How Moon Became a Kitchen Cat

I adopted Moon from outside a Walmart when he was 5 weeks old and the size of my hand. His mother was a feral cat who I suspect taught him to forage. In garbage cans.

Without fail he knocked over our kitchen trash every single night. He carried around discarded food in his mouth, most often banana peels that were bigger than he was. He defended those banana peels with his life,  growling at his big brother if he came near.

When I cooked he used the kitchen drawers like a ladder, climbing up them to cling to the edge of the counter and mew his little head off.

Holding on for dear life with his little mouth open like a baby bird I would put little pieces of lettuce, cheese or whatever I was making that was safe for him to eat in his mouth.

His food bowl was never empty of cat food. He could eat all day if he wanted to.

Fast forward to adult Moon who is never far from the kitchen. Kind of like his Mom. When he hears the fridge open he comes running to help you look in it.

He might be part dog, because he begs just like one.

I can’t leave food unattended because he’s been known to:

• Stick his paw in cream cheese frosting on top of cupcakes then lick it off his paw. Just like a kid.
• Steal lettuce leaves out of the salad bowl.
• Jump up and bite my pizza while the other end is in my mouth.
• Steal the top piece of bread off my sandwich and carry it away.
• Sit on pizza boxes when pawing them open doesn’t work.

He’s tall enough to stand upright and put his paws on the edge of the kitchen table to check out what your eating.

Did I mention his little pink piglet nose? He sticks it up and sniffs when the aroma of food is in the air.

He keeps me company when I spend long hours in the kitchen cooking for this blog. Like a sous chef.

Maybe it’s wrong to say Moon became the Kitchen Cat when it’s obvious he was born this way.

It was destiny that day outside of Walmart when a cat with a love of food met a future food blogger. Fated.

Do you have a cat story to share?

The Purina Cat Chow Real Stories Project is a nationwide search to find, showcase and celebrate cat stories that highlight the special relationships between cat people and their cats, as well as the many ways our cats are always there for us.

From now until July 31, Purina Cat Chow is asking you to share your story at YourCatStory.com for an opportunity to be one of five grand prize winners who will each receive a $5,000 cash prize, a one year supply of Purina® Cat Chow® brand cat food for one cat, and have their cat relationship story told through a Purina Cat Chow brand online video.

Five cat stories will be selected as the grand prize winners of the Purina Cat Chow Real Stories Project and will each receive a $5,000 cash prize, a one year supply of Purina® Cat Chow® brand cat food for one cat, and have their cat relationship story told through a Purina Cat Chow brand online video. Five runners-up will get a $1,000 cash prize each and one year supply of Purina® Cat Chow® brand cat food for one cat. In addition, 40 honorable mention stories will receive a $100 gift card.

Connect with Purina on Facebook.

Disclosure: Purina® Cat Chow® partnered with bloggers such as me to help educate us all about their Real Stories Project. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to say. Purina Cat Chow believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Purina Cat Chow’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.