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Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

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Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#141

Post by pinkrooftop »

grzm wrote: post #140
pinkrooftop wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its turning into reddit //waiting for this to be flagged and silenced just for suggesting HN quality has declined

If you're down-voted, I would suggest it's because your comment doesn't add anything substantive (which would actually improve the quality of HN), makes a common, uncharitable complaint while doing so, and mentions you expect downvotes, which is counter to the guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

it's substantive to the OP and GP's commentary. it's not apropos of nothing

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#142

Post by 010a »

silencio wrote: post #136
astral303 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't feed your cat until 7am no matter what. Ignore all foot rubs and meows. He'll eventually learn and give up. Operant conditioning. Watch out though for that extra-hard last ditch effort he will put out before giving up. Stay strong.

How long is "eventually"? My cat is almost 5 years old. She is the type to overeat to obesity, probably because she was abandoned at ~1yr by her previous owner. For half her life my partner and I have been feeding her like clockwork 3 times a day, minus all of 2-3 weeks of vacations where our roommate took over. I have to exert a constant effort to maintain our bedroom door and the rubber that I lined on the jamb to…

Some animals are just really really dumb.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#143

Post by throwanem »

pinkrooftop wrote: post #103
oniMaker wrote: post #42

The fact that you're downvoted for common sense is alarming. HN is supposed to be a place for smart people.

its turning into reddit //waiting for this to be flagged and silenced just for suggesting HN quality has declined

I'm about to flag your comment not because it suggests the quality of discourse on HN has declined, but because it makes a net negative contribution to the quality of discourse on HN. In other words, you seem to be being the problem you perceive. Perhaps you might do otherwise.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#144

Post by sctb »

pinkrooftop wrote: post #141
grzm wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're down-voted, I would suggest it's because your comment doesn't add anything substantive (which would actually improve the quality of HN), makes a common, uncharitable complaint while doing so, and mentions you expect downvotes, which is counter to the guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

it's substantive to the OP and GP's commentary. it's not apropos of nothing

You also might be getting downvoted because this was already a tiresome cliché 6 years ago. Now I'm not sure what it is, but the guidelines (as old as the hills, themselves) still ask us not to post it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#145

Post by [deleted] »

throwanem wrote: post #143
pinkrooftop wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its turning into reddit //waiting for this to be flagged and silenced just for suggesting HN quality has declined

I'm about to flag your comment not because it suggests the quality of discourse on HN has declined, but because it makes a net negative contribution to the quality of discourse on HN. In other words, you seem to be being the problem you perceive. Perhaps you might do otherwise.

[deleted]

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#146

Post by matt_kantor »

silencio wrote: post #136
astral303 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't feed your cat until 7am no matter what. Ignore all foot rubs and meows. He'll eventually learn and give up. Operant conditioning. Watch out though for that extra-hard last ditch effort he will put out before giving up. Stay strong.

How long is "eventually"? My cat is almost 5 years old. She is the type to overeat to obesity, probably because she was abandoned at ~1yr by her previous owner. For half her life my partner and I have been feeding her like clockwork 3 times a day, minus all of 2-3 weeks of vacations where our roommate took over. I have to exert a constant effort to maintain our bedroom door and the rubber that I lined on the jamb to…

Try an automatic feeder. I have the one mentioned in the article and didn't need to do any extra hardening to protect it from our two cats.

Even though we kept a tight feeding schedule, our cats used to start meowing and pestering us an hour before dinner time. Now, they just sit quietly and stare at the automatic feeder until it dispenses their food.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#147

Post by dghughes »

My plan if I were to ever build a robot I'd use a cat's brain as the AI template for the brain.

Move something 1mm the cat comes into the room and seems to be thinking "Hey who messed up the place? What's going on?"

Cats are little pattern recognition machines.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#148

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

astral303 wrote: post #26
jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

Don't feed your cat until 7am no matter what. Ignore all foot rubs and meows. He'll eventually learn and give up. Operant conditioning. Watch out though for that extra-hard last ditch effort he will put out before giving up. Stay strong.

My cat is 18. She howls in the middle of the night to get us to play with her and bites at us when she feels too much time has elapsed since her last saucer of milk.

She is way too old to give a fuck anymore and there is nothing to indicate she will ever change at her age. Just like a human.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#149

Post by Diederich »

civilian wrote: post #125
titanomachy wrote: post #91

The problem-solving abilities of that cat are pretty impressive. I couldn't imagine my cat bracing himself against a table and picking up the whole feeder with his teeth, I wish there had been a video of that. The creativity and versatility of even a "simple" biological intelligence is a humbling reminder of how much work we have ahead for AI research.

Let me Dungeon Master this for you: You're trapped in a few rooms all day, every day. You don't know how to read. Your best friend is gone or asleep for 17 hours a day. You're a little bored, but you're also not very smart, so it's kind of okay. But you do have a lot of time on your paws. There's a weird contraption that feeds you twice a day. And you can see food still up there, on the conveyor belt. How would you l…

Well said.

My wife and I personally think it's borderline inhumane to keep a dog by itself all day, since they are extremely social.

While we usually don't keep solitary cats, I don't think it's that uncomfortable for cats to be alone, though per your DM interpretation, they will commonly get into things. Which they will do in groups too.

Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine

#150

Post by derefr »

jevinskie wrote: post #4

I recently got a SureFeed RFID feeder. It can read your cat's microchip or an RFID collar tag. When an authorized kitty approaches, a flap raises and lets the cat eat. I got it to prevent other family pets from stealing my cat's food. It works well for that purpose and seems well designed. The feeder has clear side "walls" and the flap itself acts as a wall on the rear of the feeder, helping prevent food theft during…

If you're giving them an automated feeder, why not just let them eat (from it) at 4AM?
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