A new app can tell you if your cat is happy - though this might be obvious if your feline friend has just peed in your shoes or dropped a mouse on your bed.
With the Tably app, you point your device at your cat’s face and take a few photos. Its clever algorithm will then decipher how your cat is feeling.
You’ll get one of two interpretations: “All seems good”, meaning your cat is happy right now.
Or “Don’t be alarmed”, which means your cat is probably feeling a bit discontent but the app says you shouldn’t be worried unless you keep getting this result again and again.
Some cat owners might joke that this isn’t nearly enough moods to cover all of their cat’s emotions, but there’s actually a serious side to the app.
The data it uses to interpret your cat’s mood is based on the Feline Grimace Scale, which assess pain in cats based on their facial features.
“Cats are great at hiding their pain, so they often suffer needlessly,” the app by Sylvester.ai explains.
The idea is to help cats live longer by getting owners to snap photos of their kitty throughout the day to monitor their long-term well-being and make sure they're not in pain.
The app warns that to get the best results you should ensure your cat “is in good lighting, and is awake and not grooming, eating or vocalising”. And it doesn’t work on kittens.
We tested it on a photo of one of those hairless cats that always look cranky about life and the app said it was happy. So there you go - proof again that looks are deceiving!
