NOW THAT’S A CATWALK!
Among wacky gadgets at tech show … a pet treadmill
A TREADMILL for pets? It’s enough to make a cat laugh.
And laugh they may… but it seems even our furry friends can’t escape the booming trade in exercise gadgets.
Owners cracking down on bulging waistlines can now put their moggy to work on a treadmill that uses LED lights to keep them focused – and improve fitness.
The machine, which comes with a €1,550 price tag, is one of many wacky products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
The wheel-shaped treadmill, by Korean firm The Little Cat, also allows owners to set fitness goals and motivate their cats with voice messages.
But critics have said the machine, on sale from March, is a way to ‘fat shame’ pets.
When out of the house, owners can spy on their cat to see if it is being active or, in fact, sleeping.
The machine’s camera also allows owners to watch footage of their pet exercising in real time and speed up the wheel if they appear to be slacking off.
Some cats will require just ten-second workouts, while others may need several minutes, say the manufacturers.
Through a connected app, owners can monitor how far their pet has travelled and how many calories it has burned. The firm claims some cats have lost as much as 6.5lb (2.9kg) thanks to the device. If you weren’t planning on putting your pet on such a strict new year regime, the CES had plenty more to impress. Sure Petcare unveiled its Pet Feeder Connect ‘smart bowl’, priced at €130, which flashes if you pour your pet too much food – and monitors how much it eats. Another hit was the Koreandesigned LavvieBot, a self-cleaning litter box which tracks how often cats relieve themselves.
‘Owners can set fitness goals’