picked up for about $120 or so. There are a couple network cameras that are a little cheaper, but the D-Link one is pretty rugged and makes it easy to get into the raw feeds, something that cant be said for many other cameras.
As you can see from the videos above, the blender and the strobe light are both controlled by an X10 unit. The unit is sent an on or off command from the computer running upstairs by means of an X10 Firecracker. The Firecracker is just a wireless X10 transmitter that plugs into your serial port. I wont get into explaining it much here, but one thing to note is that is happily co-exists with my CM11A unit.
The computer upstairs is running the ‘motion‘ library for linux. As soon as it detects something moving on camera, it starts recording frames. While it is saving frames, it also initiates another Perl script I wrote that sends an X10 command to turn on the blender and strobe, wait 3 seconds, then turn them off. After the script is done detecting motion, it then splices all the JPG frames together using ffmpeg and saves the resulting movie as a SWF file, which you can see above. Finally, after it saves the movie, I have it set up to email me a link to the movie so I can see the results from where ever I’m at (remotely by using my phone).
Is this cruel?
Of course not! To teach a cat not to do something, it has to get the idea that what it is doing is a bad thing. One way to do so is to sternly tell your cat ‘NO’ when it does something. The cat may learn that it is bad, but more often than not, the cat learns that it’s not supposed to it when your around. This is not what you want. The best way to teach the cat not to get on a counter is to take yourself out of the picture. If the cat jumps up on the counter and is greeted with a scare, it will learn that the counter is not a very nice place to be. The cat is never harmed, but it’s instincts tell is that this may be something to be feared. Just like a vaccuum. The cat doesn’t like it at all, so it stays away.
Some will say that the cat is trying to eat the plant because he needs it for his digestion. In this case, it’s just not true. Our cat doesn’t simply eat our plants. He sees them as a toy. He plays with the stalks, digs them out, etc. We find leaves in the other rooms half the time. And, yes, he does get grass every once in a while.
Project Cost
The table below shows how much money would normally go into a project like this. This isn’t to say that I’ve spent this much, as I already had everything lying around the place, but if somebody else were to start this project, this may be what they should expect to pay.
| Item | Notes | Price |
| Strobe Light | Bought from Spencer’s | 20.00 |
| Blender | Housewarming present, woot. | 50.00 |
| X10 Firecracker | Check Ebay and Amazon if you’re looking for one | 12.00 |
| X10 Appliance Module | You wouldnt want a Lamp Module for this. | 12.00 |
| Network Camera | D-Link DSC-900 | 120.00 |
| $214.00 |
HAHAHA thats awesome. I hate cats. The people who are concerned that the cat got hurt are idiots.
wow.. i haven't been that close to vomiting in a long time…..
…. from laughing my ass off. thank you for providing this comic relief at the expense of a little bit of electricity.
Thanks for the laugh!!
Ah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I am not a CAT EXPERT. Nor would I purport to be. But this will most likely work. How many times do you have to put your hand into a fire before you learn "Hey, fire BAAAADD!!" …. And damn if it isn't hilarious.
HILARIOUS! What are your kitties' names??
that's fantastic! I actually looked at a Scatmat before, but decided they were just a little more cruel than I think is OK. However, I agree with you – this isn't cruel, and you have to make sure the cat is behaving when you're out.
i don't know what is more hilarious…the Videos themselves, Paulacandy's odd and undue affection toward cats, or Paulacandy's atrocious spelling. Please more videos and more comments from Paulacandy.
can cats be hidden. if you had someone coming over and the cat would jump up can you hide the cat from them so wont see. does it make loud noise. its how it should be quiet and then it cant harm prayer threw distraction so why not have a cat its fair.
where does online go i see it hrer and uses my line but i know its not at faith formation so please they cant stop us if we want cats can they. corey are you one of the booker sons cause i havent been to the GC church since pastor had trouble.
LOL! i have to agree with corey here because im having a hard time tearing my eyes off paulacandy's comments to watch the vids again LOLOLOL
[b]@James[/b]: The black and white kitty is Cody (he's a boy), and the all black is Puma, who is a girl.
Here's two pictures of them if any of you are interested to get more than their blurry profiles running off the counter: (They are also both cats in sinks…haha)
This is Cody:
[img]http://a513.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/l_63b27c806a9d94e9f9a067f89c18dee0.jpg[/img]
This is Puma:
[img]http://a223.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/15/l_b80de88517a540e2409e8a3298b7539e.jpg[/img]
Sarah: Did you ever find the video of the blender scaring your mom?
Ammu kissa. Mielummin haulikolla
@Sarah: I am sorry, but I did TRY to read every single message to see if "my insights" had already been voiced by someone else. But there are so many reactions (about 365, my PC can COUNT for me but it cannot READ for me) that I am still not sure. 😉
@ladychef: I really tried to carefully read, no, spell, each and every earlier message. Or at least glance at (some). Or at a bare minimum scroll past (a few). Knowing I probably had not covered 100 percent, I still wanted to add a reaction of my own. If that makes me a Moron, so be it. 😉
Back on topic: It would be great if you had already achieved your goal, with a lasting effect. If so, I'm not sure if that makes the cat in my view cleverer (it has already learned that jumping up there is a bad idea) or more stupid (it does not realize that there are large parts of the counter that it CAN walk on without anything happening). It's hard to tell. But isn't that always the case with cats (and dogs too)?
That's not funny at all. Actually I think it's very, very cruel…
Don't like it. Think of somebody doing that to you. I'm sure you won't find it funny or hilarious.
Great stuff!! Cat's getting taught a lesson about jumping on counters; I LOVE IT.
This will be used as inspiration for my forthcoming Deer Defender!
There's nothing cruel about this, and in fact it could save your cat's life. What if the plant was poisonous, such as a Diffenbachia? What's worse, a startled cat that learns not to jump on counters, or coming home to find your cat died in agony from accidental poisoning? I wonder if you could use a similar method to stop a barking dog, rather than using a silencer collar?
That was hilarious. I love cats and am glad to know you were doing it to stop it from eating something that could potentially hurt it. Ryan Brucks is a jerk.
Thanks for the inspiration for my "Beer Defender"!
Reminds me of a university professor we taught to avoid using a computer using a similar method. When the winged toasters screen saver came on in the middle of his thoughtful ruminations, apparently deleting the chapter he was working on, his head exploded. He has never used a computer since, not even for email. It was for his own good.
Ahhhh Sarah!!! I just looked at the 2 pix of your kitties!!! They are DARLING!!! From her eyes, it looks like Puma might have some Siamese in her!! And Cody's markings are beautiful!!! I lost my black and white cat last year and still miss him so much……
Haha hilarious. Im a kitty lover and this is NOT cruel at all. Keep up the good work!
[b]@ladychef41[/b]: I don't think Puma's got Siamese – but she is cross-eyed. This picture shows that a little better:
[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/2vt1mjd.jpg[/img]
Sarah, that's the pix of her I saw! Yes, she sure is cross-eyed!!! What a little cutie!!!
this is brilliant. i can't stop watching. i know some felines who could benefit from this kind of training…..
[b]@ladychef41[/b]: That's not the first picture I posted! the first one was from further away, you could see her whole body.
I added you as a friend on myspace by the way – haha.
Sorry for getting off-topic plasma, dear. lol.
There are so many comments on this project that I had to recode the entire commenting system! I really wasnt expecting this to be more popular than my Emergency Party Button at all
do they get achy when thwey jump like that. if i get jumped from surprise my body will ache but if the cats dont then it would not be mean or evil. but that colored cat implails almost on the spigot then thats not fun or nice. but i see them jump over and over and i laugh so the cat can bring love joy to you so its not fair and you should have a cat. can i ask question to online.
I WAS PLAUGHING SO HARD I NEARLY PEED MY PANTS
Hilarious. As owner to several willful cats, and more to the point theiving dogs that CLIMB like cats, I find this very clever and will now plan my own boobytrap. Thanks for a great laugh. By the way, as the victim of several feline retaliations I don't think it's cruel at all!!!
i like my monocule on my guy my sister told me thats the name of it like the peanut jar. can online help with something. a man on the radio said if you needed informaciun you can ask online. i need to fix a car.
[b]@TommyCee123[/b]: Good to know my site can make people plaugh 🙂
Funniest cat vids ever
"Beer Defender"
*wipes tear from eye…*
Cody is adorable and I need to pet Puma's soft fur.
Might I recommend another tactic – if your cat is just going up there to get plant matter, why not put some plant matter somewhere you don't mind her going? It's also the best way to keep squirrels out of your bird feed – don't try to make something squirrel-proof (nigh on impossible); put something they like better (pumpkin seed) somewhere else 🙂
Our Family Cat has responded well to the simple NO and a rolled up newspaper or flyswater. Will NOT jump up on anything ! Your idea is awesome however one cannot have this method throught the home..Will keep in mind though for other more sinister aplications…Thanks
How does the motion tracker tell the difference between you and your cat? Or, does the blender also turn on when you walk into the kitchen?
you need to sell those blenders you would make a killing
OMG, I have never laughed so hard!!! The video 5th from the top is my favorite… poor kitty don't know whether to shit, die, jump out the window or make a run for it!!! ROFL!!!! Thanks, I really needed a good laugh!!!!
this is freaking cool.
Fantastic project!! But the comments section is also hilarious. My favorites is the advice to "just move the plant." laughoutloud
thats very cleaver i have 2 cats that do the same thing i use spray bottle with water but i like your idea the best. happy trails
Oh my god!!! fucking cat!!! I was close to death from laughter!!!
I love it. I love cats. I love your humor.
If you need to change things up, or just want to startle the cat a little more, trying using coffee beans in one of those $20 blade grinders. The noise is intense.
Love the videos. Hope your cat keeps trying. 😉
Not to be a spoil sport, but you seem to have a lot of videos showing your cats jumping up on the counters. That tells me that however fun it is, it sure doesn't work very well…
how about a shotgen instead od a blender aimed at the cats, now that's good video.
P.S CATS SUCK!!!