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New for obsessive pet owners: A wooden box to keep your cat’s whiskers and teeth in!

Philip Kendall May 17, 2014
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Cat owners concerned that they might suddenly forget the existence of their pet or who wish to gross out potential lovers may be pleased to hear of the arrival of two new products on Amazon Japan. The “Cat Whisker Case” and “Cat Milk Tooth Case“, which retail for 1,580 yen (US$16) each, are the perfect way to commemorate your pet’s growth into adulthood and treat them as a true member of the family.

That’s right, you too can have a small box full of cat teeth or whiskers on your dressing table or mantlepiece, just waiting for some hapless visitor to stumble upon before suddenly remembering that they’ve left the oven on at home and have to leave.

The idea behind these admittedly rather stylish wooden boxes is that cat owners have somewhere to keep their pet’s fallen whiskers (makers Be-Glad stress that owners should not attempt to trim or pluck a cat’s whiskers) or deciduous teeth as they grow, acting as a keepsake for when the cat is older or, perhaps, passes away.

With plenty of room for the whiskers of even the grandest cat, these memorial boxes are made with wood from Japanese empress trees and come with patterns and the words “Neko no Hige” (quite literally the “cat’s whiskers”) engraved into them.

Amazon JP

The boxes even come with a sheet of gold tissue paper to wrap your pet’s whiskers in before placing them in the case. After all, you wouldn’t want to disrespect your cat by putting its whiskers directly into a box, now would you?

For those who would rather keep their cat’s milk teeth, Be-Glad is offering up round containers which feature either a cat silhouette or paw design.

Quite who would want to collect and store their pet’s teeth and whiskers, we’re not entirely sure, but we only imagine the makers of these boxes are hoping to tap into owners’ desires to dote on their pets like they do or would their own children. Keeping a couple of your child’s first milk teeth is fairly common in many parts of the world, but in Japan it is also common for mothers to keep the stumps of their child’s umbilical cord after it drops off. These heso-no-o (or “tail of the belly button”) are kept in small containers and kept like a parent in the West might their child’s hospital bracelet. Mmm, boxed umbilical stump!

▼ Be-Glad also offers wooden (human) umbilical cord stump cases

This all makes us wonder, though: do you purchase a cat whisker case and then spend the next few months on your hands and knees hunting for enough fallen whiskers to fill it, or do you gather them up as soon as you spot them and then put in an order for a whisker case? If you happen to have any advice about proper whisker collection decorum, be sure to let us know in the comments section below!

Oh, and in case you were wondering how popular these cat whisker and milk tooth cases are with Japanese consumers, both are currently completely sold out on Amazon JP.

Money well spent, if you ask this not-at-all-sarcastic or cold-hearted Brit…

Source: Nicnonico News (Japanese) Amazon JP