Ended
Cat Acknowledgement Button
A floor button a cat can press to confirm it heard you.
€8,000
pledged of €40,000 goal
- Backers
- 200
- Funded
- 20%
- From
- €39
Backed by Ingrid H., Owen B. and 198 others
Pledging has closed
Story
The button is 110 mm across, felt-topped, and placed on the floor near the cat's usual position. When the cat is spoken to, it may press the button to confirm that it heard. A mechanical counter on the side, visible from standing height, advances by one and does not reset.
Placement
The button is not tethered to any particular sentence. It registers only that something was heard, not what, and the Inventor considers this a feature: a cat asked to get off the counter and a cat told dinner is ready can use the same button to confirm either.
The counter
The counter is mechanical and cannot be reset from outside its housing. This was a deliberate choice, made before any testing began, so that a disappointing count could not later be attributed to a setting.
Eleven households
The button was placed in eleven households for eight months. In that time the counter advanced twice: once by a cat, and once, according to a doorbell camera reviewed afterward, by a dog investigating the felt. The Inventor recorded both presses as valid and has proposed no change to the design.
Shipping
The button ships domestic only. No zone beyond it was added, on the grounds that a longer supply chain was not the constraint here.
| Button diameter | 110 mm, felt-topped |
|---|---|
| Counter mechanism | Mechanical, incremental, non-resettable |
| Mounting | Adhesive pad, no batteries |
| Display height | Counter face readable from standing height |
| Test households | 11 |
| Test duration | 8 months |
| Presses recorded in testing | 2, one attributed to a dog |
Rewards
Cat Acknowledgement Button
€39
One floor button with a felt top and a mechanical, non-resettable counter.
- Ships to Domestic
- Est. delivery Oct 2026
- 200 claimed
Just support it
Pledging has closed. Bonus support is no longer accepted.
Updates
What happened next
The Inventor has moved the button lower, to test whether height was the obstacle. No presses have been recorded since.
The Campaign has ended
The Campaign closed at 20% of its goal. Backers who claimed a button will not be charged and no units will be produced. The counter's total for the eight-month test period stands at two presses, one of them a dog's. The Inventor is treating this as the baseline for a second attempt.
On the dog press
One test household's doorbell camera recorded the counter's second advance, made by a dog investigating the felt top rather than by the household's cat. The press has been counted. The button does not distinguish species, and changing that now would be inconsistent with every press recorded before it.
Two months, no presses yet
Several households have reported no presses in the first two months. This matches the plan. The counter is mechanical and does not need a press to confirm it is working; it needs a press to confirm the cat is willing.
Backers also backed
- FIG. 1 · TF-0008Live
- Pledged
- €17,700
- Funded
- 118%
- Remaining
- FIG. 1 · TF-0003LiveEnding soon
- Pledged
- €7,420
- Funded
- 92%
- Remaining
More from this category
- FIG. 1 · TF-0012Live
- Pledged
- €20,500
- Funded
- 204%
- Remaining
- FIG. 1 · TF-0018Live
- Pledged
- €8,880
- Funded
- 74%
- Remaining
- FIG. 1 · TF-0020Funded
- Pledged
- €16,740
- Funded
- 186%
- Backers
- 330
Comments
Does the counter distinguish between a paw press and a cat simply sitting on the button?
No. Weight on the button for any reason advances the counter by one.
Backed for the grey one. Curious what a baseline even looks like here.
Is there a way to tell which sentence the cat was responding to?
No. The button records that something was heard, not what.
Two months in, is any test household's cat pressing it yet?
It matches the households reporting so far.
Backed the green one for a spare. Our cat ignores new objects for about six weeks — did any test household report the same delay?
A dog pressing it counts toward the total? That seems like it should be flagged separately.
The button does not distinguish species. The counter records a press.
Sorry this one did not reach its goal. The two-press number was worth funding on its own.