I have never been so disappointed that I felt the need to write to Slate, and I have been reading since you were still part of MSN.

I preface this by saying I have not tried the PediPaws, although I have thought long and hard about buying one when I've seen the infomercials. It seems like a neat idea, and I was happy to see that there was a product review here on Slate. Of course I was disheartened to see that many cats and dogs found the experience unpleasant, and I can't say I blame them.

Let's think about this carefully...if you hold the PediPaws in one hand, say your right, and you are face-to-face with your dog you will probably put the rotating emery board so that it points toward your left arm. Now, what if you are face-to-face with your dog, and you are holding the PediPaws in your left hand? Again you will probably place the spinning head towards the opposite arm. And there's the problem. If you hold it in your right hand and the spinning emery board goes "top to bottom" when you switch hands, it is not going "bottom to top."

As anyone who has used a sander or a band saw can tell you, only one orientation is preferred. The informercial shows the animated pet's nail in the gadget while it spins from the top to the bottom. Imagine you are a pet and your nail is inserted so that it is being vibrated, caught and dragged up into that hard plastic (remember pet nails are curved) because the spinning is going from bottom to top. Ouch!

Honestly...this might be a ridiculous product, but this was not a true test. Watch the video again...David Plotz's attempt with his cat is smooth...and he has the PediPaws oriented with a spin opposite the others.

The science doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be fair test.