New color-changing cat sand from Japan reaches crowdfunding goal

This cat sand changes color to tell you about what’s wrong with your cat’s waste!

If only cats could talk! As much as we love our furry feline friends and enjoy guessing at what’s going through their heads, there’s no way for us to actually understand their dulcet mews. That’s fine, for the most part—behavior like tails fluffing up or eyes darkening can tell cat owners important information about their moods and wellbeing. But what about medical problems?

A Japanese company called Threes has stepped up to the plate to interpret between you and your cat, and they’ve concocted a special product, Signyal, with which to do so: specially formulated cat sand that will change color depending on the contents of the cat’s urine.

▼ “We can’t always make it to the clinic, but cats urinate every day!”

Signyal should be spread in the cat’s litter box like ordinary cat sand, and then the owner can check it each day to track the cat’s urine. After checking, they can mix the sand back together and repeat until thirty days pass, when it’s time for a new batch of cat sand. Regular urine shows up in the sand as a bright yellow, but other colors can indicate drastic changes that may help pet owners to identify health issues before they become critical.

Light blue coloration means a higher alkaline content is present in the urine, while green denotes high protein content, a tell-tale sign for conditions like feline diabetes and urinary tract infections. Red is a particularly alarming sign, as it means there is blood present in the cat’s urine. Brown means that bilirubin, a waste product, is present in the urine which may be a sign of liver disease.

931 cat owners clustered around the crowdfunding site Makuake to get their hands on the pre-sales of the product, raising a combined total of around 4,800,000 yen (US$44,190). This meant the project reached a whopping 1,603 percent of its funding goals, so the clever cats who cooked up Signyal must be feeling pretty proud of themselves.

Signyal comes in two-kilogram (4.4-pound) bags intended to last a month or thirty days in total, and one of these bags is expected to have a standard cost of 3,280 yen. However, cat owners can order a “course” of the product to ensure it gets shipped to their houses every month for up to two cats. A Cat Course, for one cat, costs 2,780 yen for the first month and then 5,560 yen for the following months; the Cat-Cat Course, for two cats, two bags will be sent per month for a 5,560 yen cost. The price of shipping the cat sand is covered in the cost, but note that these prices may be subject to changes.

Still, there’s another bonus to getting your cat sand shipped directly…

▼ The cat sand is delivered in these adorable boxes.

The boxes are specially made to have a tearable section, meaning that your cat can wiggle inside it and have a ball. The more boxes you receive, the more you can stack until you have a veritable cardboard cat tower! And doesn’t your cat deserve a luxurious, adorable cat tower?

Source: Signyal via IT Media
Images: Signyal
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