An exclusive interview with Ron, CATLINK’s lead software engineer
At CATLINK, innovation doesn’t start in the lab; it starts at home, with the everyday worries and hopes of cat parents.
We sat down with Ron, the man leading our app’s development team, to talk about how CATLINK’s ecosystem is built to support a deeper, smarter connection between humans and their cats. From tracking your cat’s health to offering meaningful AI insights, CATLINK technology isn’t just smart; it’s built with love for the bond you share.
“No One Else Is Doing This”: CATLINK’s Unique Ability to Tell Poop from Pee
Ron tells us that one of CATLINK’s proudest innovations is its exclusive algorithm that distinguishes between urination and defecation behavior.
“No other brand in the market is doing this,” Ron shares. “We trained our algorithm using thousands of real cat behavior samples, and it's now smart enough to identify the type of elimination based on how long your cat stays in the litter box and their usage patterns.”
The longer a cat uses the CATLINK litter box, the more accurate this recognition becomes, because the AI adjusts based on the historical data of each individual cat.
Smarter Than a Sensor: AI That Knows What’s “Normal” for Your Cat
CATLINK understands that no two cats are the same.
Ron and the team designed the CATLINK app to learn your cat’s individual habits and, more importantly, to flag when something changes.
Whether it's the frequency and duration of litter box use, feeding behavior, or drinking habits, the CATLINK app compares your cat’s current behavior with its own historical average.
If the system notices significant shifts, it gently notifies you to take a closer look or even consult a vet.
“It’s your cat’s data, analyzed over time, to help you spot subtle changes early.”
Your Pet’s Data, Your Privacy
CATLINK is deeply committed to responsible data use. While the app collects data to power these insights, it only stores raw data for the most recent 31 days.
After that, it is automatically and permanently deleted.
“We don’t keep any historical data beyond 31 days, and we don’t anonymize or repurpose it,” Ron says. “Your data is your own.”
What Makes CATLINK “Smart”: A Product-by-Product Breakdown
Here’s where the real AI kicks in. CATLINK’s smart features go far beyond timers and sensors:
AI that identifies whether a visit is for urination or defecation, which is personalized to each cat.
Built-in facial recognition using a camera that matches your cat’s face to their feeding records.
“Once a pet photo is uploaded, the feeder logs meals per cat. It’s essential for multi-cat homes,” Ron explains.
Can I Get Health Alerts Notifications?
Currently, the CATLINK app doesn’t send push notifications about your cat’s health.
Overall, we see the CATLINK app as a functional tool. It is designed to support, not replace, a cat parent's responsibility.
Rather than automating away the caregiving process, the app empowers users to better understand their cat’s habits through clear data, long-term trends, and helpful visual summaries.
Ron adds, “We want to make sure alerts are meaningful and accurate. That’s something we’re working on refining.”
Behind the Scenes: How Features Are Chosen and Tested
When we update the app, we’re not just thinking about what we can build. We're focused on what’s actually helpful to cat parents.
“We only develop features that either solve a real user pain point or offer clear long-term value.”
New features go through internal testing on both iOS and Android “test servers,” which are completely separate from the user app environment. Only after passing two layers of QA do features go live.
7. Why Does the App Ask for Users’ Location During Setup?
It’s a matter of technical compliance.
If you’re setting up the app on an Android 6.0+ or iOS 13+ device, you’ll be asked for location permissions. That’s because these systems require location access in order to detect Wi-Fi names (e.g., “Home-WiFi”), which are needed to connect your device to the app.
“We do not collect GPS location or personal address data. It’s strictly for easier Wi-Fi pairing.”
8. Built by Cat Parents, for Cat Parents
Here’s a fun fact: 90% of CATLINK’s product development team own cats, including 4 developers on the software team. And some features, like the poop/pee differentiation, were born out of their frustrations with existing litter boxes.
“We were cat owners before we were developers. That’s why we’re building a system we’d want to use ourselves.”
CATLINK AI Water Fountain - Wireless
Closing Thought: Technology That Cares as Much as You Do
CATLINK isn’t just building smart pet devices. We’re building trust by making your cat’s invisible needs visible, and your everyday caregiving a little easier, a little smarter, and a lot more connected.
Because at the end of the day, our goal is simple: to help you understand your cat better and love them even more.
Want to learn more about how CATLINK works?
Visit www.catlinkus.com to explore our smart litter boxes, feeders, and fountains.
Loved by over 700,000 cat families across 119 countries.
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Apple Inc. (n.d.). CNContactNetworkInfo – System Configuration. Apple Developer. Retrieved June 20, 2025, from https://developer.apple.com/documentation/systemconfiguration/1614126-cncopycurrentnetworkinfo
Google. (n.d.). Android 6.0 changes – Behavior changes: Hardware ID access. Android Developers. Retrieved June 20, 2025, from https://developer.android.com/about/versions/marshmallow/android-6.0-changes#behavior-hardware-id
