Drat that Cat!

We adopted a cat a little over a year ago, he was a stray that someone who had a lot of cats took in, only to find that he didn't get along with other cats. Thankfully, he gets along well with dogs, which ultimately led to our adopting him. He is FIV positive, (the kitty equivalent to HIV), so we are trying to be responsible and not let him out any more, since he could infect other kitties. For the most part, we've all adapted nicely. The dog thinks that he's a built-in playmate, and he's a total enigma to our son. He's made it clear that he merely tolerates us because we feed him. He has a tendency to beg for food, even though he's well fed. I suspect that this goes back to his days as a stray when he wasn't sure when his next meal would arrive. He starts begging for dinner (we feed the critters around 6pm) at 3pm, and he starts begging for breakfast around 3am. He is VERY vocal. This is very annoying, especially at 3 in the morning. Point is, he loves food.

This brings us to today. My son has a little cabin fever due to the incessant rain of the past few days. He definitely needs his outside time every day or he starts to go a little batty. I took him grocery shopping today and when we got back from the store he wasn't prepared to be patient for me to put the groceries away. So, I quickly threw the frozen stuff in the freezer, and left the remainder of the groceries in their bags while I took my son outside to stomp in puddles in the drizzle. We were outside for about 20 minutes. We came back inside, and what did I find? Not the dog, but the CAT rummaging through the bags. I was already having a tough day, but this was icing on the cake! He actually broke into the chicken sausages I had bought and ate one of them. He must have thought he hit the jackpot! I was so proud of the dog, she was looking at me like "see? I didn't touch it, but did you see what the kitty did?". Unfortunately, you can't really punish a cat, so all I could do is pick up what was left of my groceries and go on with my already yucky day.

This is the thanks we get for taking in a stray cat...a very loud wake up call at 3am and a food thief. It's a good thing he's really affectionate and has so much personality, or he might have been looking for another new home by now!