12 Completely Insane Inventions That Actually Got Made
1. "Method Of Exercising A Cat"
U.S. Patent 5,443,036 was granted in 1995 for an invention that was intended to make exercising one's cat a simple and easy process.
The inventor's reasoning was thus: "Cats are not characteristically disposed toward voluntary aerobic exercise. It becomes the burden of the cat owner to create situations of sufficient interest to the feline to induce even short-lived and modest exertion for the health and well-being of the pet."
This roughly translates to "cat's are lazy toe-rags and yours will be fat if you don't intervene".
The invention was widely mocked and derided as a “goofy”, “seemingly absurd” idea. Many thought that it was not only a silly and useless device, but the fact that it was granted its patent was a sign that the whole system of patenting needed to be reformed to stop ridiculous things like this slipping through the net.
The patent expired in 2007 after the owner stopped paying for its maintenance, giving it up as a bad job.
This completely outlandish cat-exercising device was none other than the laser pointer pen - well known and well loved across the feline community as the ultimate in kitty entertainment.
Just goes to show, you shouldn't dismiss things out of hand because you don't understand it.
Perhaps we'll all be saying the same thing in the future about the Centrifugal Birthing Cannon as our personal robot feeds us tomatoes and someone pressure washes our boobs.