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Cats aren't 'feline' fancy dress


There are pictures of me as a child parading my pushchair around the garden. A quick glance inside of the pushchair reveals not my Baby Born, but my poor cat, dressed in one of my doll’s dresses. With the look of distaste on his face evident even underneath the bonnet, I now feel guilty at ever forcing my cat to be my baby.

For the past twenty years we’ve all seen dog owners attempt to humanise their dogs by donning them in tracksuits or dungarees for their walks/parades around the local park or in the comfort of their kitted out handbags. Is it acceptable then that cats should be treated in the same way? Are fashionable felines the way forward to the future?

A book called Fashion Cats has been published recently by Japanese designer Takako Iwasa who was inspired to write the book after dressing her own cats, Princess Prin and Prince Kotaro. The book is probably worth a buy just to see the pictures of the cats wearing bridal attire, wigs, period dress, and my favourite, a Harry Potter outfit.

Takako Iwasa is adamant that despite the popular belief that cats do not enjoy being dressed up - as they groom themselves - some kitties do like to be kitted up.

Her on-line store has seen a lot of demand as eager cat owners, desperate to prim up their precious pets, have begun to buy into the fad. In fact, she receives a recorded 100,000 hits a day and with the average outfit costing around £25, sales have surged. Her website instructs buyers to dress up their cats, take a photo and then remove the cat’s clothes and give them a big hug to say ‘thank you’.

 I’m pretty sure that a hug from the person that has just tortured them for the past half an hour is the last thing they want.

Is this just a sign of dog envy from cat owners? Should we leave our cats in their birthday suits? Perhaps the fancy dress should go to the dogs.

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