Scamp, You Are a Weird Little Dude

   I have several friends who live with cats. (I don't say own cats because it is impossible to own a cat.) Sometimes we talk about our cats or cats we have known. I usually have at least one Scamp story. No one seems to have a cat like Scamp. Almost everyone finds the Scamp stories entertaining.
  He is by far the most interesting cat I've known. For one thing he has a very expressive face. Yes, you can sometimes tell what a cat is thinking or feeling by looking at their face. When Scamp smells something that he doesn't like, he wrinkles up his nose and starts to move backward away from the smell. I've never seen a cat scrunch his or her nose up before. I don't know how he does it. It's not like there is a lot of loose skin on a cat nose.
  His eyes are expressive too. He's the only animal I've ever met that can and will give you a dirty look. He does something with those green eyes of his that let you know that he's not happy and if it weren't for the fact that he doesn't have claws, he be tearing something up. He can also look sleepy, annoyed and serious.
  The most interesting part about Scamp is not his looks. (although he might disagree with you if you ask hm.) The way he acts is the most interesting thing about him. When he was a kitten he used to squirrel hop. When he ran he would sometimes hop like a squirrel does. I've never seen a cat do that before. Of course now that he is an adult, he has given up some of his kittenish ways. He also, for a short period of time, liked to play fetch with a sparkle ball. He really would retrieve the ball and bring it back.
  He does things that I've never seen a cat do. One of the things he does is lick plastic. It is not unusual to see him intently licking a plastic grocery bag or a garbage bag. Sometimes he licks the garbage bags that in the garbage cans. If he sees a little bit of bag hanging over the edge of the can, he licks it. Sometimes he gets so into licking plastic that he ignores things like mealtime. I asked the vet about this because I was concerned. This is something that cats do sometimes. I still find it strange.
   Back when he was the  C.H.C. (Chief House Cat) and responsible for the safety of those in the house, he took his job very seriously. He had to investigate all glasses. He would kick them over to make sure they were empty. Sometimes the glass still had something in it and would spill all over the floor. If the contents were milk, he would lap a little of it up. The rest would be left for us to clean up when we discovered the mess. We learned quickly not to leave any glasses full or empty around the house.
   I have tried to discipline him. One time he kept darting outside. It's not safe for him to be outside unless he is on a harness and lead. One winter I thought I'd try to discourage him from darting by taking him outside. It was very cold and there was a lot of snow. I tossed him gently into a snowbank. I thought the cold, wet snow would discourage him. On the contrary, he didn't seem to mind it much. I brought him inside where he cleaned himself off and then went to take a nap. Not even a little upset.
  He's afraid of balloons. I remember getting C a squirrel shaped balloon that said "Nuts About You" on it. Scamp would run away from the balloon. I put it in a bedroom and when he'd go into the bedroom he'd creep in slowly looking carefully for the balloon. If he saw it, he would freeze in place and then slowly back away from it. I think this is why he is afraid of the exercise ball that we have. He sees it as a gaint balloon. He's all right as long as the ball doesn't move. When it does he runs and hides until it is gone.
  He has strange taste in food. He likes cows milk, but not almond or soy milk. He loves ice cream. If we go to Dairy Queen and bring home something he can get aggressive in insisting that we share what we have with him. He also has a fondness for ricotta cheese. Other cheese do not interest him.
  He likes baked good. His favourite is muffins. The last two days I have found a package of muffins we have on the floor. I'm sure he knocked it down to try to get into it. One times we bought a package of corn meal cakes. We didn't close the package tightly. As a result Scamp ate part of one cake and liked off the top of another cake. He has chewed through plastic to get at hamburger buns we have bought. If you offer him the paper that you take off a muffin before eating it, he will lick it clean and then come after you for more.
  One time I came home from work and found him on the kitchen cupboard with his head in a grocery bag sitting on one of our kitchen stools. I walked over to see what was in the bag. It was marshmallows. Scamp had chewed through the plastic bag and had eaten about a fourth of one marshmallow and was working on eating another one. I couldn't believe it. I've never ever seen a cat eat a marshmallow before. No one believes me when I tell them this.
   His many idiosyncrasies  can make him a hard cat to live with. He's certainly tested our patience many times. Yet, there is something endearing about the little guy. He seems to know when we are down or sick and comes to us and purrs. He has a loud but soothing purr. One time when Elin was visiting and was upset, Scamp jumped on her lap and stared to purr. He usually doesn't interact with anyone except C and me. I think his desire to comfort another creature was stronger than his fear of strangers. It's those times that make up a bit for the times when his behavior is less than ideal.
  Sometimes when he does something that isn't very catlike, I shake my head. Scamp is a weird little dude, but we love him.