This is one of those inventions that I wish I already had as I could greatly use it to help us train our new cats. This invention may already exist, but so far I have not found one.
We added two new members to our family this last Christmas:
These two boys just do not want to stay off the counters and table. We have tried many things but nothing seems to work while we are out of the room.
What we have had the best success with is stacks of cans along the edge so when they jump on the counter, the cans falls and scare them. This births the idea!
Image an audible alarm driven by several remote motion sensors, which you place on your counter and then place the sensors a few feet apart towards the back of the counter. When the fluff-ball jumps on the counter, it triggers the alarm and startles it right back off.
The remote sensors should be sensitive to only about two feet. This would allow you walk by the counter without triggering them but still have enough distance to cover the counter. It would really be nice if the sensitivity could be adjusted on each remote sensor to enable coverage on different shapes of area. It would also be great if they could be wireless.
In addition to the standard sensors, the system could offer specialized sensors (perhaps at additional fees). One such sensor could be placed in the center of a table and cover the entire table surface.
The alarm base should be placed on the area to be protected as the sound would probably be most effective if coming from the area of the offense. While research would be required to find an alarm sound that would be the most effective, it would be great if the device offered many different alarm sounds along with possibly recording one.
Another variant of this would be to have a light area where the animal breaks the light been they would set off the light. This might work well for a large flat area, however the remote sensors would probably work better as they are flexible.
Update: I did find a couple devices, one that is strictly a motion detector system:
http://catscrams.com - Training device
The above device is suppose to work on a wave length that only cats can hear. Some people mentioned that with some types of cats it would not work. Would probably be best to have an audible alarm so that you know when they are making the offense. Also, it could be a problem if your motion is setting it off and driving the cat bonkers.
I also found one (do not remember the link) which uses a special collar that when it comes near the device it sounds off. This design makes more sense to me.
There there are a few that work as mats so when the cat gets on them they trigger the noise.
All in all though, I would rather see a device that allowed for multiple sensors that were small and easily not noticed. However, I guess there is a plus with the Cat Scram device above, it looks like a household alarm :)
I have pondered the idea of making my own device. If you combine an inexpensive motion detector and gut a cheap inexpensive smoke detector, it should be a trivial process of combining the two. Now if I can just find the time to build it :)
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Note: The ideas posted by me are simply ideas that I have come up with over the years. They may or may not already exist and possibly used for years, but I am unaware of their existence. If you are interested in any of them, you need to do research first to make sure they are not already in use.
IF ANYONE MAKES A PROFIT on any of these ideas, it would be nice to have a simple 5% kickback of those profits :)
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