CatNip
When I am using my computer, my cat often walks across the keyboard. Sometimes she renames files, selects and deletes text—once, she replied to an email. This became such a problem that I had to unplug my keyboard whenever I left my home.
But then, I developed CatNip—a program which, while running, detects “cat-like typing” and locks the keyboard, usually in under a half second. Optionally, CatNip will fade your desktop and display a warning message to your cat (which is of dubious value, since if your cat can read, your cat can probably type, too).
CatNip requires Mac OS X 10.4. In particular, I have heard reports that CatNip does not work on Leopard. If you would like to help CatNip run on the latest version of Mac OS X, please consider a donation.
Download CatNip version 1.0
How does CatNip distinguish my cat from me?
Your cat likely types very slowly, and tends to hit many neighboring keys at once. CatNip identifies this distinctive “cat-like” typing.
Comments
Comment from Tobias
Time: January 30, 2007, 2:37 pm
great idea but broken link: http://kisonecat.com/downloads/CatNip.dmg
Comment from Robert Kuhn
Time: January 31, 2007, 12:13 pm
I am just curious …
Comment from adam M
Time: February 11, 2007, 7:25 am
this is awesome! i hate when she walks on my comp, or sleeps on it while it downloads and im asleep. haha, its funny someone thought of this, thumbs up!
Pingback from Mac Freeware Finds » Blog Archive » CatNip
Time: February 19, 2007, 1:09 pm
[…] CatNip is a useful app that will protect your computer from your Cat. If you have a cat that enjoys typing, then you need to download CatNip. CatNip will lock the keyboard to stop any accidental damage your cat may cause to any open documents. Submit to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
Pingback from CatNip at milaraki.com
Time: March 1, 2007, 8:09 am
[…] Έχετε γάτα στο σπίτι ? […]
Comment from Guttercat
Time: March 1, 2007, 10:16 am
Bestest darn thing since canned cat food!
But gamers better remember to switch it off before they start keyboard mashing, lol.
Comment from Otterman
Time: April 13, 2007, 1:56 am
It might be time for version 2.0; see: http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~sivasothi/blog/index.php?entry=/meow/20070413-xylovscatnip.txt
Comment from Miguel
Time: May 8, 2007, 8:04 pm
Thanks, just what I needed so as no to shout and scare my cat when I leave the computer downloading
Pecas really thanks you
Miguel
Comment from dementia
Time: May 20, 2007, 3:34 pm
This program is perfect for me. My cat often jumps on my laptop and steps on the keys
Pingback from Cathouse.cz » Protikočičí ochrana vašich dat
Time: July 3, 2007, 3:33 am
[…] 2. CatNip - řešení pro Apple (http://kisonecat.com/) […]
Comment from Michael
Time: July 19, 2007, 8:06 am
THANKS!
I cant count how often one of my cats has destroyed Xcode Projects….
Pingback from eye-cu » Blog Archive » Dashboard-Stöckchen
Time: July 26, 2007, 12:42 pm
[…] Beispiel auch davor schützen das eine Katze wichtige Dateien löscht, wenn man nicht schon CatNip für diesen Zweck installiert […]
Pingback from eye-cu » Blog Archive » Schlaflosigkeit
Time: July 29, 2007, 12:29 pm
[…] Beispiel auch davor schützen das eine Katze wichtige Dateien löscht, wenn man nicht schon CatNip für diesen Zweck installiert […]
Comment from Miguel
Time: August 13, 2007, 9:36 pm
2º comment
Mr Guttercat is right!!
3º comment
It is also VERY useful at the office, I type like a kat, CatNip begins working and I can go away being sure that the Lady that cleans EVERYthing here will not stop the rendering, etc.
GREAT thanks again and Best Wishes from Pecas (my cat again)
(PD Cathouse.cz comments that it protects his important data)
Comment from Jen
Time: September 10, 2007, 11:54 am
Is this little app Universal? I was running it and my fan (on a new black Macbook) kept running and running. I disabled CatNip and the fan stopped so far.
Comment from nate
Time: October 12, 2007, 2:08 pm
hey.
cool app. i want you to go one better: make an app that, when you hit any key but control q, makes a loud scary sound and flashes the screen with upsetting colors. leave it running when you go out, and the cat will approach comp, touch keys, get scared, run away. after a couple of attempts, he’ll leave it alone. you can also have an option to let it make exciting sounds when it’s left alone, to tempt the cat to come near it. also allow the user to upload his own sounds. for instance my cat likes to bother my cell phone. let the computer make a cell phone sound, and when kitty investigates, it scares him with sound and light.
also if you have isight or a web cam you can have it capture his humorous, frightened reaction.
you’ll be rich…
Comment from MrsRatbag
Time: October 15, 2007, 8:14 am
OMG, I have the same exact problem with one of my cats! And sometimes he just lies down and types with his tail. But I don’t have a Mac, any chance of getting this on my PC?
Comment from chip
Time: November 2, 2007, 7:42 am
Just installed/upgraded Tiger to Leopard 10.5 and found that Catnip doesnt work anymore… 
Comment from Frik
Time: November 3, 2007, 12:22 pm
Catnip locks up the keyboard at random on Leopard. Better not to install it on Leopard. However, it worked really great on 10.4.
Comment from thomas_
Time: November 22, 2007, 6:39 am
nice app;
works well for all my cats except one, who seems to prefer walking on the edge of the keyboard of the Ibook, hitting the volume up and down keys simultaneously, while sitting in the middle, just in front of the screen, where it is ‘hot’.
This results in music volume going up and down, and giving that volume-key-sound. In this case, Catnip does not react.
I like the idea from nate. Not to scare the cat just for fun, but using the computer as a device that can pretend to be anything the cat shouldn’t touch could be a usefull new approach to digital socialisation.
Pingback from The Apple Core mobile edition
Time: December 12, 2007, 12:18 pm
[…] However, my faith in the coverage of Mac applications should have been stronger. There is a Mac alternative. Reader Kyle DeMilo clued me to the software: CatNip. […]
Comment from Kisco
Time: December 14, 2007, 2:44 am
Please update it to make it work on Leopard ! Thanks
Comment from Marc
Time: December 14, 2007, 6:11 am
Just kill your dumb cat…
Pingback from Dwelling » CatNip for Mac OS X
Time: December 14, 2007, 9:06 pm
[…] in Apple, Tech at 7 pm CatNip is a program which, while running, detects “cat-like typing” and locks the keyboard, usually in […]
Pingback from The Donkey’s Mouth Podcasting Network » TDMNN :: Episode 8 :: December-14-2007
Time: December 15, 2007, 2:15 am
[…] PawSenseCatNipCat on iBookLeopard attackBosnian folk music […]
Comment from lupo
Time: January 6, 2008, 7:45 pm
hi, is it planned to do a leopard version of cat nip?
thanks, all best
L U P O
Comment from Ana Best
Time: February 3, 2008, 11:53 am
I’m running a Macbook Pro with Leopard and CatNip works great! Lately my cat has had a penchant for renaming songs in my itunes library. Now I no longer need resort to Time Machine to fix what she’s done, thank you so much for the program!
Comment from Keith Jacobs
Time: March 2, 2008, 3:35 pm
like the idea - both my cats take turns playing DDR on my keyboard
Comment from Gunnar
Time: March 27, 2008, 2:33 am
PS: A leopard upgrade would be great too.
Pingback from k is one cat » CatNip » dontcom.com - Personal website of Darren Wood
Time: April 7, 2008, 4:35 pm
[…] k is one cat » CatNip […]
Comment from Beth
Time: April 21, 2008, 2:58 pm
The “bitboost/pawsense” software referred to above only works on a PC - no Mac version, for now.
Comment from Debra Campbell
Time: April 30, 2008, 10:53 am
I’ve been running it on Leopard (G-4 PowerBook) with no problem. It gets a ton of “testing”.
Comment from Christophe Poutard
Time: June 4, 2008, 2:25 pm
Really great ! Too bad there are glitches with 10.5.3 !
Switch from working to “not working” … don’t know why
Be very happy if you find the time to built a 1.1 release !
Anyway, thx a lot.
From :
Chris (in france) and Bubbles (large cat… who loves keyboards !—you understand what i mean—)
Comment from Leigh Bonser
Time: July 5, 2008, 2:24 am
This is one of the most useful apps out there. My little darling used to send me messages at work. Not any more! 
Comment from Anna & The Siamese Stampee
Time: July 5, 2008, 5:46 am
Thanks, just what I needed when the Siamese Stampee runs across my desk! Also thanks to Björn who found this site for me.
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