I was recently directed to do some research on Bonsai kittens - yes - you read that correctly. Around 2000, the idea of Bonsai kittens was thrust upon an unsuspecting and animal loving Internet world by a website that purported to sell by mail order kittens in glass bottles. The kitten, the site said, was inserted into a glass bottle after its birth (using drugs injected into the kitten to make its bones more supple) and then fed by injection. The kitten would naturally grow to fill the glass bottle; its body taking on the shape of the glass bottle to become a Bonsai Kitten. The site described the method in some detail discussing how the cat was fed and how a tube was inserted into the cat's anus using super glue to deal with kitty waste properly and cleanly! (the actual method can be read here

The Bonsai Kitten

Another website then started to offer Christmas version of the Bonsai kitten - yes, kittens stuffed into round glass containers to hang on your tree. It stated that the tail of the kitten would be left and could be used to tie the kitty bauble to your tree.

Well, as you might imagine, all hell broke lose as animal lovers took this seriously. At one point the FBI actually investigated the whole thing!

Unfortunately, it just served as a reminder that either, animal lovers have no sense of humor, or, some forms of humor are simply not funny at all - your choice.

Needless to say the Bonsai Kitten and all other varieties - Christmas baubles included - are simply a clever hoax perpetrated by some MIT college students...