 |  |  Enlarge | | | | Inventor Michael Diep says his EmeryCat is more about "the love and passion we have for making things that will be useful" than it is about the money. | | |
Necessity is the mother of invention. We've all heard that old saw. Maybe half believed it, maybe not. Evidence of its truth is at hand: in the form of Michael Diep. The cat-loving business consultant couldn't face taking his brother's two cats to the vet every couple of weeks for pedicures in order to prevent shred-jobs on the expensive furniture while he was presiding as pet sitter. The very idea of those trips was enough to bring a guy to his knees. There was, of course, the time factor. There was also the much more compelling hide-and-hiss factor of two felines really not interested in having an outing in a crate. And so Diep built a scratching post with extra-special nail-filing capability. The rest, as they say, is history. He was tapped in 2007 by PBS' popular Everyday Edisons as one of its golden inventors. Now his invention, redesigned, polished and refined, is hitting pet stores and select Walmarts, and is being sold online. And in a few weeks, it will be one of those infomercial items you'll see pitched by a breathless announcer stating all the reasons you can't live without it. "It really does do what it promises," says Diep, 40, almost as breathless as any announcer. He's utterly convinced that the EmeryCat, less than $20, which was modified over the months to, as Diep says, "make it even better for the mass market," will bring a new freedom and joy to cat owners who will be thrilled to no longer have to wage weekly warfare with the nail clipper or cram a clinging, crying kitty into a carrier for a nail job. Diep's own cat, Tabby, was never really a problem when it came to claws and destruction and pedicure pandemonium. But once Diep began swapping cat-care duties with his brother (they both travel for business a lot), cold, harsh reality switched on the creativity light bulb in his head. It should be noted that he has long considered himself a "problem-solver" who's always toying with ideas and product designs that might improve life. But in the nail situation, things came together real fast … because they had to. He constructed a sturdy scratching post out of wood, carpet, adhesive and fine-grit sandpaper. He infused it with catnip to attract attention and encourage a little kneading/scratching activity. And it became instantly obvious that the cats liked it and their needle-sharp claws were being dulled down. "They scratched like crazy," he says. Friends gathered to ooooh and aaaaah. He filed for a patent. And when he heard Everyday Edisons would be having its 2007 auditions in San Diego, not far from his home, he slung his invention under his arm and went to stand in line. He got there at 4 a.m. for the 8 a.m. start (and he wasn't even the first in line — casting calls in five cities drew 10,000 hopefuls). The judges were unanimous. He was fast-tracked into the kind of marketing research, expert attention, prototype modifications and retailer negotiations that most inventors only dream of. All at no charge to him. The end result is a curved lounge-like product with a honeycombed surface that files down cats' claws when they scratch or stretch. Asked if he will get rich from this, Diep's response is, "From the look of it I will." But he, like most inventors and would-be inventors, says it's more about "the love and passion we have for making things that will be useful." A refugee from Vietnam who arrived in this country at age 7, Diep has "about 200 other inventions" swirling around in his head, some of which are on the brink of final form. Only one, he says, is pet-related. | 
