A fed-up cat owner who regularly found himself woken up following his "ruthless serial killer" moggy's nighttime hunts has invented an artificial intelligence (AI) cat flap to stop her from bringing any prey in.
According to app technical director Martin Rosinski, he and partner Michelle Bowyer would be woken up to four times a night by bloodthirsty 12-year-old domestic short-hair Jinx, who would loudly meow at them while presenting her unfortunate prey.
In a bid to get a better night's sleep, the tech-minded 37-year-old was able to modify his microchip cat flap by fitting a camera and AI software capable of detecting prey.
Once prey is detected, the cat flap will lock temporarily, sending an automatic notification to both his and Michelle's phones complete with a pic of the attempted present delivery.
Since installing the OnlyCat prototype back in June 2021, Martin claims he has managed to prevent murderous Jinx from bringing a grisly total of 42 victims into their home.
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Martin, from Ponteland, Northumberland, explained: "Jinx decided to move in with us two years ago in December 2020. After a couple of months she started expressing her gratitude for having a new home by bringing us gifts.
"The first time I was working at home, I heard Michelle making a commotion because Jinx had come in with a mouse and dumped it on the carpet in front of her as a thank you.
"That's their way of expressing love, you can't tell her off, so we thanked her a lot for it and took it away from her."
He continued: "Then this started happening more and more often to the point where we would be woken up at 2 am as Jinx would miaow loudly and announce 'hey I have a gift'.
"If we didn't get to her fast enough she would decide to eat it herself, which would involve piles of mouse parts being smeared into the carpet.
"Then it got to a point where this was happening at 2 am, then again at 4 am on many nights and we'd not get any sleep having to deal with this.
"Her record was four in one night - that night was a frenzy of three mice and one bird. It was something that was a real cause of stress."
The cat flap has proven to be so successful, Martin has since joined forces with engineering firm Transmission Dynamics to get the product commercialised, with a launch date planned for August 16th.
A witty promo advert shows 'owners' discussing their kitty's unpleasant gift-giving habit, with one man telling the camera how they'd "really struggled to come to terms with the fact that our beloved cat was a ruthless serial killer."
Have you found an unusual solution to keep your mischievous pet under control? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
