Karl Pilkington is probably the most unintentionally funny man on the planet. Today I heard him talk about one of his latest ridiculous inventions and decided to investigate the matter further: cat foot mops. Yes, that’s right, cat slippers with mops on the bottom, and you already know how that will work. Pretty well, apparently in Japan.
Japanese scientists have built up a fair reputation for churning out wacky inventions and obscure gadgets for the past few decades, many of which are ludicrously complicated and bizarre in their purpose. Occasionally, these guys will come up with something so simple, so brilliant that it makes even the world’s greatest scientists and researchers hold up their palms and blush in embarrassed shame – “why didn’t we think of that?” A quick search on Google images will produce a few images of mop-footed cats, many of which will provoke a smile. The design of the ‘shoe’ itself is simple; cat-sized sandals with bright yellow mop fixtures stuck on the soles. This reverses the common pet-hate of having your pawed friends wander about the garden, later dragging in soil and leaving filthy paw prints all over your freshly-polished kitchen tiles. Now our feline friends will unwittingly be soaping and polishing those white tiles back to a shining gleam. You could even consider cat foot mops instead of those expensive professional cleaning Richmond Park services.
Of course, with every stroke of ingenuity comes a swathe of problems in its wake. How comfortable is it for the cat? Well, it doesn’t look like the gadget harms the cat, but the loss in friction may change the way the creature walks, causing it to strengthen some muscles and possibly damage others. Also, it will be likely the confuse the hell out of the poor creature. On the flipside, it is a far cheaper alternative to any of the cleaning in Rise Park services available.
