New Cat Collar Uses UV Bird Vision to Make Outdoor Cats Visible to Birds

This post is sponsored by ChirpOn

Bird populations have declined dramatically over the last decades. Contrary to what some ill informed organizations would like you to believe, cats are not solely responsible for this decline. Major factors are habitat destruction, widespread use of pesticides and bird collisions with window reflections and motor vehicles. However, cats will be cats if they have access to the outdoors, and they will hunt and kill birds.

Steve Crawford, the creator of the ChirpOn Cat Collar for Birds, wanted to find a way to keep cats from injuring and killing birds that was comfortable as well as safe for cats.

The ChirpOn Cat Collar for Birds was designed to take advantage of the unique characteristics of bird vision discovered by researchers in 1970. Unlike humans, birds see ultra violet light waves that create intense reflective colors. This is the same technology that is used in those clear stickers you can place on windows so birds won’t fly into them. The outside of the stickers is coated in a UV material.

ChirpOn has developed proprietary silicone appendages that reflect UV light and sway with cat movement. Attached via grommets to a custom manufactured collar, the flexible appendages jut up behind the cat’s head.

It took over a year of extensive research, development, and testing to create a collar that deflects birds, yet is unobtrusive and comfortable for cats. The collar includes standard features such as a break away safety clasp, and size adjustment. It is made from 100% bamboo fiber that is naturally soft and smooth on cat fur, according to the company’s field testing.

“When my kids finally went out on their own, they left me with their cats and their cell phone bills,” says company founder and developer Steve Crawford. “I’m still attempting to negotiate the cell phone bills, but the impact of the cats on the songbirds was distressing. The collar appears simple but it’s really very complex. It took a lot of trial and error. The cats are none the wiser. The birds chirp on!”

Essentially, this unique cat collar gives birds a big advantage, and still lets cats be cats and follow their instincts, unaware that the unobtrusive collar is hampering their success.

Watch this brief video for more information and to see the ChirpOn collar in action:

The Cat Collar for Birds is available for pre-order exclusively through ChirpOn’s Kickstarter campaign until September 21, 2016, and then at http://www.chirpon.com.

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, which means that I was compensated to feature this content. Regardless of payment received, you will only see products or services featured on this site that I believe are of interest to our readers.

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