April Fool’s Day for Dogs and Cats

A Round-up of pet-themed April Fool’s Day products and services

Every April Fool’s Day (or April Fools’ Day, apparently it’s kosher to spell it either way), I am completely distracted by the humorous tomfoolery that sprouts on the interwebs and in social media.

Usually, I’ll post a few on my Facebook page and move on. But this year there were so many awesome pet-related April Fool’s fake products and services that I thought I’d share them with my readers.

Some are so good, I wish they were actual products. Maybe…someday.

April Fool’s Day  for Cats

Voltron Cat Condo from ThinkGeek

From ThinkGeek, purveyor of all things sciency  and techy comes Voltron, Defender of the Universe, a mighty cat condo, loved by good, feared by evil. Play tunnels and platforms provide all the height and hidey-holes a cat could want.  The fine print points out that the condo does not include blazing swords or cats, and reminds us that “actual cats do not transform.” View the video below for more details and note: “No animals were harmed in the making of this. Some of them are demanding compensatory treats, though.” This is so cool, I wish it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke — though ThinkGeek usually allows it’s customers to vote on products they’d actually like to see.

Grøüber

Need a ride somewhere? Groupon’s April Fool’s Day offering is a car service, with feline drivers that “are spayed, neutered and have no reason to curl up in your lap and make it awkward.”  According to the website, all Grøüber cars have a faultless laser navigation system, as we all know that kitties will follow that Red Dot anywhere.  Most of the drivers come from local shelters (yay!) ) and tips are welcome. Probably in the form of tuna treats and catnip. Check out their video:

KÄT

IKEA jumps onto the catification bandwagon with KÄT, a combination cat scratcher and sofa sure to please folks who want feline friendly furniture. The couch is designed to comfortably support human derierres, while offering satisfying kitty claw-ability. One hopes that KÄT will ease the common misunderstanding between cats and their people about what is scratchable and what is not; withKÄT in the house, everything is up for grabs — or claws. This is another item I wish were real, though there are other cat-friendly couches. (Image credit: Dabney Frake)

Office 2016 for Cats

More of  teaser than a fully realized application suite, Office 2016 for cats is an adorable April Fool’s Day concept from Microsoft . With apps such as PowerPounce, OneNap and Meow, your kitty co-worker should be fully equipped to work alongside you. I have a feeling the suite works best on a laptop.

boxbox

Pet product subscription services are all the rage these days, delivering a unique monthly mix of cat- or dog-related treats and toys to right to your door. One of those services, meowbox, learned from their market research that the most exciting thing about the box of goodies was…the actual box. Their April Fool’s Day product is the boxbox, a box “filled with 10-13 carefully selected organic, grain-free boxes.”

Dogs Have Their (April Fool’s) Day, Too

Rosetta Stone for Dogs

Rosetta Stone, the company that brings the world together through language-learning software announced an April Fool’s Day addition to their product line: Rosetta Stone for Dogs.  Using the same methodology that enables humans to learn each others’ languages, Rosetta Stone for Dogs will hopefully help you understand your pup. Though I’m not a hundred percent sure hearing Tucker say, “There’s a guy outside. A guy. He’s outside. Did I tell you there’s a guy outside? He’s walking by the house. A guy. He’s outside.” will be an improvement over incessant barking. According to their website, “With the release of Rosetta Stone Dog, the team will now turn its attention to creating similar products for cats, fish and a whole host of other animals.”

Zumba for Dogs

We all want the best for our dogs, and exercise is important for keeping them healthy. Why not a Zumba exercise class for our canine best friends? It works for us humans. This cute video shows dogs in action.

All Pets Can Enjoy a Day of Foolery

Virgin Australia airport pet lounge

Many of us take our pets with us when we travel, so it seems an obvious extension to have a pets-only airport lounge where dogs and cats can relax in comfort before their flights. Accessible only through a “Premium Paw Door” entry flap, the lounge has all the comforts today’s pets deserve. I wish this one were real, too, instead of an April Fools’ Day joke (and I think my dogs and cats would agree).

Dog on a Stick and Cat on a Stick selfie sticks

Dogs and cats carry video cameras, send text messages and write poetry. It was only a matter of time before they would want to take photography into their own paws — and Unleashed by Petco is there to respond to the need. Activated by woofs (dog on a stick) or meows (cat on a stick), the selfie stick could make your pets an Instagram star. It’s not a real product, though, so you won’t have to worry if they get more followers than you.

petbox

Redbox, the self-service DVD, Blu-Ray and video game rental service, introduced petbox today, making available newly released pet-centric movies with titles like Goatbusters, Newt at the Museum and Fifty Shades of Greyhound. There already is a real petbox — a monthly pet treat and toy subscription service — which is offering a special April Fool’s Day package  for dogs (Bark to the Future ) and cats (Purrincess Bride).

Pets Unleashed by T-Mobile

Your texting dog or cat really runs eats up those minutes, sending selfies and arranging movie dates, which is why T-Mobile came up with Pets Un‑leashed, a wireless data plan for the non-human members of your family. A really nice touch to their April Fool’s Day joke is their offer to make a $1 donation per visitor to the Humane Society, up to $10,000.” Good for them!

Hulu Pets

The folks at Hulu came up with some original programming ideas, with a non-human target audience. Hulu Pets shows feature dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, hamsters and more. It’s worth the giggle to check out each short preview. I think Tucker’s favorite would be i, but I think the cats would love The Daily Feed: true bird TV. Other shows include Bone Appetit (cooking show for dogs), Laser Pointer (the series), The Bark (a canine version of The Voice) and The Real Pugs of Portland.

Even Pet Rocks Get in on the Fun

The pet sites Dogster and Catster posted a slew of awesome and ridiculously on-target parodies that are worth a visit.

Tell me your favorites in the comments or let me know if there are others I should add to the list.

Related posts:

Story: Real pets meet flat pets The Last Snow of the Season Spring, You’re Late! Story: After BlogPaws, a Guilt Trip