'Catterbox' turns cats meows into words

A moggy models the world's first talking cat collar. Photo / Temptations

That endless meow can sure make a lot of noise, but have you ever wondered what your cat is trying to tell you?

Thanks to a bizarre new invention, you can now hear all about your feline friend's innermost thoughts.

The Temptations Catterbox is the world's first talking cat collar, and it turns meows into words and phrases including "who are you?", "no, no, and no", and our favourite, "are you having a f***** laugh?".

Cat lovers can now hear their feline friend's innermost thoughts. Photo / Temptations

The device records each meow, squeak and purr, which are fed through a unique "miaowgorhythm". If the system detects a sound that matches one of the preset words, the word will play through a microphone in the collar.

But it gets even better. Using a phone app, cat owners can choose the type of voice and accent of the spoken words, to best reflect their feline friend's personality.

Voices include a posh female with an English accent, for a more regal feline, or a male voice with a broad Aussie twang, perhaps more fitting for the easy-going moggy.

Temptations spokesperson Oliver Downs said the collar is all part of a "mission" to bring moggies and their human's closer together.

"We're fascinated by cats, so we set out on a mission to get to know them better," he said.

"Through research, we learned that an adult cat's meow is their way to communicate with humans, and, by investing in this prototype device we can start to improve understanding between them both - giving cats a voice for the very first time."

A world first - the 'Catterbox' collar. Photo / Temptations

However, whether our four-legged friends actually want us to know what they're thinking is a different story. Judging by the expressions on some of the cat's faces in the video, we wonder if their thoughts towards us aren't completely complimentary.

-nzherald.co.nz