In the still hours of a quiet October late night in 2020, the CATLINK team received a message from a user in Thailand. It wasn’t a typical product question or shipping inquiry; It was a heartfelt thank-you note from the cat mom of an 18-cat household.
We received a heartfelt and lengthy thank-you letter from Dumpling’s mom.
One of her cats, a small black feline named Dumpling, had been acting strange, but only the CATLINK smart litter box and its app were able to catch it.
Normally, Dumpling would use the litter box two to three times a day. But over three days, CATLINK sent repeated alerts to the app, each day logging over a dozen bathroom visits, each one lasting up to 200 seconds. That’s nearly twice the average time.
Curiously, when Dumpling’s mom checked the litter, there wasn’t much waste. Sometimes there was nothing at all. That’s when the gut feeling hit her: something’s wrong.
Dumpling’s health data in the CATLINK app didn’t look promising.
She rushed Dumpling to the vet. The diagnosis? Pyelonephritis—a kidney infection—causes acute urinary blockage. He needed an emergency procedure to relieve the obstruction and start antibiotics. The vet's words still echo in her memory:
"You were lucky. If you had waited another four hours, it would’ve been too late."
Dumpling spent three nights under treatment with antibiotics and IV fluids. Thankfully, he was cleared to go home on day four, tired, but alive.
Dumpling’s real-life rescue story was turned into a short film.
The Letter from Dumpling’s Mom:
“Today, I want to thank CATLINK. It truly saved Dumpling’s life. If it weren't for the CATLINK app tracking his toilet habits, we wouldn't have noticed the warning signs.
Normally, he goes 2–3 times a day, 4 max. But from the 14th to the 16th, he went more than 12 times a day. By 10 AM on the 16th, he had already used the box 11 times!
What’s more, each bathroom trip was getting longer, some close to 200 seconds, when he usually finishes in 80 to 100.
Dumpling in Recovery
When we checked the litter, we either found tiny clumps or none at all. That’s when we took him to the vet and learned it was a kidney infection.
I can’t even imagine what might have happened if we had waited longer. The vet said it could’ve led to kidney failure from urine backflow.
CATLINK’s real-time data didn’t just alert us. It saved my cat.”
A Thank-You Photo Sent by Dumpling’s Mom to the CATLINK Team
Caring for Cats’ Health, Powered by Technology
At CATLINK, nothing means more to us than helping cats live longer, healthier lives. Dumpling’s story is just one of many that inspires us to keep building better tools for pet wellness. Our mission is simple: help every cat live one year longer.
Our smart litter box doesn’t just clean up after your cat, it watches over them. With detailed health tracking, real-time alerts, and behavior monitoring, we give cat parents peace of mind and sometimes, a life-saving heads-up.
If you’ve experienced a CATLINK moment like Dumpling’s mom did, we’d love to hear about it.
Share your story with the CATLINK community and win gifts 🎁
