One of the reasons we like cats so much is their mischievous nature. But sometimes, their unpredictable behavior crosses the line and leaves their owners in a sticky situation.
Oregon-native Kate Felmet recently experienced this when she found out that her adopted cat Esme is a serial thief. The playful feline developed a habit of stealing things from other people and bringing them to her owner. And while this was an adorable gesture from the kitty, it was still wrong, so Felmet decided to take some action.
Felmet ousted Esme as a thief to everyone by putting a big sign in her yard. The sign had a drawing of Esme followed by a message “MY CAT IS A THIEF”. The woman also put up a clothesline filled with Esme’s spoils so people could take their stolen things back.
This immediately gave results as Esme stopped with thievery for the time being.
“As soon as I put the sign up, she went for a week of not bringing me anything,” Felmet said in a chat with KOIN. “I had the impression she was a little mad about it.”
According to Felmet, Esme started bringing stolen goods last spring. Her pickings included a variety of items, from bathing suits to packages of paint rollers and gloves, with the latter ones being her favorite target.
But despite publicly shaming Esme, Felmet didn’t intend to make her cat feel bad or discourage her playful behavior. With Esme hunting for gloves and masks, she doesn’t feel the need to attack small animals and birds.
“The gloves have mostly replaced Esme’s bird hunting,” Felmet revealed to Today. “She knows that she gets praise for bringing home gloves, and she knows she doesn’t get praise for bringing home birds.”