Japanese designer pet supplies maker OPPO aims to create products that “offer a lifestyle where humans and pets can coexist naturally as animals.”
While they don’t offer any explanation of what that actually means, a product lineup featuring items like “quack,” a duckbill-shaped muzzle, and “CatShell,” a shell…for cats, suggests what they’re really saying is: “here’s more ways for you to spend money on things your pet doesn’t need.
First let’s take a look at quack, “the muzzle that doesn’t look like a muzzle.” Quack is made from soft silicon, making it “friendly for humans and dogs alike.” It comes in three different colors, yellow, pink and brown, and also three different sizes, though there doesn’t seem to be anything for medium or large breeds.
OPPO explains that the muzzle was designed to help owners establish an equal relationship with their pets. The silicon certainly looks more comfortable than a traditional muzzle, but we can’t help but feel there’s something degrading about the duckface design…
Next up is CatShell, a partially-enclosed cat bed shaped like a shell.
The two lids can be separated to be used as two bowl-shaped beds, but aside that the CatShell doesn’t have much going for it. And it costs 3,900 yen (about US $50).
OPPO designed the CatShell to provide cats with a comfortable hiding place, but anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that they are perfectly capable of finding those on their own.
If you still want to give your cat a special place to relax, we know of a product much cheaper and probably just as pleasing. It’s called a cardboard box.
The last product OPPO offers is “ketori,” a tool for cleaning up pet hair.
Never mind that feeling like you need a special tool to clean up your pet’s discarded hair instead of just using your hands sort of discredits the whole “living with your pet as equals” ideal, the ketori does seem to be of more practical use than the previous two items. But then again, tissues are practical as well.
Anyone interested in purchasing one of OPPO’s pet accessories should check out their vendor site on Rakuten here or look for them in pet shops around the country.
The company itself only began selling these first three products earlier this month and is currently working on expanding its lineup. You can consider us believers once we start seeing duckbilled dogs tottering joyfully down the streets of Tokyo.
Source: OPPO
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