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strap a pedometer to your cat   (+36, -1)  [vote for, against]
a feline pedometer worn on the collar

discover to your amazement that fluffy ran ten miles before dinner or alternatively the lazy sod managed 5 feet and hid under the hydrangea for several hours.

for human curiosity only.
-- po, May 06 2005

where do you go... Where_20do_20you_20...2c_20my_20lovely_3f
keeping a closer eye on your cat. [po, May 06 2005]

Kitten Clock kitten_20clock
[benfrost, May 08 2005]

Tie an effigy to your cat day Tie_20an_20Effigy_20to_20your_20Cat_20Day
A transgression based on tying things to cats. [Blumster, May 10 2005]

this is me, in the 21stC London http://www.bestcare...re.net/radarpic.htm
[po, May 11 2005]

hum... I wonder if there's some way to create a sort of localized GPS system in your house/back yard? That way you'd get to see a graphical representation of the exact route your feline compainion made use of, a la Jeffrey of Family Circle fame.
-- justaguy, May 06 2005


Oh, yeah, then use the patterns in digital art and make millions, neoculturalists would praise its vulgar display of technological power.

[po], what spurs you to put periods at the end of the 1% of titles that you put periods in?
-- daseva, May 06 2005


eh?
-- po, May 06 2005


Sampling the first ten of her ideas, it appears to be more like 50%.
-- normzone, May 06 2005


+

Wouldn't it be a pawometer?
-- DenholmRicshaw, May 06 2005


just ask him/her
-- goatfaceKilla, May 06 2005


of course you won`t understand the answer but you can smile and nod and say "hmm" and the cat will feel better that you`re interested.
-- goatfaceKilla, May 06 2005


gfK, they are awfuk liars.
-- po, May 06 2005


:(
-- daseva, May 06 2005


Personally I quite like the idea. But I was always fond of ideas with no practical value other than to find out things that you never really cared about.
-- hidden truths, May 06 2005


Just tried this with my kitty, I used the little Mcdonalds one, and it worked for about 3.25 seconds, but then she rolled her 20-odd pounds of self onto it and broke the clip off.
-- spacecadet, May 08 2005


Cute idea, po. However in my household the tally is pretty much already known. Dustin one centemeter, claire 23 miles per hour.

(and why the hey is anyone discussing your periods, on a public forum anyway? My god, is nothing sacred?)
-- blissmiss, May 08 2005


Interesting idea, but you'd have to find a way to mount the pedometer such that it won't irritate the cat; otherwise 2573 "steps" will have been thrashing about on the spot (good exercise anyway, I suppose).
-- Adze, May 08 2005


You wouldn't be counting any of the stealthy creeping they do while hunting, since pedometers seem to function by counting the oscillations.
-- sophocles, May 10 2005


I'm glad my [+] gave you two and a half pastries, as this is as original and implementable an idea as I've seen in my time in the ol' HB.
-- Blumster, May 10 2005


(+)

I like the idea of strapping things to cats. How about strapping a brick to them and seeing how far they can swim?
-- MikeyTheBikey, May 10 2005


strap a brick to them and you`d at least know how far they`d walked.
-- goatfaceKilla, May 10 2005


If you've posted ideas based solely on tying things to cats raise your hand.

<<raises hand, posts link>>
-- Blumster, May 10 2005


possible name: feline wanderlust gauge
-- Blumster, May 10 2005


How do you know it was a hydrangea? Is there a pollen collector too? Bun for pointless feline technology retrofits.
-- coprocephalous, May 10 2005


It would have to be specifically designed to take into consideration a cat's average stride.
-- waugsqueke, May 10 2005


Yep. They typically count off half a meter or so for each click. Which is why po would need a cat-designed model to get a reasonably accurate reading.
-- waugsqueke, May 10 2005


I`ll bet my hat that you take longer strides than most cats then, UB
-- goatfaceKilla, May 10 2005


Given that cats have twice as many feet as most of us, would one "bump" correspond to one "stride?"
-- Detly, May 10 2005


Yeah, unless the front part of the cat wasn`t connected to the back part.

Cats do scamper more than humas though, that might make a difference
-- goatfaceKilla, May 10 2005


that was a roo that was.
-- po, May 10 2005


It's so interesting to see how far one idea goes on this site. The line of the conversation has gone from pedometers to periods to web sites to the proper measurements for strides. I am SO glad that I found this site!
-- hobbitcoat, May 11 2005


you have taken me back 4 years Margot - thank you.

do you know Radar O'Reilly by any chance? because I feel like him very often.

cool? yes and safe...
-- po, May 11 2005


Who? What? *confused*
-- hobbitcoat, May 12 2005


sorry, it was the Iowa connection.
-- po, May 12 2005


Actually I don't live in Iowa. I always say I live somewhere else to make sure no internet perverts try to find me, though there's probably no way they could anyway. So I could safely say that I live in Nebraska. (or do I?)
-- hobbitcoat, May 13 2005


why not just tape (or zip-tie) some radioactive lint to its back (like on james bond) and track it like that.
-- andrew1, May 14 2005


With no recorded movements three days after strapping a pedometer to my cat, it is now official: the big guy is completely catatonic.
-- baconbrain, May 14 2005


\\`ll bet my hat that you take longer strides than most cats\\. What kind of hat is it?
-- hidden truths, May 15 2005


If you use a human pedometer, can you just multiply the results by 2?
-- Dub, Feb 08 2008


why stop at small cats? or bigs cats for that matter? or land based mammals? or fish? or astronauts? or planetary bodies? problem is strapping it to those things in question, and not getting eaten, trampled, asploded, drowned...
-- xxobot, Feb 16 2008



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