Petting a cat is an excellent stress reliever. According to studies, petting a cat for 10 minutes can reduce the amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) in one’s saliva. However, thanks to a Japanese company, Nissen, you no longer need to own a cat to enjoy the pleasure of running your hands through its fur. The clothing and housewares company recently came up with an interesting product, which is a line of bed linens and blankets that resemble cat fur. Named Neko Feel linen, these are made of a material that makes one feel like they are in contact with cat fur.
The company decided to work on such a product when a young employee and cat lover complained that her apartment had a no-cat policy. Realizing this could be a problem faced by many cat lovers, the management decided to turn this into a business prospect.
SoraNews24 reported that after creating some prototypes, Nissen began asking its staff members, who had cats, about the material’s softness, thickness, and fiber length. Even the coloration, which is known to have darker hues at the base of the hair and white at the tips, appears to have been influenced by cat breeds like the Russian Blue and Scottish Fold. These mattress pads are available in single, semi-double, and double sizes, while the blankets are available in single and double sizes. Its price starts at Rs 1200 for a single bed and Rs 3300 for a double bed.
It has become evident that there are a lot of cat lovers out there because the first batch of merchandise was sold out as soon as Nissen announced its launch through its social media handles. However, it’s unclear whether the company will tap into the Indian market as well or not.
Prices range from 1,969 yen (US$13.30) for the throw blanket to 6,038 yen for the double bed-size blanket on Nissen’s online shop here. Before you throw out your old bedding in favor of a Neko Feel upgrade, though, be aware that the initial batch of Neko Feel items sold out within hours of Nissen announcing them through their official Twitter account, and even all of the restock has been snatched up for some of the items, though you can sign up for a notification when orders for them open up again.