Gross and Weird
No, this post is not about the governor of Illinois. Although your assumption was reasonable.
Rather, this morning I would like to reveal an odd thing about The Cat. The fact that she eats butter when she gets the chance isn't so weird. Who doesn't like butter? It's up there with bacon and pie for sheer nummy goodness. And as Dame Judi pointed out, it helps with hair ball control. Always a good thing.
We had hoped our new cat would be a hunter like Phoebe. Turns out she is, but not in the way we'd desired. The Cat hunts worms. With deft skill she finds the longest, fattest worm in the garden and then, much to the disgust of The Child, she brings it into the house. Then she plays with it. She pats it with her paw and watches in amazement as it wiggles around. She nudges it with her nose. She gently lifts it with her paw and tosses it into the air. Sometimes she'll get up on her hind legs so she can bat it around a few times before it drops. Then she nudges it again. This repeats for a bit until she decides to bite it. She usually does a few test bites before snapping the thing in two. Or three. At this point she loses interest, leaving what is left of the poor tortured annelida to dry out, only to be discovered later by the completely grossed out Child.
Last night we watched her play with a worm for a good 10 minutes. As soon as it was dead she went outside and came right back with another one. It's like she's got her own personal worm farm out there somewhere. Why she is compelled to bring them into the house I'm not sure. I guess the lighting is better.
It is a weirdly fascinating habit and I suppose finding the occasional dessicated worm isn't nearly as foul as finding bird or rat guts...which is what Phoebe liked to leave behind. But still.
Eeeewww.
Rather, this morning I would like to reveal an odd thing about The Cat. The fact that she eats butter when she gets the chance isn't so weird. Who doesn't like butter? It's up there with bacon and pie for sheer nummy goodness. And as Dame Judi pointed out, it helps with hair ball control. Always a good thing.
We had hoped our new cat would be a hunter like Phoebe. Turns out she is, but not in the way we'd desired. The Cat hunts worms. With deft skill she finds the longest, fattest worm in the garden and then, much to the disgust of The Child, she brings it into the house. Then she plays with it. She pats it with her paw and watches in amazement as it wiggles around. She nudges it with her nose. She gently lifts it with her paw and tosses it into the air. Sometimes she'll get up on her hind legs so she can bat it around a few times before it drops. Then she nudges it again. This repeats for a bit until she decides to bite it. She usually does a few test bites before snapping the thing in two. Or three. At this point she loses interest, leaving what is left of the poor tortured annelida to dry out, only to be discovered later by the completely grossed out Child.
Last night we watched her play with a worm for a good 10 minutes. As soon as it was dead she went outside and came right back with another one. It's like she's got her own personal worm farm out there somewhere. Why she is compelled to bring them into the house I'm not sure. I guess the lighting is better.
It is a weirdly fascinating habit and I suppose finding the occasional dessicated worm isn't nearly as foul as finding bird or rat guts...which is what Phoebe liked to leave behind. But still.
Eeeewww.
cobbled together by Moi at 6:56 AM
18 Comments:
The Child has every right to be grossed out. You need to nip that nasty habit in the bud.
Don't ask me how.
This would really be for a good video.
Oh, come on now, they'll sweep up nicely when they dry out completely.
The worms.
Not The Child.
Did someone say pie?
The Cat seems to be more of a torturer than a hunter...although I'm sure The Cat is grudgingly impressed by those brave, stoic little soldiers...nary a scream nor a wimper...won't even give up name, rank & serial number.
oh that is cute. The Cat is learning!
The 'Worms in Butter Sauce' market has gone largely unexplored by the cat food industry.
We could get in on the ground floor here!
Slightly disgusting, but way better than rodent carcasses! Stepping on one of those barefoot at the crack of dawn is pretty nasty.
Ba Ha Ha Ha (Note no w)
(Insert yesterdays reply here.)
Snicker snicker snicker.
Peace
:+}
....and then there is the outside chance that there will be minuscule worm parts on that butter....not to mention the bath thing that cat's do when they "play the cello." Sorry....my cats jump on the table at meal time, lick my milk bottle lid, put their paws in anything edible....but the good thing is, they are all inside cats and only have indoor bug guts laying around. They also sleep with me and give my left arm a bath every night.
I'll see your worms and raise you lizards.
The squeegee-like thing that acted as a windbreak on the bottom edge of my front door was badly installed and gave up the ghost ages ago, thus rendering the house vulnerable to occasional incursions by small reptiles...of which my yard seems to have a plenitude, due in part to having a lot of stonework upon which to bask during the day. I can't tell you how many little lizards I've rescued from the cats...or how many dessicated little carcasses I've found when I sweep.
The most fun, of course, is seeing one of the cats playing with something small, and finding out when I investigate that the lizard has already escaped...but its tail is still twitching on the floor...
Ew.
I'd MUCH rather find a worm than find bird or rat guts!
Still, are you sure you don't want to make her an indoor cat now? :)
P.S. I linked to you on my blog today--I had to give credit to the word "sneezles." *grin*
oh, that IS yuck. does she also catch rodents for the neighborhood? (Anna-Aliza)
See, that's exactly the problem, JP...how to nip. Cats are not nearly as into the whole learning thing as dogs are.
Sage, trust, if I'd been near my camera...but the action was between me and it and sure as I'd gone to get it, she woulda stopped, just to be a cat.
That's the truth, Anne. Which is part of the reason it doesn't gross me out quite as much as it does The Child.
And yes, we need pie.
MNF, right? It's pretty sadistic. Too bad the new administration isn't going to have call for that level of "interrogation". Geez, thank heaven she hasn't thumbs...I couldn't handle it if she was waterboarding the poor things.
She is a smart thing, Lost, although her talent would be better served going after vermin. Assuming, of course, the whole not bringing them into the house thing.
Sling, I've got $27 and a canner. Write up a business plan and let's make this happen!
Amen, Cuz. Amen.
Anonyba...snicker indeed.
Ok, thanks for that, Rosie. I think I'm now officially off food for the foreseeable future.
Syd wins.
MHP, unfortunately, there's no putting that particular genie back in the bottle...
And I'm sorry you have sneezles, but at least you have a cute word for it.
Moo G, we're hopeful that she's using the worms as training at that by her 2nd birthday she will be as fierce and protective a hunter as Phoebs was. Meanwhile, are you going to start blogging? Are you? Are you?
Maybe the worms are simply an "amuse bouche" for the cat.
Buck has been watching too much Top Chef
(gets some pie for Buck and Anne)
i'm scared of worms. i can't even think about this. BLEHHHH
my dog used to love butter too. if you left a stick of butter out, you might find it buried in your bed later. she buried stuff in our beds ALL THE TIME. she also used to bury ice cubes...
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