Japanese company using mee-AI-ow to detect stressed cats

A Japanese company called Rabo that makes a smart collar for cats and uses the motto “Because nine lives are never enough” has started using AI to monitor feline stress levels.

Rabo named its smart pendant “Catlog_” and sells it for ¥14,850 ($102), although it’s currently on sale at half that sum.

The device can detect when a cat eats, drinks, sleeps, runs, walks, and grooms itself. Rabo pumps info on those activities into a smartphone app that allows Japanese cat owners to monitor their moggies remotely. The Catlog_ also tracks cats in case they stray from home.

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Rabo this week added the ability to use the metrics it collects to calculate a “stress score” for cats. The company calculates feline fretting by assessing changes in grooming behavior, resting breathing rate, and sleep data over a 30-day period.

Rabo president and CEO Yukiko Iyo told Japanese outlet Nikkei her company uses AI to assess cat stress by drawing on 10 billion data points gathered from smart collars worn by over 46,000 cats.

If Rabo’s AI detects feline stress, humans see an alert in the company’s app.

The company suggests its products will see cat owners consult veterinarians in a timely fashion, instead of letting feline affliction fester, and mean pets and people both live happier lives. ®