My Stupid Cat

For several weeks now, our cat Daisy has been "adopting" stuffed animals in our house. Not just any stuffed animals, either. The kids all have Webkinz, a very special stuffed animal that comes with a code that, when entered on their website, allows them to play in a virtual world, create environments for their pet, earn play money to buy supplies and clothes and furniture for their pets, and so on. They remind me of Beanie Babies, but with the computer-age twist. You get the idea.



I began to notice the "adoptions" one day not long ago when Daisy brought Logan's chipmunk Webkinz to my bed and began to play with it. I was afraid she would tear it up, so I hid it under the covers and went back to sleep. The next day, she brought the same toy back to the bed, and I again hid it from her and went back to sleep. That afternoon, I encouraged Logan to hide it or put it somewhere that she couldn't get it. He put in on a bookshelf in the living room, and she left it alone. The next day, she brought Ryan's chocolate lab Webkinz to the bed, same story. By the next week, we noticed that no matter where the kids put the toys, she would go find them and drag them all over the house.



I soon grew tired of trying to keep the toys away from the cat, and she got tired of us hiding them from her (she eventually found the one on the bookshelf and abducted it), so we came up with a compromise.

Sacrifice one to save the others.



The kids decided they could part with the Panda, which, ironically, could pass as Daisy's baby. She's happy, the other Webkinz have been spared (sort of - she had the chipmunk again this morning), and I don't have to hide the only thing she really plays with from her.