Now once we depart for the day, we put the TV on for him and set it to YouTube channels that stream squirrels, birds, and different wildlife. He fortunately engages with nature on the display, and we really feel higher figuring out that he’s occupied. He even has a favourite channel (he acknowledges the opening theme). Without additional ado, these are just a few channels which have sustained Alfred when my partner and I dare to run errands or enable ourselves a date night time.
8+ Hours of Birds, Squirrels, and Other Wildlife
The YouTube channel Birder King boasts greater than 100,000 subscribers and—on the time of writing—147 eight-hour, high-definition movies of birds, squirrels, bunnies, and geese cavorting with one another.
According to the creator’s About section, the inspiration is easy: “I love cats. I love birds. Cats love watching birds. I created this dedicated Cat TV channel for cats to watch. Cat-approved around the world.” The channel has been posting nature movies weekly since 2018.
Claims about cats’ seal of approval might sound overblown (notably to those that consider that cats are incapable of pleasure), however the proof rests within the view depend: Nearly the entire channel’s content material approaches (or surpasses) 100,000 views, with some videos exceeding 2 million views. That’s rather a lot of completely happy cats—or nature lovers generally.
Unlike many different channels we’ve explored, every of Birder King’s movies opens with a signature soundtrack that consists of a brief collection of chook whistles Alfred can acknowledge from a number of rooms away. This was a shrewd selection on the creator’s half—Alfred doesn’t reply to theme music geared towards human tastes. I’m compelled to wonder if cats the world over acknowledge when a Birder King video has been queued up for them, due to these distinctive whistles.
Alfred comes working when he hears Birder King’s signature whistle and doesn’t appear to note if we depart the home. Whether he watches for your complete two or three hours that we’re gone is anybody’s guess (we have now not but planted pet cameras round the home, as we’re nonetheless making an attempt to find out whether or not that’s a bridge too far).
Given the best way he responds to the soundtrack, my hunch is that Birder King is Alfred’s favourite, however he’ll watch any video of birds and squirrels doing chook and squirrel issues. We’ve discovered, nevertheless, that he appears a bit fearful of chickens, so we keep away from movies through which chickens are the star of the present.
Content Featuring Fish and Mice: An Obvious Choice
Thankfully, fish and mice don’t scare the ever-loving crap out of our odd feline, and he does typically become bored with content material starring birds. This is the place YouTube channels like Cat Games and Cat Trumpet turn out to be useful.
Cat Games boasts greater than 300,000 subscribers and has been within the cat leisure recreation since 2016 (ha, see what I did there?). They focus on mouse hunts, antagonizing laser toys, and fishing. This channel is perhaps greatest for brief journeys out of the home, as their movies vary from a few minutes to 2 hours.
