Background: Ninja, Naranja, or Milo?
The idea
Under all the names, there’s one cat. Every person who meets it makes claims about it: what they call it, where they see it, whether they feed it, whether they think it’s owned. Claims can disagree, and that’s fine.
Over time, the system may notice that two records probably describe the same cat: similar photos, same coat pattern, overlapping territory, the same notched ear. It could suggest merging them, and people would confirm or reject the match.
Things that might help recognise an individual:
- Photos. Coat patterns on tabbies, calicos and tuxedos are close to unique.
- Distinguishing marks: ear tip, notched ear, tail kink, scars, eye colour.
- Place and time. Sightings near each other in time and space.
- People’s knowledge: “that’s definitely Naranja”.
“Is this the same cat?”
The best moment to match a cat is when someone meets it. After taking a photo, the person might see: “This might be Mountain Lion. Is it?” Yes, no, or not sure. For them it’s a small moment of recognition. For the cat, it’s a confirmed match, or a sign that this is a different cat that deserves its own record.
Knowing coats helps everyone get better at this. Tabby, calico, tortoiseshell, tuxedo, solid black: a coat narrows the possibilities, and markings like a tipped ear or a kinked tail settle them. Ninja and Mountain Lion are both orange and white, which is exactly why people need to look closer.
Open questions
- How do you show a cat with several names without picking a “winner”?
- What happens when a merge turns out to be wrong? Can two cats be split apart again?
- How do you tell solid black cats apart?
- Who gets to confirm that two records are the same cat?
- How do you ask “is this the same cat?” without leading people to say yes?