When it used to only be Murphy and Kitty I could pretty much figure out whose mess was whose or who was to blame when something went awry in our house. If I found a hairball, it was Kitty’s. Murph’s puke looks a lot different than Kitty’s (mainly because since he’s so much bigger there’s usually so much more of it) so that was an easy deduction. If something was knocked off a table, it was usually Kitty’s fault since he likes to whap things off counters.
However, there’ve been a couple of times when one was wrongly charged in the commission of some crime. Like the incident with the unwrapped Christmas presents. I thought for sure Murphy was to blame but it turned out Kitty was the real culprit.
Since Tabby’s factored into the equation, determining which cat coughed up the hairball or which one’s to blame for anything knocked off the counters has become more challenging. But there are times I’m sure I know who’s to blame and try to discipline accordingly. Except, lately I’ve come to realize I might not be the great culprit deducer I think I am…
Cat Food Bag Bandit
since Tabby has the reputation for being both a pig and a Shredinator I thought for sure it was her who had knocked over the unopened bag of cat food and chewed a hole in it to help herself.
But because I didn’t catch her in the act there was no sense scolding her. Instead, I filed the information. Lesson learned: don’t leave unopened bags of cat food on the floor.
The Ever-Empty Cat Food Bowl
Since Tabby and Mr. Meow are now friends I feed them in the same room. But Mr. Meow prefers to eat up on a table we have in the laundry room, whereas Tab doesn’t mind her bowl on the floor.
Murph tried to sneak Tab’s food (if she left any of it) a few times, but scolding him in the act curbed that.
Until recently, when it seems that bowl is always empty. And for a change I didn’t think Tab was to blame. But I hadn’t quite been able to catch Murph in the act. Seemed he was getting smarter and cleaning it out when I was out of the house.
Murph and Tabby: Blameless
Well, last week I’d made a Target run and had gotten a new bag of cat food. All I wanted to do was eat a little dinner before I put everything away so I left the cat food on the floor. Didn’t think there’d be any temptation in it since both Mr. Meow and Tab had plenty of food in their bowls.
But as I sat on the couch I heard a weird noise. A small crash of something falling over followed by a ripping…
“No Tabby!” I said, jumping up to find it wasn’t Tabby who’d just knocked over the bag and was trying to rip it open. It was Mr. Meow!
And then the other day I walked by the laundry room and was surprised to find Mr. Meow going to town eating out of Tabby’s bowl. Shocking because there was plenty in his still and they’re usually pretty particular about eating out of their own bowls.
Anyway, it made me realize that I’d been laying blame on the wrong pets. Again, as it was with the Christmas presents, Mr. Meow proved to be the culprit!
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