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| Dr. Laritson |
Spencer Stories Second Edition
After a lot of requests, I’ve decided to pass along some more anecdotes involving our Bengal cat named Spencer. For those of you that missed the inaugural edition, Spencer was a foster cat “just for the weekend” in order to get his medication and wounds cared for. That was 2 years ago this past August and he hasn’t left yet! (In the first edition, I think I said 3 years
ago, I guess it seems like a real long time already.) He has an insatiable drive for food, especially anything that might involve butter. Like in the photo below, a pot of mashed potatoes is included in his list of favorites because they are made with milk and butter. But he is by no means limiting himself only to those types of items. The other day, as my wife was gathering the dry ingredients for pancakes, measuring each, and putting each back in the cupboard in an attempt to prevent cat thievery, she turned around to find Spencer with his head buried deep in the mixing bowl. Now remember, only dry ingredients no milk or eggs yet. Of course she yelled at the naughty Bengal who only left the scene when she started towards him, and as he ran away, he puffed clouds of flour from his nose and mouth like a flour breathing dragon.
Spencer is not above garbage picking. We routinely find him digging through the garbage if someone forgets to close the drawer. He has his favorites, like any meat scraps, so those go out to the garbage can in the garage immediately, but one item that he loves is the wrapper from the butter. We have found those licked clean in various hiding spots around the house. Lately, he’s even resorted to licking the box that holds the sticks of butter!
Spencer now has had a huge change in his life. No he hasn’t been banished to the basement, although that sometimes sounds like a good idea, but he does have to share his house with a canine. A big yellow Lab to be exact named Winnie. She is a foster as well, at
least still officially, although I fear another foster failure like Spencer, especially after being the cover family on the FVHA magazine. Spencer has made the transition remarkably well. He was even going to visit the dog frequently when we first got her and her kennel was down in the basement. We thought it was so cool that he was really curious and not afraid at all. Well, like most things with Spencer, his rapture wasn’t due to having a dog, but to having access to her food bag, which we found he had turned into a self feeder. He had very discreetly chewed a hole into the back of the bag so we couldn’t see it, and helped himself every time he went to “visit” her! Needless to say, he developed a rather large belly before we figured all this out. Now his efforts are being thwarted by a Sterilite plastic bin with a locking cover, but he still tries daily to figure out the lid lock. And as long as I give him a
kibble of her food every now and then, he is content to allow her to remain in “his” house. In fact, last night, both of them were working on the food bin together, joining in a common effort to
obtain more food. A brotherhood of sorts is developing between them in their quest for extra calories. When one gets something to eat, the other is not far behind. At least they are getting along, perhaps too well.
ago, I guess it seems like a real long time already.) He has an insatiable drive for food, especially anything that might involve butter. Like in the photo below, a pot of mashed potatoes is included in his list of favorites because they are made with milk and butter. But he is by no means limiting himself only to those types of items. The other day, as my wife was gathering the dry ingredients for pancakes, measuring each, and putting each back in the cupboard in an attempt to prevent cat thievery, she turned around to find Spencer with his head buried deep in the mixing bowl. Now remember, only dry ingredients no milk or eggs yet. Of course she yelled at the naughty Bengal who only left the scene when she started towards him, and as he ran away, he puffed clouds of flour from his nose and mouth like a flour breathing dragon.
Spencer is not above garbage picking. We routinely find him digging through the garbage if someone forgets to close the drawer. He has his favorites, like any meat scraps, so those go out to the garbage can in the garage immediately, but one item that he loves is the wrapper from the butter. We have found those licked clean in various hiding spots around the house. Lately, he’s even resorted to licking the box that holds the sticks of butter!
Spencer now has had a huge change in his life. No he hasn’t been banished to the basement, although that sometimes sounds like a good idea, but he does have to share his house with a canine. A big yellow Lab to be exact named Winnie. She is a foster as well, at
least still officially, although I fear another foster failure like Spencer, especially after being the cover family on the FVHA magazine. Spencer has made the transition remarkably well. He was even going to visit the dog frequently when we first got her and her kennel was down in the basement. We thought it was so cool that he was really curious and not afraid at all. Well, like most things with Spencer, his rapture wasn’t due to having a dog, but to having access to her food bag, which we found he had turned into a self feeder. He had very discreetly chewed a hole into the back of the bag so we couldn’t see it, and helped himself every time he went to “visit” her! Needless to say, he developed a rather large belly before we figured all this out. Now his efforts are being thwarted by a Sterilite plastic bin with a locking cover, but he still tries daily to figure out the lid lock. And as long as I give him a
kibble of her food every now and then, he is content to allow her to remain in “his” house. In fact, last night, both of them were working on the food bin together, joining in a common effort to
obtain more food. A brotherhood of sorts is developing between them in their quest for extra calories. When one gets something to eat, the other is not far behind. At least they are getting along, perhaps too well.
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