Live nude rabbits!
Live nude rabbits! (And cats too.)
We're away at my sister's house for Thanksgiving, and we're leaving our two cats and two rabbits home alone for about 48 hours. They've got plenty of food and water, although the cats are going to be a bit disappointed at only having dry food available, and the rabbits will miss their fresh veggies.
I thought it would be nice to be able to check in on the animals while we're away, so I left my iSight running on my G5 at home. I've got my 12" PowerBook with me, and my sister has WiFi set up, so even though my sister was asleep by time we arrived at her house late last night, all I had to do was flip open my PowerBook to be online.
I used Timbuktu so I could essentially start a one-way video chat with myself. I called out to the cats (not even worth trying with the rabbits), and played a little iTunes music on the computer at home, and in about two minutes one of the cats trotted up to the door to check out what was going on. He stood there looking very interested, and a bit confused, hearing our voices but not seeing us anywhere. (Ah, nothing like being about to remotely torment cats from 300 miles away.
)
I shut down iChat, started up EvoCam (see versiontracker.com), and set it up to do motion detection, posting the images it captured to my web site. With the lure of supplementary food dishes just inside the door of my home office, all four pets eventually came into view.
It's kind of silly, but I do enjoy the peace of mind of being able to check in like this and see that they're all okay.
We're away at my sister's house for Thanksgiving, and we're leaving our two cats and two rabbits home alone for about 48 hours. They've got plenty of food and water, although the cats are going to be a bit disappointed at only having dry food available, and the rabbits will miss their fresh veggies.
I thought it would be nice to be able to check in on the animals while we're away, so I left my iSight running on my G5 at home. I've got my 12" PowerBook with me, and my sister has WiFi set up, so even though my sister was asleep by time we arrived at her house late last night, all I had to do was flip open my PowerBook to be online.
I used Timbuktu so I could essentially start a one-way video chat with myself. I called out to the cats (not even worth trying with the rabbits), and played a little iTunes music on the computer at home, and in about two minutes one of the cats trotted up to the door to check out what was going on. He stood there looking very interested, and a bit confused, hearing our voices but not seeing us anywhere. (Ah, nothing like being about to remotely torment cats from 300 miles away.
)I shut down iChat, started up EvoCam (see versiontracker.com), and set it up to do motion detection, posting the images it captured to my web site. With the lure of supplementary food dishes just inside the door of my home office, all four pets eventually came into view.
It's kind of silly, but I do enjoy the peace of mind of being able to check in like this and see that they're all okay.
Comments
But how did you get the cats to not eat the rabbits? (Mine would!)
Originally posted by Cake
That's pretty cool!
But how did you get the cats to not eat the rabbits? (Mine would!)
You have to be a little careful with introductions of cats and rabbits to make sure it will go smoothly, but usually it works out quite well.
Cats and Rabbits
Very neat, shetline! Using technology in such a cool way.
Meow!
You should send that to Apple. They'd probably get a kick out of it.
Originally posted by bauman
How hard was it to litter train the rabbits?
The older male rabbit, which we brought home from an animal shelter, took so quickly to a litter box we have to wonder if he hadn't already been trained by his previous owners.
The younger rabbit came from a breeder, and was only eight weeks old when we brought her home. She spent most of her time in her cage for the first few months, let out only when supervised for exercise, and got used to using the litter box while inside her cage.
(Note on word choice: For some reason, when talking about rabbits, the word "pee" wins out for me over piss or urinate, and "poop" over shit or defecate. It's annoying that English only gives you the choice of childish, crude, or clinical. Nothing truly neutral.)
Neither rabbit has ever peed where it shouldn't, barring two exceptions: Once, when Kosh, the older rabbit, peed on a rubber mat just short of the litter box. The other time when we confused Lyta, the younger rabbit, with a basket of hay that was too much like her litter box.
Pooping is another matter. Kosh is very well-behaved for the most part, but you'll find the occasional dropping under one bed or another where he spends hours sleeping. Fortunately, rabbit droppings are hard and dry and don't leave any stains or produce much odor, especially one stray dropping at a time.
Lyta drops a few more misplaced droppings, especially in the utility room where the rabbits' litter box is located. I think it's a territorial thing for her. It's annoying, but it's not like we're having carpets ruined or big embarrassing messes left around.
The worst time was when Lyta's hormones were starting to kick in, before she was old enough to spay. She excitedly hopped in circles around your feet, pooping with nearly every bounce. Fortunately that was a brief stage in her life.
My girlfriend and I want to get some cats and name them Londo and G'Kar.