I Tawt I Taw A Trendy Puddy Tat
The ultimate 90s fashion accessory, the scrunchie, is making a comeback. But this time it’s not being used to gather unruly hair and make perky girls seem even perkier. The colorful accessory is now adorning the necks of cats. Based on the photos, the fashion-forward felines look extra cute, but don’t seem very happy; understandably so, as the multicolored collars are intended to stop them from killing birds. According to Birdsbesafe, the frilly, bright anti-predation collars make sure that cats are quickly and easily seen by potential prey. “Songbirds see bright colors especially well due to their special eye anatomy. The colors look even brighter than to the human eye. So, a stalking cat will be instantly noticed by songbirds when it wears a colorful Birdsbesafe collar cover. Birds simply fly to safety! It’s like your cat is wearing a bright flag that signals: ‘Danger, here.'”
The collars have reduced the number of bird-kills by cats by more than half, according to one Australian study. Murdoch University’s Catherine Hall studied 114 pet cats over two years, using three different colours: red, yellow and rainbow. Birds were quick to notice the red and rainbow collars more than the yellow. “They’re best used by owners whose cats catch a lot of birds and lizards and either don’t catch a lot of mice and rats, or their owners don’t care whether they catch mice and rats,” said Murdoch. Or by owners who just enjoy humiliating their pets.
