Perhaps there could be other applications for this - Mrs HC
HAVE you ever wanted to “lick” your cat, like a cat? And by “lick”, we mean brush. With a giant rubber tongue. Held in your mouth?
It might sound crazy, but LICKI Brush is actually happening.
Jason and Tara O’Mara invented the kooky cat brush and started a Kickstarter campaign back in May to raise funds to make them.
The American couple set out to raise $US36,500 to fund the manufacturing of 2500 brushes, the minimum factory order amount. They did it within two weeks and went on to raise a total of $US52,179 from 2002 backers during the 38-day campaign.
Tara says she and Jason came up with the unique idea by observing their own three cats.
“We’re creators. We try to look at the world and our animals from a different perspective and ask the question, ‘what would they want?’ and ‘if they could design products, what would they make?’” she told
“We were looking for the next big thing to offer cat parents. While watching our cats groom each other, we observed that it’s only cats who get along clean each other.”
Cats are infamous for their bathing rituals. What may seem like obsessive cleaning is, in most cases, perfectly normal feline behaviour.
“The average cat spends a significant amount of its day grooming itself,” says Andrew O’Shea of Sydney Animal Behaviour Service. “It’s partly because they like being clean and partly just because they are a cat. Grooming is part of the cleaning process to control parasites and remove dirt.”
Dr O’Shea says cats also groom other cats in their family, if they are comfortable with that family member.
“For cats to groom each other, they need to be relaxed,” he says. “If there is mutual grooming, it means they are bonded to each other.”
Tara and Jason, who describe themselves as cat enthusiasts, believe that cats see their humans as “big cats” but Dr O’Shea disagrees. He says humans cannot imitate the actions of a cat closely enough for it to mean anything to the cat.
“No matter how catlike a human may be, they are going to be using different body language and interacting with the cat differently, so they are not going to see the human as another cat,” he explains.
“Cats do not see humans as big cats, they see them as a different species and communicate with them in a different way.”
Regardless, the O’Maras are confident that their new cat product will bring joy and happiness to cats and their owners. Not only is the brush designed to strengthen the relationship between you and your cat, Tara says it’s soothing and meditative.
“When you’re using it, it’s such a single-minded task. You can’t focus on anything else while you’re using LICKI Brush because it’s taking up so much of your visual space and you’re holding your cat — it’s meditative to use,” Tara says.
It sounds like a loving way to pamper your pet but is it crossing a line?
“We don’t think it’s crossing a line, we think it’s sweet. You can hold your cat in your arms like a baby and get in there but for some people, it’s crossing a line,” she laughs.
The response has been mostly positive but of course there’s been a few haters and some who think the cat brush is just too weird.
Tara identifies as a cat lady (Jason’s a cat daddy) and is not bothered by any negativity towards their newest brainchild.
“The LICKI Brush is definitely a different market and different angle. We’ve developed a thick skin so now we find a lot of humour in the comments,” she says.
The LICKI Brush has enjoyed some high-level press in the USA with laughable segments on Live with Kelly and an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. Bizarre or not, the invention is bringing smiles and laughter to people, which is right on the money for Tara.
“We’re trying to bring joy to people’s lives and if we’re doing that then we are accomplishing our goal,” she says.
There’s been 3000 LICKI Brush pre-orders placed. Production is on schedule for a January 2017 release.
