Blog

Notes from building CatMD.

Engineering, design, and applied research from a solo founder shipping a cat AI that tries not to sound like one.

A thoughtful cat sitting at a small writing desk in soft afternoon light — hero illustration for an essay on the architecture of believable cat AI voice
Engineering · 11 min

Cat AI is going to be slop. Here’s how we tried not to be.

A 4-tier voice quality gate, a 15-mood daily lottery, pop-culture voice modes, and 17 rounds of audit. The architecture behind a cat AI that tries not to sound generic.

A dignified cat in a softly-lit drawing room beside a small stack of books — hero illustration for an essay on translating HCI research into cat AI voice modes
Applied research · 7 min

From Natsume to Bridgerton: how an HCI paper changed our cat AI

An HCI paper validated defamiliarization as the lever for non-mundane LLM cat voice. Their reference set was 1906 Japanese literary fiction. We translated it to pop culture our users actually recognise.

A cat curled on the corner of a wooden desk next to an open laptop in late-afternoon light — hero illustration for a build log on shipping an AI app solo in 14 days
Build log · 9 min

I shipped a cat AI app in 14 days with Claude as pair programmer. Here’s the playbook.

Solo dev, Singapore-based, zero outside funding. From create-expo-app to Google Play production in fourteen days. The workflow, the audit loop, what Claude was good at, what it wasn’t.

A serious-looking British Shorthair cat staring upright at the camera with a slightly judgmental expression, one paw tucked underneath in a relaxed posture — hero illustration for an essay on cat body language and the "does my cat hate me" misread
Cat Behavior · 8 min

Does Your Cat Hate You? What Body Language Actually Means

The signs cat owners read as "she hates me" usually mean something else. The body-language guide to what your cat is actually saying.

Five different cats arranged in a single warm-lit scene, each in a posture that telegraphs a distinct personality archetype — alert, curled, playful, lap-bonded, observing from height — hero illustration for the Feline Five personality framework
Cat Personality · 10 min

The Feline Five: Every Cat Personality Type Explained

The peer-reviewed Feline Five framework, all 9 archetypes, and how to find your cat's type in 90 seconds. The first real cat personality test.

A quiet cat resting on a soft cream blanket near a sunlit windowsill, eyes half-closed, posture subtly tucked — beside her on the floor a softly-glowing phone showing an abstract descending line graph; hero illustration for a founder story about missed cat illness signals
Founder Story · 7 min

My Cat Was Sick for 3 Weeks. I Had No Idea.

A founder's story: weeks of subtle drift my eyes missed, what the data caught, and how Health Rhythm changed the way I track my cat.

A cat in mid-meow on a cream blanket near a sunlit window, mouth slightly open, soft translucent sound-wave arcs radiating outward — hero illustration for an essay on whether AI can actually translate cat meows
AI & Cats · 8 min

Can AI Actually Translate What Your Cat Is Saying?

A grounded look at what AI cat translators can — and can't — do. We don't decode thoughts; we read 6 channels of signal.

A laptop on a cream-coloured desk in warm afternoon light, screen showing soft-glowing abstract pastel blocks, a cat curled asleep on a folded blanket next to the laptop with a paw extended onto the keyboard — hero illustration for a solo founder essay on building an AI cat app
Founder Story · 9 min

Building an AI for Cats — Why VCs Passed

The solo founder of CatMD on why VCs passed on a $50B pet market, why the cat-AI niche is now solvable, and why we built it anyway.

A calm tabby cat between two softly-glowing phone outlines — left phone showing simple file-folder shapes (the tracker), right phone showing a richer abstract glow with pattern hints (the interpreter) — hero illustration for a comparison of 11pets and CatMD
App Comparison · 8 min

11pets vs CatMD: Tracker or Health Intelligence?

11pets organizes vet records. CatMD interprets behaviour, body language, and patterns. When to pick which — and why most owners need both.