Oke jadi begini, gue punya kucing bernama Pablo. Dan Pablo ini... well, dia basically the definition of a chonky boy. Berat badannya 20 pounds alias sekitar 9 kg, vets udah beberapa kali nasihin gue dan pasangan buat langsungin diet karena risiko diabetes dan masalah ginjal. Tapi susah parah, bro. Kucing emang notoriously susah diet — metabolisme mereka berubah setelah disterilisasi, dan Pablo specifically adalah affection eater yang harus diliatin makan sama manusia.
Nah vets-nya ngasi solusi: "Coba pakai gadget dan mainan yang bisa stimulate enrichment, manage food, dan encourage exercise!" With full excitement, gue langsung research dan cobain berbagai pet tech. Spoiler alert: Pablo nggak pernah kalah.
Litter-Robot 4: Game Over Before It Started
Gue start dengan Litter-Robot 4 karena Pablo bikin poop yang aromatic crimes banget — manual scooping udah jadi penyebab marriage tension. Tapi yang bikin gue interested adalah fitur built-in scale yang bisa nge-track berat Pablo tiap kali dia BAB. Clever solution, kan?
Awalnya Pablo allow our folly. Dia eyeing the spinning globe-shaped bonnet with suspicion, tapi sophisticated cat kan nggak prone to pooping sembarangan. Then everything changed pas gue pindah ke row home 4 lantai. Pablo langsung claim lantai tiga — bedroom territory — sebagai kingdom-nya. Sementara Litter-Robot stay di lantai dua.
Dan boom, dia langsung mogok. Starting shitting on the carpet outside gue office door. For three weeks. Until gue cave. Solution? Litter box stainless steel seharga $20 dengan smart scale di bawahnya. Encased dalam stealthy litter box enclosure yang keliatan kayak credenza biasa.
Pablo still nggak suka. Apparently enclosure-nya terlalu cramped karena ada scale-nya. Scale gue remove, dan sekarang gue balik ke manually weighing him every few weeks.
Pablo 2, Tech 0.
Every Exercise Gadget Ever: All Have Failed
Gue beneran udah coba segalanya. Ball tracks? Nope. Enabot robot yang lucu banget? Icily ignored. Robot vacuum yang seharusnya force dia move rooms? Dia duduk di meja, watching disdainfully as robovac jams itself into furniture. Wand toys? Di-swat twice, lalu flop on his back and declares playtime over. Cat tower? Looked at it and went, "Nah."
Gue bahkan call in a smart walking pad buat review yang seharusnya jadi kesempatan Pablo get more steps. Healthy for me, potentially healthy for him. We both stressed out by the smart features. Even Petey — kucing kedua gue yang basically has one brain cell — couldn't process the concept of walking on the pad. Pablo rolling off the belt when gue coba place him at very low speed.
TikTok cats enjoyed walking pads. Pablo? Iconic nope.
Pablo 6, Tech 0.
Two Gadgets That Actually Worked (And One That Backfired)
After eight years of technological warfare, ada exactly dua gadget yang Pablo tolerate — likes, even. Pertama, Petlibro cat fountain. Dia obsessed sama fountain. Kedua, Eight Sleep smart mattress cover. Like all cats, he loves a warm surface, dan sekarang gue harus staring contest sama Pablo tiap malam soal siapa yang dapet spot di kasur.
Yang hilarious: gue beli Petlibro automatic feeder with built-in camera sebelum vacation ke Italy — thinking this is the ultimate surveillance setup. We just landed in Rome when we saw the feeder had been knocked over. Yep. Pablo wins again.
RFID feeders would be the next logical step — theoretically bisa 100% sure bahwa Pablo dan Petey nggak overeat pas gue nggak supervise. Tapi they're expensive, our current feeders aren't broken, dan Pablo hates collars.
Pablo 7, Tech 3.
Geek Opinion
Honestly, setelah baca-baca dan cobain berbagai gadget, gue conclude bahwa the state of pet tech is simply no match for Pablo specifically. Dan gue bukan satu-satunya — banyak cat owners yang experiencing the same thing. Kucing emang creatures of routine yang notoriously resistant to change.
Tapi hey, lo nggak harus punya kucing yang cooperate sama semua gadget. Yang penting adalah lo udah try yang terbaik dan love your pet unconditionally. Pablo might never lose that weight, tapi dia happy, healthy enough, dan most importantly — loved. Sometimes that's enough.
Oh, dan kalau lo wondering: gue udah adopsi Petey because we thought a younger cat might encourage Pablo to move. Petey adores Pablo. Affection remains unrequited. Maybe third kitten soon? Who knows. 😼
