From: judyb@waldo.asd.sgi.com (Judy Bergwerk)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Cat Dancer Article in NYT (long)
Date: 26 Dec 92 21:29:22 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: waldo.asd.sgi.com

This was in the 12/13 issue of the New York Times.  Reprinted without
permission.  All typos are mine.

Enjoy, and happy holidays.

THE CAT DANCER

For the kitty that displays the habits of a sloth and the girth of a hippo.

What it is (literally):
A three-foot piece of 20-gauge oil-tempered spring steel, tipped at
each end by twisted strips of cardboard.  Waved at a cat, the Cat
Dancer undulates enticingly.

What it is (entrepreneurially):
A basement inventor's dream come true: a gimmick born of scrap metal
and ingenuity that has become the Nordic Track of cats, selling at the
rate of 300,000 units a year, for $2 to $5 each (except in California,
where some people pay $8 "because they're nuts," said the inventor,
Jim Boelke of Neenah, Wis.).

What it is (therepeutically):
Kitty Ritalin.  House cats that can't exercise enough sometimes begin
acting inappropriately, chenneling their energy into aggression with
humans, said Carole Wilbourn, a Manhattan cat therapist.  "I try to
get cats to play as much as possible, especially if they have Single
Cat Syndrome," she said.  This is tricky stuff.  In a two-cat
household, the problem can be Inter-cat Hostility, Ms. Wilbourn said. 
Her prescription?  Two Cat Dancers.

Why Now?
It's not just your imagination.  Cats are getting fatter, making
aerobic activity or some form of personal training obligatory.  "We've
seen more obesity in cats in the last 8 to 10 years than ever before,"
said Debbie Elston of T.H.E. Cat Hospital of Irvine, Calif.

How the legend started:
Late one night in 1978, Mr. Boelke, the owner of cats names Jake and
Elwood (for the Blues Brothers), was sweeping the floor in a factory
in Oshkosh, Wis., when a strip of scrap metal caught his eye and
unleashed what he calls "one of those left-brain connections.:"  He
took it home and waved it at Jake and Elwood, and they went into
Nijinsky imitations.  Mr. Boelke took to entertaining at parties with
performances by Jake and Elwood.  This went on for four or five years,
during which he gave away about a thousand of the gizmos.  Then, in
1983, with $1500 he'd saved, he wnet into business.  Today the
38-year-old Mr. Boelke acknowledges that he is "comfortable, but not
rich."  He has a sailboat on Sturgeon Bay and a house on Lake
Winneabgo in Wisconsin.

The Name:
When Mr. Boelke couldn't come up with a name ("Kitty Flip" was what he
called the prototype), he asked a fellow with a big-paying job in
marketing to help him.  After four house of being coaxed with Black
Russians in a local bar, the marketing genius said he couldn't
possibly take the time to help.  As he was leaving, Mr. Boelke said,
"the alcohol took effect, he clapped his hand on my shoulder, said
'Cat Dancing' and passed out on the floor."  Mr. Boelke said he
changed that to Cat Dancer, took the fellow home and has never seen
him again.

How Popular Is It?
"It's way up there with food" said Suzy Cusack, an owner of Cats,
Cats, Cats & Finnegan in Manhattan.

Celebrity Endorsement:
Several years ago, Calvin Klein's cat Max appeared on a celebrity-cat
calendar with a blurb saying that the Cat Dancer was Max's favorite
toy.  "I never figured out how to write to Calvin Klein and thank him,
because he doesn't have his address on the jeans," Mr. Boelke said.

How It Works:
"It woks on a simple principle: that there isn't a cat alive that
won't chase something that moves," said Alison Steele, an owner of
Just Cats in Manhattan.  "It's like manufacturing your own fly." Mr.
Boelke said it's because the cardboard tastes like a moth.

Is it Sure-Fire?
Not according to Goldie, a 25-pound marmalade cat who wouldn't budge
one night last week during an independent trial.  (His companion,
Frimbo, also somewhat elderly, took the challenge once the cardboard
was dipped in catnip.)

Sad Endings:
Jake disappeared on a cold winter night, and Elwood was hit by a car.
(Their successor, Max "doesn't give a damn about the Cat Dancer," Mr.
Boelke said.)  As for Calvin Klein's Max, he has passed on and been
replaced by Tibetan terriers named Flo and Leo (after Mr. Klein's
parents).  None of the above buried their pets with the Cat Dancer,
though Mr. Boelke has heard from at least one bereaved cat owner who's
done just that.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats