It's often said that animals have a superior sense of smell compared to humans. Dog owners, in particular, know this well – your dog might start barking even before you reach your front door. Today's story revolves around Guppy, a cat with a peculiar obsession: a middle-aged man's shoe odor. While we're not entirely sure just how strong a cat's sense of smell is, they certainly seem to remember scents for a very long time. This has caused some distress for Guppy's owners, who found that their cat would bury its face in shoes, trying to recapture a certain olfactory memory.
The owners who contacted the TV show for help are Saki and Tomo. The star of our story is Guppy, the cat in question. The reason Saki and Tomo sought help from the TV program is Guppy's habit: whenever guests come over, Guppy will sidle up and intensely sniff their shoes.
The owners believe this started about six years ago during a TV shoot at their home when a staff member's shoes caught Guppy's attention. Once Guppy got a whiff, there was no going back! Apparently, the staff member's shoes had a particularly strong odor that Guppy couldn't get enough of, even licking them incessantly.
It seems that those shoes inadvertently flipped a switch in Guppy's brain. However, that staff member never returned after the initial interview, leading Guppy to constantly search for those shoes, becoming a prisoner of that unique scent. The dedicated staff of the "Something-or-Other Investigation Bureau," a show we often feature, began the arduous task of finding the individual. After scouring production and technical companies, they finally located Narita-san, the director of that six-year-old shoot, now 57 years old.
When asked if he remembered the cat, Narita-san replied that he recalled Guppy as an affectionate and memorable cat. Upon learning about the project, Narita-san mentioned that he had been busy with work at the time and had worn the same pair of shoes for several days straight – a habit he maintains to this day, sticking to one pair of shoes. While it was unclear if the shoes he was currently wearing were the same ones from back then (likely not), the TV crew invited Narita-san to visit and see what would happen.
Sure enough, as soon as Narita-san arrived, Guppy showed a strong reaction to his feet. After seven long years, cat and shoes were reunited! Guppy dove headfirst into Narita-san's shoes, rubbing against them, completely immersed in the scent. It was pure bliss for Guppy, a truly ecstatic experience!
The show didn't specify how long Guppy spent enjoying the shoes, but Narita-san later confirmed that the inside of his shoes were soaked, indicating a thorough licking. In the end, Narita-san expressed his joy at reuniting with Guppy after so long, even offering to leave the shoes for Guppy to keep. However, the owners politely declined, bringing this segment to a close. It's hard to imagine what Saki and Tomo were thinking as they watched their beloved cat's obsession with a middle-aged man's shoes – a truly complex emotion, no doubt.
