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So, I have a world not unlike Zootopia, i.e. populated with all sorts of anthropomorphic mammals.

There's a scene in my story where a wolf-person and a cat-person are looking at chew toys in a pet store (there are also non-sapient, non-anthropomorphic animals in this world, some of which are domesticated just as in our world)... and I found myself suddenly wondering about a few things.

People in this setting still resemble their animal counterparts; dog-people like to gnaw on bones, cat-people are fascinated by laser pointers, etc. That being the case...

  • Would dog-people want to have purpose-made chew toys? Or would they have some other outlet for these urges? (Wild wolves get along without, so they don't seem necessary. Sticks are practically free, towels¹ are convenient, or there's the bone from last night's dinner.)
  • Would many other animals (e.g. raccoons, goats, etc.) want such things? (Let's ignore rodents that need things to gnaw on to keep their teeth from overgrowing; they're a slightly different market.)

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how big this market would be. (That it would exist seems to be a given; after all, some humans need chew toys², and, well, there are niche markets for all sorts of weird things. However, there's a big range between 'obscure online sellers' and 'every gas station and convenience store'.)

(¹ There's also some magic in this setting which is mostly not relevant except that one of its properties is the ability to prevent or at least significantly mitigate damage from chewing on non-food items, such that using soft things like towels would be plausible without them being almost immediately destroyed.)

(² Source: People for the Ethical Treatment of Writing Implements 😉. Also, teething, but I mainly care about adults.)

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  • $\begingroup$ imo would it categorized into fidget gadget or something? $\endgroup$
    – Yowane Haku
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 8:41

2 Answers 2

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Here's your chew toy

enter image description here

The urge to chew comes from how wild dogs eat bones. A pet dog who gets fewer bones will express the urge on other inedible objects.

For a world ruled by dogs, the most common chew toy is a vacuum-packed meaty bone, sold in gas stations next to the cigarettes and dirty magazines to get your fix.

The most common artificial chew toys are for babies, to stimulate tooth growth while regulating the baby's diet. This is considered normal.

There are also people with overactive chewing urges who get addicted to chewing. This leads to the creation of artificial bones (chew toys) where one can get their fix without the added calories of eating the bone. These toys are seen as substitutes to the real thing.

These people fit into dog society similar to overweight people or chronic masturbators in the real world. There is nothing wrong with the underlying urge (chew, eat, sex drive) but it should (be done in private, not be taken to an unhealthy extreme). These people and their chew toys evoke any combination of disgust/pity/anger/compassion.

As for other animals you must ask yourself the same question. What is the biological reason for their urge to chew, and can it be satisfied directly through a less processed diet?

For another example all rodents NEED to wear down their teeth as their incisors grow endlessly like a conveyor belt. Wild rabbits wear their teeth down by eating huge quantities of grass (and their own droppings). Their diet satisfies the need to chew and so there is no need for a separate chew toy. Pet rabbits, on the other hand, eat a more concentrated diet of rabbit pellets, and so need to supplement with a chew toy.

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  • $\begingroup$ Heh... yup, I really like the idea that the chewing urge is present but lessened in "people", and that most get their fix "naturally", exactly as you describe, while there exists a minority of "junkies" that want more. $\endgroup$
    – Matthew
    Commented Feb 27, 2021 at 2:35
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Wild wolves get along without chew toys?

Someone should tell that to these guys:

enter image description here
enter image description here
Yummy Bone! Video
enter image description here
enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ …Without purpose-made chew toys. Fair enough, though, I didn't know they liked sticks that much. Doesn't seem to actually answer the question, though? $\endgroup$
    – Matthew
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 13:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Matthew It shows a fatal flaw in your assumptions: You assume that the only reason animals like chewtoys is because they have been indoctrinated to do so by silly owners. This is hugely false. All animals like chewing on non-food items, although it is much more noticeable in Canines , Ursids and Mustelidae. (dogs, bears, ferrets) $\endgroup$
    – PcMan
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 13:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Matthew I honestly do not know if the same behavior occurs with Herbivores. I know both sheep and goats love to chew on non-food chewables, but I strongly suspect this may be due to stupidity, not choice. $\endgroup$
    – PcMan
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 13:13
  • $\begingroup$ Not an assumption; wolves don't/can't go to Petsmart to buy Nylabones. "But they improvise!" is relevant, however, what I'm pondering is whether the people in this world would be "into" purpose-made toys, or whether they'd prefer sticks (which are practically free, after all), or improvising with other objects (e.g. humans and writing implements), or bones (that they maybe have with food, anyway), or even if they'd try to suppress the impulse because it's "uncivilized". $\endgroup$
    – Matthew
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 13:25
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    $\begingroup$ BTW, "All animals like chewing on non-food items, although it is much more noticeable in Canines, Ursids and Mustelidae" is relevant, maybe you should add that to your answer? (That covers a decent chunk of omnivores, which is helpful to know. Rodents, as mentioned, definitely need to gnaw on things anyway, though probably harder things; they'd be a different market. Herbivores, again, I'm not sure, though they spend rather more time chewing food anyway.) $\endgroup$
    – Matthew
    Commented Feb 25, 2021 at 13:28

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