back to article 'Chemical cat' on the loose in Japanese city

A cat covered in toxic chemicals is wandering the streets of Fukuyama in Japan, and locals are being warned not to go near. The chemical cat ended up coated in hexavalent chromium after falling into a tank of the substance at the Nomura Plating factory in the southern Japanese city over the weekend, Asahi Shimbun reported …

  1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    History repeating itself

    hope Tokyo doesn't have a giant telecommunications tower in the middle of the city that could be felled by a giant kitten...

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: History repeating itself

      No that wouldn't be a goodie thing at all.

    2. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Re: History repeating itself

      It has two - the Tokyo Tower and the Skytree. The latter would probably look most kawaii being felled by a big fluffy white kitten; the former is a red-and-white striped Eiffel Tower rip-off.

      1. LogicGate Silver badge

        Re: History repeating itself

        ...And that was only the beginning of CatZilla's reign of terror....

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: History repeating itself

          ...And that was only the beginning of CatZilla's reign of terror....

          Known as "Nyanjira" in Japan, sometimes "Nekojira" - the latest kaiju. Can't wait for the movie!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: History repeating itself

        I've been in the sky tree, crazy how tall that is.

  2. ComputerSays_noAbsolutelyNo Silver badge

    Twinkle, the giant kitten

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb59dEHRt5Q

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This could be a cat-astrophe.

    1. simonlb Silver badge

      It's probably feline a bit under the weather now.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Dare I say it, but has this genuinely unfortunate moggie perhaps inadvertently nominated itself for the ultimate “Useless use of ‘cat’ Award”?

        In this case, probably very much:

        cat > /dev/null

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Well, dichromate is a cation, after all.

  4. Alien Doctor 1.1

    My cats...

    are all toxic when they don't shit outside

    1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Re: My cats...

      And when they do.

  5. I am David Jones Silver badge
    WTF?

    WTAF?

    An open-topped vat of toxic chemical, covered with “a sheet”!?!?

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: WTAF?

      If it had a securely fastened lid the cat would tipped the whole thing over

      1. seven of five Silver badge

        Re: WTAF?

        Only when someone looks. But then while maintaining eye contact.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WTAF?

      Would you be happier if it were a tarpaulin?

      We do not know what this "sheet" was made of, only that it had a turned corner.

      Maybe it was steel and the cat had already got it's radioactive and plant-based powers and was just using its super-strength to go for the trifecta?

    3. I am David Jones Silver badge

      Re: WTAF?

      If the sheet is not cat-proof, then it is certainly not Catwoman-proof. If it’s not Catwoman-proof, then it won’t be Joker-proof either.

      Perhaps it was all a dastardly plan

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: WTAF?

      Yeah. Cat sheet is always unpleasant.

  6. simonlb Silver badge
    Holmes

    Is PPE Optional now?

    People working with the material... typically wear safety equipment when exposed

    I should bloody well hope so!

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Is PPE Optional now?

      It's very hard to find any atypical examples.

      1. hedgie

        Re: Is PPE Optional now?

        Not for long, in any event.

    2. Dwarf

      Re: Is PPE Optional now?

      PPE - Pussy Protective Equipment ?

  7. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Looks like Curiosity did it again

    Poor little kitty.

    1. MyffyW Silver badge

      Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

      I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt sorry for the cat :-)

    2. Marty McFly Silver badge
      Unhappy

      Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

      Really buggers me when human incompetence costs lives of innocent quadrupeds. This was just a cat being a cat and doing cat things.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

        "This was just a cat being a cat and doing cat things."

        I just wish cat owners (or is it the other way round?) would confine their cats to doing cat things in their own homes, not my garden.

        1. Arthur the cat Silver badge
          Trollface

          Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

          Have you tried retaliating in the cat owner's garden?

        2. heyrick Silver badge

          Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

          "I just wish cat owners"

          Cats will look at your confinement and then walk right through it, around it, or climb over it. And then sit there on the other side looking right at you, daring you to say something.

          Anybody who thinks it's easy to contain a cat clearly has never had the company of one.

          Hint: they're not smaller, furrier, dogs.

          1. ChoHag Silver badge

            Re: Looks like Curiosity did it again

            My cat sits on my neighbour's shed roof to watch her cat-proofing her fence.

  8. Howard Sway Silver badge

    The chemical cat ended up coated in hexavalent chromium

    Oh oh, everybody in the town will now be on edge, as the mutant cat was last seen heading for the opera, to do battle with its mortal enemy, the "fire fox".

  9. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

    Sounds like the kitty may have used up all of its nine lives in one go

  10. ThatOne Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Poor kitten

    Unfortunately this happened in Japan, so it will most probably die a grisly death. In the US of A it would had traditionally acquired superpowers and started a long career of fighting crime.

    Even potentially get its own TV series

    1. Sven Coenye
      Coat

      Re: Poor kitten

      The cat scratches your superhero and raises a kaiju!

      Mine's the level A hazmat suit...

  11. xyz Silver badge

    Wait a mo....

    They have video of a soggy cat leaving the building, but was it a cat that fell into the vat?

    1. ThatOne Silver badge

      Re: Wait a mo....

      How many other chrome-plated cats are there in the vicinity?...

      1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: Wait a mo....

        There are so many, they have a whole... catalyst.

    2. depereo

      Re: Wait a mo....

      they'll probably try to bury the report of the missing employee.

  12. Dwarf

    Catzilla

    Well, I suppose at least they will end up with something to go against Godzilla, next time it pops up.

    What nobody has considered though is which of the 9 lives did the cat use up ?

    1. chivo243 Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Catzilla

      Damn, beat me to catzilla! +1

      Me thinks that all 9 credits were erased… tbh.

      1. Dwarf

        Re: Catzilla

        @Chivo243

        I was a hard call between Catzilla and MogZilla, but I wasn't sure if a soggy Moggy was a common term on the other side of the pond.

    2. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Catzilla

      Well, I suppose at least they will end up with something to go against Godzilla

      Yes, but after the cat wins it'll push all the skyscrapers off into the bay.

    3. A.P. Veening Silver badge

      Re: Catzilla

      What nobody has considered though is which of the 9 lives did the cat use up ?

      With hexavalent chrome? I'd say six of them.

      1. Jon 37 Silver badge

        Re: Catzilla

        Want to upvote.... But the post has 6 upvotes ... I cannot destroy perfection.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Catzilla

          That's all right - I did it for you.

  13. vogon00

    Dr. Suess...

    ...must already be penning a sequel, with only a 1-letter change to the title...

    1. ascii bandit

      Re: Dr. Suess...

      Chemical cat on the moose?

      1. Not Yb Bronze badge

        Re: Dr. Suess...

        Kids these days...

        "The Cat in the Vat"

        1. Bebu
          Windows

          Re: Dr. Suess...

          "The Cat in the Vat"

          .... Didn't come back.

          1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

            Re: Dr. Suess...

            The Cat in the Vat Comes Back Shinier.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dr. Suess...

      That's interesting, but I'm not sure what "Horton Hears a Ho" has to do with it?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Poor Kitty

    The LD50 of lead chromate is only 5 g/kg (oral, rats). This low toxicity is attributed to its extremely low solubility. Consequently lead chromate remains a common, even preferred, pigment.[11]

    That cat is probably already dead.

    1. bill 27

      Re: Poor Kitty

      Yup. Considering the first thing it would have done is try to lick itself clean/dry.

      1. Bebu
        Flame

        Re: Poor Kitty

        "Considering the first thing it would have done is try to lick itself clean/dry."

        Very occasionally you get a Pigpen of a cat that is a grubby scruff which usually gets cleaned by the other cats. In that case the vat diver would have spread the joy around and possibly survived.

        Pretty indestructable but not in the honeybadger class.

        From the Nekochan site (SGI Irix software) one of the few words of japanese I know is neko (cat.:)

        I suspect chromed-neko is now as defunct as SGI.

        1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

          Re: Poor Kitty

          neko was also the cute little X11 app that would render an animated cat running around your screen hiding amongst the windows and icons, popping out whenever its cover got moved.

          クロム猫 vs コシラ!

    2. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Re: Poor Kitty

      It is in a superposition of alive and dead states, and until someone looks in the box, there's not enough information to say which is accurate.

    3. PRR Silver badge

      Re: Poor Kitty

      > That cat is probably already dead.

      But not the hex-chrome- that will stay poisonous through several layers of scavengers. Dogs, rats, other cats.... eventually the hex-chrome will be dispersed across so much dead meat that the next shift of scavengers will just be VERY SICK, not 100% dead. People (and children) will try to "help" and in turn be poisoned.

      Didn't think small animals would get in the vat shed? I'm trying to be polite, but I know Japanese workers are not that dumb. Even in Maine we can't keep the groundhogs out, or keep the stray cats from chomping the ultra-reclusive Star-Nosed Moles.

  15. Andy Non Silver badge

    If someone finds

    a cat-atonic cat, it will likely need a cat scan.

  16. heyrick Silver badge

    any cat "that seems abnormal"

    A cat that seems "abnormal"? Yup, that'll be easy to spot...

  17. xyz123 Silver badge

    In Unrelated news, something has been pushing skyscrapers over in Tokyo.

    Fortunately the government has launched a chopper with a huge red laser pointer and have forced "whatever it is" to move away from the city.

  18. DS999 Silver badge

    Its only one life

    Though a cat liable to do that may have already burned through the first eight via similar misadventures.

  19. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

    Yes yes, yes. But which way up did it land?

    1. Ken Shabby Bronze badge

      Depends where you spread the butter

  20. Claverhouse
    Unhappy

    Vile

    God be with the cat.

  21. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
    Pirate

    Hello Kitty

    Stupid animal. You need platinum to make a good cataclysmic converter.

  22. Walt Dismal

    when you need a hero

    I have taken the liberty of calling the Power Rangers.

    "Hello, Power Rangers? There's a giant cat outside. 50 meters tall."

    Blue Ranger: "Sir, perhaps less saki before you go to bed tonight."

    "And he glows green and is hexavalent!"

    Blue facepalms.

    "And he just laid a giant stinky catpoo 4 meters long!"

    Blue: "Above ... my ... pay grade. Call Astro Boy." (hangs up)

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