Van Gogh's Ear cat toy

What the hell is that, you ask? Why, it's Van Gogh's Ear. Specifically, it's a Van Gogh's Ear organic catnip cat toy. Seriously. It's for sale at The Modern Dog, a Venice, California pet boutique owned by my dear friends Guy Miracle and Lance Castro. Also available in a similarly strange vein is a catnip toy emblazoned with, er, Michael Jackson's face. They're $8 and $9, respectively, from the Modern Dog's online shop.

• [Anonymous]

  Read recently in the New Yorker that most experts now believe that Gauguin sliced off Vincent’s ear, with a sword. They’ve studied letters and came to the conclusion that the story of Vincent lopping off his own ear and sending it to a gf is a grotesque fabrication.

  But at any rate, the ear came off (or at least a tip of it) and now kitty has something fun to play with.

  kitteh!

• [carl915]

  Why have Van Gogh’s ear, when you could have Galileo’s finger or Tycho Brahe’s nose…

  http://calamitiesofnature.com/archive/?c=266

  • [Intersection]

    What, no Bobbit jokes?

• [TEKNA2007]

  Hopefully we’ll see the Judy Chicago Dinner Party series of puffy cat toys.

• [Anonymous]

  NO WAY! My cat’s name is Van Gogh. I must get this. We named him as such because he’s missing the tip of one of his ears due to being a feral cat and being clipped to mark that he has been neutered before being released back to his colony (though we snatched him up at the kennel before he was).

• [bobhughes]

  what i really need are dog toys shaped like human hands and feet because real ones are her favorite thing to bite

• [Anonymous]

  tragedy + time = comedy

  tragedy = some more time = cat toy

• [Anonymous]

  ALL catnip is organic.

  • [Anonymous]

    might have meant organically grown, as in we picked it wild, or it could just be organic, like you say.

  • [technogeek]

    I have to admit, I haven’t heard of silicon-based catnip. Then again, I haven’t heard of silicon-based cats either.

    • [Felton / Moderator]

      You never saw that episode of Star Trek?

  • [David Pescovitz]

    My cat will be very relieved.

• [W. James Au]

  That rocks. Also, I’d seriously like to buy my cat supplies from dudes named Guy Miracle and Lance Castro.

• [Snig]

  This is what you and your cat should listen to while he/she is playing with it.

  My friend Mark Gilston is a talented, versatile folk musician with an odd sense of humour. His CD “Lend me an Ear” is THE definitive folk music collection containing traditional folks songs from all over the world that all involve the loss of an ear. Accept no substitutes.

  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gilston2

• [Anonymous]

  This is a left ear. His self-portraits make it look like it was his right ear that was injured. It just occurred to me that self-portraits in general must be mirror images of the artist’s face.
  Thanks for that insight, cat toy!

• [David Pescovitz]

  Real names even!!!

• [Anonymous]

  Cool idea; I wonder how well it will buy.

• [b_latuu]

  That has to be one of the sickest things I have ever seen on so many levels. To think that is worth anything but disgust for a cat to play with a replica of a troubled artists severed ear. I am absolutely appalled anyone would market such an abomination.

• [technogeek]

  But does it make crinkly noises when chewed or rolled upon? That seems to be the sine que non for my lady’s cats…

• [Anonymous]

  My cat’s favorite movie is Blue Velvet… I totally know what I’m getting her for Christmas…

• [Jake0748]

  So, how in the world is Van Gogh’s ear worth a buck less than M.J.’s face?

• [jfrancis]

  That’s my stock answer when asked what I want on my pizza.

• [Anna]

  Both the Van Gogh Ear and the Michael Jackson cat toy are made by Oh Boy Cat Toy, and you can buy them straight from the maker for less on Etsy – my cats just love her weird and wonderful cat toys. They especially recommend the giant cicada and the flaming torch.

  http://www.etsy.com/shop/OhBoyCatToy

  It’s hard to pick, but I think the weirdest thing she makes has got to be the Human Centipede…