My cat is smarter than me (and my 3D Printer)

Penny has cerebellar hypoplasia and can't get into our van unassisted... until now! Thank you to Happy and Polly for sponsoring this video. happyandpolly....
Wooden Sunset Cat Couch: scrl.ink/FfXTSx
Sisal scratching pad: scrl.ink/NfvUGN
Flower Shaped Cat Bed: scrl.ink/nxddui
Mushroom Cat House: scrl.ink/PQYzkZ
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WATCH OUR FULL VAN BUILD HERE: • Van Build
THINGS I USED IN THIS VIDEO:
3D printer - Bambulab X1 Carbon Combo - shareasale.com...
Duramic 3D PLA Plus Filament: amzn.to/3vqHhpO
8x3mm magnets: amzn.to/3H74Oyv
CA glue with activator: amzn.to/3QQ8jit
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MUSIC (in order of appearance):
Longing for Sunny Days - Sight of Wonders
Pick Your Numbers - Claude Signet
Fountains - Lukas Got Lucky
Komodo Roots - Lukas Got Lucky
Grifting in Vegas - Kit and the Caltones
Foli - Lukas Got Lucky
Unholy Delights - Dye O
You Never Listen - Ruiqi Zhao
Let Me Be - Molife
Doubts - Jones Meadow
Can't Feel My Face - NIGHTCAP
Places - Jones Meadow
Soiree Riot - Far Orange
Learning For Life - Mike Franklyn
Singularity - Lagua Vesa
Mrs Detective - Claude Signet
El Atardecer - Don Bacilon
The Fire, Baby! - Par Hagstrom
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#DIY #vanlife #3dprinting

[@hiiamnick1992]

After spending days designing and printing a ramp for your disabled cat you managed to rehabilitate her enough so she can jump to get the food and not use the ramp at all. Yup, that's how cats work.

[@butterflydustdezignz]

😹

[@sirhcdriab8904]

Your cat will learn to clime the ramp if you block all other ways to access the reward. You did use successive approximations that’s good. I see she did finally jump to get in! Block the alternative access if you want to see her use the ladder. :)

[@THANATOSIXU]

Make the ramp out of carpet covered wood. Then you can add metal hinges with lockouts. This way she will sink her claws in and use it, also make the ramp have a shallower angle, bc its too steep right now. Source: ive made cat trees for my older cats.

[@butterflydustdezignz]

Great 💡 😊

[@Tomazack]

As a cat owner it came as no surprise that all she needed was some food-based motivation to commit to a gravity defying move.

[@type102]

She learned how to overcome her adversity by having disdain and disregard for your efforts to help her.

[@DudeSawdust]

Penny just increased in value. I think you should start calling her Nickle. Nice job.

[@BarbaraLopez-b1q]

I love watching your creations. This is the best one yet. Your dedication to Penny and acceptance of her disability and ability is so heartwarming. You and Eden are awesome pet owners.

[@bergauk]

Gotta love wobbly cats. Penny did so good! And I'm sure given time she'll figure out what the ramp is for if you continually leave it out for her.

[@Min3vidz]

Isnt the ramp just too steep? What if you propped up the end a little bit, reducing the incline using a box or something?

[@AndrewSzeto]

Frig what an incredible story! Penny is soo cute!

[@MorleyKert]

Thanks man! She is the cutest, if I do say so myself 😊

[@marnyfrancesca2526]

This was such a pleasure to watch. Loved the whole process with much 'learning' achieved! 💯⭐😸

[@happyandpolly]

Thanks so much for featuring Happy & Polly products! ♥♥♥

[@nakuls85]

@morleykert easiest solution is adding a doormat that she can claw and climb. You don’t even have to remove it when she doesn’t need it.

[@JohnWesleyDavison]

Have you tried putting a bit of carpet on the floor so she has something to grip while climbing?

[@dcltdw]

Hindsight is always 20/20, but it occurs to me _after_ watching the whole video that the 40-segment ramp fails the "wait, but why?" test. I didn't learn that test until only a few years ago (man, that would've been nice to have learned in uni!). You've come up with a cool idea? Awesome! But ask yourself: wait, but why? "Because it's cool!!" is a terrible answer. "Because it solves this problem", okay, now you might be on to something. (Might. :D )

[@Magician169]

Good job Penny!

[@madjik1979]

Worth the time and effort if you ask me. Even if she never uses it, she now has the confidence she needs to do the thing. Total win.

[@korbpw]

catto smarter than hooman

[@MorleyKert]

Honestly though.

[@AndrewSzeto]

WAY TO GO PENNY! still mad cute all things considered! awesome engineering anyhow Morley! Killer video as always brother!

[@TheSonshade]

"Animal. Please." so much cat.

[@ATCRyderX]

Long Live Penny - What a little angel.

[@weabowoshi]

the van stuff is awesome, looking forward to more projects in the van!

[@TigranE]

That's adorable😊😊

[@drauc]

I love that you showed your process really thoroughly! Awesome video

[@lydialuvs]

This is so sweet! Love it!

[@anniemorrison1250]

I think Penny would like carpet on her ramp. My cats would use it for a scratching post if nothing else. Riley says Hi. He's our 17 lb. black cat. Where are you now? Enjoy your travels!!!

[@shellythom7248]

She does so well for being disabled! She’s living her best life ❤. Great job being her parents. Seriously. I’m glad to see you guys let her be an adventure cat! She’s loving it ❤

[@MegaJman2009]

Love the effort and care for this design, but I would have just designed 2 stool like platforms that have folding legs, one with short legs and one with longer ones, so she has basically stairs she could climb instead, then when not in use, they can be stored flat by folding the legs in. Less work and maybe more likely to use them since she can step on them and less of a climbing act.

[@hartland1361]

I misunderstood the title. I thought your disabled cat was having problems with its ability to use the 3D printer and you were helping it out with bed leveling, slicing, etc, but this makes more sense...

[@suzycowan5072]

Yay Penny.!! We are so proud of you.!! Way to go sweet girl. A big purrrrrr of happiness for you and your beautiful kitty.

[@remiavard7709]

Cool video! Love seeing the process of engeneering and error not just show us what worked and say I did it at the first time. P.S. You can just partially close the door to only let ramp available for the cat to test it !!

[@jackgamer6307]

If you want to reduce filament waste, I suggest you run the flow dynamics calibration separately, then save the data to the filament profile so you don't have to do it every time

[@ChrisvanZeggeren]

Over-engineered. I love it!

[@feliwein_cc]

i really appreciate the showing of the design process, the frustration to see an idea fully developed to realize that doesnt work is the bread n butter of us 3d printer enthusiast lol, i have a design mantra as a lazy engineer, and that is, what would be the cheapest easiest and simplest (hopefully elegant but not mandatory) way to solve my problem. kudos to your designing ability, im not trying to criticize but to give a different point of view. maybe what i would have done is a side step for her to climb when is half way up there, hehe but that isnt really a lot of entertaining content, for sure this is! Greetings from Chile!

[@TheArtisanbard]

The look of surprise at Penny’s feat 😂😂😂😂 Way to go Penny!

[@krezac]

Heh, it looks familiar...:) I built sth similar for our partially disabled cat and it had pretty much the same success/acceptance/workaround....

[@shellythom7248]

I love her bouncy trot ❤❤ so adorable

[@odysseassimeonidis7842]

Hope you release the fusion file or the stl loved the idea with the folding surfaces.

[@raenellcloyd140]

WOW - I think we are all surprised at “how” your ramp solved the problem. 😮. What ever works - right? ♥️ From Tennessee

[@BradBiggsII]

Awesome it did technically help her get into the van. But when training a cat you have to narrow the focus. Should have close the door to the van to where the only way was the ramp. Love the videos. You were the first one I saw where they mentioned and used User Parameters in Fusion. GAME CHANGER!

[@peggymuellner8934]

Just a thought, even though she may not need it now, did you consider that she may need it to be on the other side of the door? Like I said, just a thought. I love the fact that you care enough about Penny to try to make life easier for her. I love your videos and I wish you guys well on your journeys. Safe travels :)

[@Smilebefine]

Towards solving this problem--> I would make one more flap of the ramp to lower the angle, to make the ramp more gentle slope than seen in the video. I think with current 3 flaps the ramp is too tilted and cat can't climb confidently up. I'm sorry for my English language but I'm not native English speaker. I do hope my point made across as helpful. Wish you all well. Greetings from Europe, sLOVEnia 🇸🇮

[@Lioness_123]

The first design would have been perfect, if it was made wider, and with the pieces vertical. No sagging, but you'd achieve the same tight roll. Gorgeous kitty. 😻😻😻

[@genevieve4679]

Penny is such a sweet little thing!! It’s funny that i’m watching this today as my mom just bought a step to help our 12-yr old chihuahua get on the couch because she seems to be struggling with the jump… and she just refuses to use it 🤣

[@JonathanFreites]

I love it, I'm so proud of Penny too! Great videos!

[@kellyhill4410]

Blessings come in all different ways ❣️ 🙏

[@juanmacias5922]

That's so funny lmfao kitty said "hold my kibble"

[@charlesthevoice1064]

Penny out here defying the odds for food. Way to go girl! 🐈‍⬛

[@Rhondas_Flippin_Life]

When mom is your #1 fan ❤ that's awesome! Yay Penny! Get it girl!

[@zacharyschwartz3938]

I heard you mention considering getting a shaper origin. I'm not a woodworker or have nearly any experience with it but I was able to use one at an event. Despite me shaking it up to half a inch the cut came out perfect. The online design platform seems pretty okay but I thought the actual machine was pretty cool. Obviously the one drawback is the $3,000 price tag. Hope this advice is helpful even though i'm not experienced.

[@rhondasmith7413]

Darling family! Loved the editing during the kitty ramp design. 😊

[@fookingsog]

Penny, You Silly Void!!! 🐈‍⬛ 😂

[@jfjdjdji723]

We have a spina bifida kitty whose back legs don't work completely (they're shaped more like a bunny without the achilles tendon?) and he uses his upper body strength, like yours does, to get up. I would just run a strip of carpet along your door track to give her something to grab onto and pull up. Run it completely along the track so she doesn't have to choose the right spot. Maybe attached to wood so you can remove it, if you want? A ramp may be too much of a decision to make.

[@Sparks1Plumbers0]

That is one Top Cat you've got there. 😻 Love her and we need more cats on youtube. 👍

[@SoSkibidiErik]

This just worms my heart

[@Revaluating]

really enjoyable video, I like that you showed designs that didn't work

[@jimrosson6702]

Way to go Penny 🎉👏🎊 great job on the ramp it turned out great

[@rahulgeorge]

Love how you kept it real Morley.. bless yahh builder.. keep growing

[@rosserobertolli]

Sorry, 3D printer hobbyist here who has spend too much time down the rabbit hole. Looking at the roll-up 3D print, it should have been possible to print without supports right? Having the pins not be floating cilinders but maybe diamond shape and touching the build plate. Also, if you only put texture on the top instead of through holes, you can drastically save on print time because of the reduced amount of 'outer walls'. Lastly, it would have been super cool to have the hinge parts be print in place, already connected, on the build plate as a roll. I think with some clever design the complete roll might be even possible to print at once on it's side (although I would never advise on such an extremely long print in one sitting, especially not in a van that get's refurbished half way through te print). Other than that, very nice technical print, too bad it was too flexible in the end

[@psychospence]

Holes or grid are dangerous for cat's nails, they could get them hooked in there and tear claws off. The easiest thing would be a collapsible step stool with some carpet on top and she can make it up in two safe steps.

[@no_worries_van]

Yay Penny! She’s so adorbs

[@robertgallant318]

Question, What if you did it like nesting dolls where it slides out of the larger piece (like a toy lightsaber). The larger piece would go at the bottom and get thinner as you go up. Add dowels into the edges to give rigidity. It wouldn’t take up as much space as the one you made. Just an idea.

[@just_matt3937]

11:54 I lost it when Penny got her eyes on the treats 😂

[@groovexmedia]

Now that's a plot twist 😂 way to go Penny!!❤ She's so cute

[@tvk270]

such a cute cat

[@CM-Fantom]

So fun! Nice to see you accept the final conclusion of your astonishing cat!

[@anonamoose2582]

Penny already goes up on the cushions, so she is accustomed to climbing that type of material. So all you need is a 60 degree slab covered in cushion. Then when the ramp is in place block off all other entry into the van so that the only path is via the ramp. Main problem with this idea is that you will be training her to climb cushion material. This is better than training her to use it as a scratch post, but still not great training for the real cushions. Maybe a different color. Cats have much more rods than cones, but they can still differentiate colors. Just not as vividly as humans. So stark contrast from the cushions would be better... for the cushions. That said, cats do what they want anyway - which is why we love them.

[@vincepopo7497]

Looking at your design I was thinking, collapsible milk crate, she may not need to go all the way up, but just an extra step, and the crate could also be use for other temporary needs

[@gazehound]

that's a wobbly cat!

[@davebauerart]

Great story and excellent problem solving process.

[@user-mt2th9ck2m]

Love this video ! You were/are the perfect pet parents. What a wonderful life Penny (aka Mugs) has.

[@MorleyKert]

Aw thank you! If this is who I think it is, Mugs sends her love :)

[@user-mt2th9ck2m]

@@MorleyKert 🥰

[@themplar]

Ok that was awesome! And so typical cat. Oow you bought/made me a toy. BOX!!!!!

[@alfonsoPina]

what a great video! love it. keep up the travels and cool inventions. Also, maybe you could find a way to do some of that woodworking (scaled down significantly) on the road for random people.

[@ValerieBrooks-bi4ml]

Twice I have had to make a ramp for my elderly dogs. (If I had kept the first one I wouldn’t have had to do it twice). I have zero woodworking skills and no power tools but Home Depot cut my wood to size and I used a screwdriver and good old elbow grease to put all the nails and hinges in. I built a twelve foot ramp in three sections hinged so I could move it if necessary and put railings up the side so each dog wouldn’t fall off. I also carpeted it. I was never so proud of myself for achieving this. You can do anything you put your mind to.

[@ValerieBrooks-bi4ml]

Nails…meant screws.

[@gianzooo]

I spent a full day building 3 stairs for my dog to go up on the bed (she's not more confident to jump on it) and everytime she go on the side of the stairs and call my mom to go up 😂 at the end the stairs were removed and continue to use the hold hands to help her get on the bed. FUN FACT yesterday i found her on the couch 🤣🤦‍♂️

[@NT.0800]

Impressive!

[@colintroy7739]

Cute video!

[@yzkn8848]

i think main reason she didnt know she could jump is (just and assumption) that she used to get treats from the edge of the entrance and being picked up. the moment she had little bit struggle when you put the treats a bit back she was like (sigh, i guess i gotta try little harder).

[@JustRoy11]

The title of the video got me good. It says “helping my disabled cat with 3D printing”. I was like “OMG! Your cat can use a 3D printer!” 😂🤦🏼‍♂️

[@paulinemckinnon3462]

A box type structure (that was also collapsible) may of worked better for her to hop on, I think the gradient angle on your second build was too steep? Just my thoughts. But she’s worked it out for herself, which is also amazing 😸

[@jessemallory741]

My deceased wife loved animals and we had 7-cats over the 35-years we were together. The cat saying thanks but I am doing something different is what a cat does but it’s obvious that you love that cat and spoil her and that’s the way it should be. If you are going to have a pet, spoil him/her-great job!!

[@lightwarrior1]

Hi, nice to meet you🎇🤩🙂 Yesterday I discovered your chanel , & Your videos are Great !!🥳😊🎇 Please keep bringing your artistic product design genius to shine!! It's an amazing new approach, I didn't see anything like this before🤗🤩 it's so great and unique! & It's so nice and satisfying to see 💖🥳🎇😊 My husband watched with me the full tables video, and for the first time i saw him fully enjoying a blog! You make our passions shine here🥳🎉🤠 we are designers as well so we are delighted seeing your creativity process, combined with the great music, story telling and Your amazing Energy.!! Is the best!! Congratulations on your wedding 🎇💕😊 We definitely will continue follow you guys 🤠 & wishing you the best!!! Love you🌻😊

[@JamesPendergast]

Hell yeah!

[@jeremomoore2723]

I also model in inches… mm to inches on google is a constant tab on my computer😂

[@cbs1710]

Good lorde, man. A _short plank_ of laminate flooring (with optional traction surface) is what you needed that you just slide out from either the floor or the side; eventually 3D-print some custom holder or a clip. Just because you can do something with and through 3D-printing doesn't mean you should. Hammer nail approach that sucks. Don't use 3D printer to create planar surfaces.

[@stardustjustlikeyou]

good dog

[@jgoo4572]

A board, milk crate, cardboard box? Why do people with 3D printers always think the solution is 3D printing? Camping and 3d printing is an interesting twist on things. I own a bambu Carbon x1 and love it.

[@jgoo4572]

@@crispy_orb LOL I just got a bamboo! I love printing, but try to consider the solution before diving right into the printing. He could have made some cool printed hinges that attached / integrate to some sort of platform. I personally like when printing is part of the solution, and not 100 Percent of the solution.

[@erikleorga]

Super jealous of getting to go out and live wild without major responsibilities.

[@pangrac1]

One designer flaw after another, but happy end is what matters.

[@heathertucker4360]

Typical cat logic:”Oh, you want me to use the thing u invented? Naw, thanks tho!”😂

[@sth.777]

Love Penny's tenacity! But she's a typical cat - you can buy them expensive toys, and they'll be more interested in the boxes they came in...

[@Serendipity818]

😂😂😂awesomeness ❤❤❤

[@TnWonderer]

lolll... instead of a ramp ... maybe a little running board step?

[@TommyMull_Art]

To be fair, using a 3d printer can be tricky, even for humans. I'm not surprised that your cat needed some help with it.

[@MattTheMouth]

Typical cat behavior. "Oh how many hours did you spend making that for me? And how much material? Meh, don't like it."

[@akhagee4707]

Evan & Kaitlyn have this issue ALL the time with their supervisor.

[@marknthetrails7627]

I would have gone for a folding stair style Our old cat loves his lead to a big window. 👍✌🖖🥃 My wife and I have a Bombay like "Penny" named "Spot" for the big white spot on his chest. Although at first glance Bombays may look like every other black cat a quick way to tell Bombays apart is that they have an entirely black coat (all the way to the roots), and their nose and paw pads are also black. Another signature trademark of these sleek felines is the infamous and stunning Bombay cat green eyes. Purebred Bombay cats should not have any white patches on them. A couple of Bombay kittens may be born with a tiny white tuft on the chest or the belly because of their recessive Burmese gene, but that technically disqualifies them from being classified as Bombays.

[@widojay2048]

What about a type of rug that she can get her claws on? Could that work?

[@xxxmina]

You should've built steps for the cat(hollow ones) your prints seem to be SOLID, which is a huge waste of filament. Set the printer to 5%-10% Infil. I do 0% when I use PETG, it's very strong. Anyway, I would just add legs to your ramp to turn into 1-2 steps / single platform for her stand on to make it easier to get into the van.

[@shingabiss]

What CAD program was that? Nice designs, I like to use the embedded magnets too. Well, you can lead a cat to a ramp but you can't make them drink 😁. Kitty probably is hesitant to jump too high because she weighs a lot and it's hard.

[@BroadcaststoNowhere]

board, carpet - duh (hinges optional) 5 min build

[@Gerrikight67]

Thanks! We have a cat that needs help up and my husband has a 3D printer -

[@Cutting-with-Paul]

nice panther :))