Labra-kitty

Labradors are notorious for their alimentary prowess. I’ve personally known Labs who’ve eaten, among other things, shoes, snakes, broccoli, onions, rocks, umbrellas (the metal part), couches, napkins and more! Samson, our Labrador in Residence, is no exception. He has, however, mostly gotten over his “eating non-food items in the house” habit. He hasn’t eaten a sock in months!

Imagine my surprise the other morning to find one of my favorite slipper socks half-eaten. After a thorough investigation, however, the culprit turned out to be Nenya kitty! We came to this conclusion based on two items of evidence.

First – Though he sometimes acts like a B-A-D D-O-G (don’t say it out loud unless he is acting like one – it will make him feel quite awful), when confronted with evidence of his misbehavior (e.g. pointing to the bed he laid on while you were out) he cowers in the most pathetic manner. If you aren’t sure whether he ate the sandwich you left on the counter or was hanging out on the couch before you walked into the room, just stand by the item and look at him somewhat sharply. If he was a good dog he’ll stay his happy bone-headed self and never really note the stern look. If, however, he was being B-A-D he’ll cower instantly. When presented with the half-eaten slipper sock Sam sniffed at and licked it, but didn’t cower.

Second – Sam never eats “part” of a sock. In fact, he doesn’t even chew them. He ate our friend Abigail’s favorite wool socks and they slid through him unscathed. We know this because when they came out the other end, she washed and continued to use them. (EWE!)

Nenya kitty, on the other hand had been up and about during the night and I had a vague half-sleep remembrance of her doing “something” on the bed in the middle of the night. By process of elimination (I know it wasn’t me, my Christopher or Samson), that leaves the new baby as the only possible culprit. Cats do have a filthy affinity to things such as sweaty socks. When I was little, a cat of ours used to crawl into the laundry basket and suck on the armpits of dirty undershirts. Something to do with wanting to be close to us I guess.

So I’ll take Nenya’s demolition of my favorite slipper sock as a positive sign that she likes me. And from now on we are being more vigilant about keeping clothes and towels and such picked up!

BAD KITTY! Don't worry, you can say that one out loud - she's a cat and doesn't much care what you think.