the CAT TONGUE® designer, Yuko Michizoe, found and cared for her new friends, who would later inspire her to invent the wonderful feeding bowl.
They were waiting
They would wait for my car in the parking lot. Same time, same place. At times, they would run alongside my car while I drove. I felt a certain responsibility after naming each one of my new friends.
Nyajira
I brought home Nyajira first, as she eagerly followed me where ever I went. It was heart-warming to see how much of friends we had become in such a short amount of time.
I took her to the vet for a full checkup and gave her a nice bath. She dressed up for Halloween that year.
Minikel & Simba joined me at home 2 weeks after Nyajira.
She visited the vet for a thorough checkup and was introduced to domesticated life. Minikel enjoys eating fresh fish and watching birds on TV. She is very happy and content now.
One afternoon, I found Simba in a grassy area, immobile. He had injured his leg and called for my attention. He was rushed to the vet and treated for bite wounds on his legs.
For the first time, Simba felt safe and comfortable, recuperating in a cage for over a month. Perhaps he knew that no living creature could penetrate the cage nor the walls of my home. He slept most of the time, like he hadn't slept before. Notice his pads were hard and calloused, within two months, they were soft and a healthy pink color.
Mirai found her destiny with me.
Mirai came to me with a weak liver, unable to eat on her own. We resorted to tube-feeding, where food would be directly inserted through her esophagus (all preparation and monitoring made by licensed veterinarian). Within three months, Mirai is a healthy cat who miraculously recovered from an almost failed condition. She graces our box and brochures.
Michael and Popo
Michael and Popo were two of the last group of cats I had taken home. They are always together, like brothers, eating, sleeping and playing from dusk till dawn. As long as we had gotten to know each other, they were very cautious and it took me a month to get both cats in the carrier. Now they are happy, content in my warm abode, and still hanging together.
Charlie
Charlie was the last cat to come to my home. After living in the outdoors for years, he acquired feline HIV. Due to stomatitis, he had his teeth removed. Charlie spends his days in his cage, apart from the other cats, then is set free at night, alone in his own room. I'm glad that I was able to save Charlie as he has regrown his fur and gained his weight back. Despite his condition, Charlie is friendly, feisty and loves to play games.
Feeding ten cats was becoming increasingly difficult, especially with different foods for each cat, such as prescription foods, slow eaters, messy eaters, senior cats with disabilities and cats who have a difficult time eating from a generic bowl.
I wished for a bowl that would be stress-free, fun to use, and would solve feeding problems for cats and owners. It would need to be clean and safe to use, for the health of cats. Ceramic was my choice instead of plastic, due to its resilience to bacteria buildup. But nothing like this existed in any stores or on the internet.
2 years of research and development, endless revisions and thousands of hours of sculpting.
the CAT TONGUE® started as an idea. With the small experience I had with pottery, I tried to put my ideas into shape with my own hands. It was difficult as there were many challenges with the complex design that I had in my mind. I monitored and watched my ten cats eat; they gave me ideas and advice on what aspects work and which qualities didn't. Pictured is my 12th model which I had carved and pieced into one solid form.
Thanks to the professional input and expertise of Japanese ceramic craftsmen, I was able to produce an ideal model that would eventually become the CAT TONGUE® that we use today.
I hope all cats and owners will enjoy my feeding bowl which my cats taught me how to design and create.
~Yuko Michizoe, Designer
- MY PET DESIGNS® is based and operates in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
- the CAT TONGUE® is made by hand in Japan.
- the CAT TONGUE® is imported from Japan to Hawaii.
- All products are shipped from Hawaii preceding quality-control inspection.
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