Two Cats, One Bug

Let me start off by saying that I relocate spiders, daddy long legs but for some reason water bugs/palmetto bugs freak me out. I don't like to kill them but I'm too scared of them to trap them in a cup like I do a spider. (so this story doesn't end well for the bug)

I have a strict no cats on kitchen counter rule. Up until recently this has not been an issue. I hear a crash, so I run into my kitchen to investigate and I see Dexter in a cabinet--his weight has broken the shelf and cans of beans have rolled out of it but he's wedged himself in there anyway on the broken shelf and giving me the "What? I'm not on the COUNTER" look like this is absolutely normal. I'm puzzled by what made him not only break the counter rule but to open a cabinet--it is very un-Dexter. All of a sudden a humungous waterbug scurries out of the cabinet.

I shriek and Dexter gives me a look like, "Yay! I was looking for that!" and he deserts his broken shelf to go chase the bug. I debate getting a shoe but I figure that he will kill it--I mean he learned to open a cabinet to get to it.

Lucy jumps into the fray. Now this bug is running across my apartment followed by 2 cats. Dexter has a rule that if Lucy touches a toy before he does when I throw them for him to fetch then he won't play with it. Apparently that rule stands for waterbugs. When it would run, if Lucy got to it first and touched it, he'd walk away and wait for it to run again.

Meanwhile the thing burrows under my rug in the living room. In order to get to it, I have to move all my furniture off it. Before I can kill it, the bug makes a beeline for my kitchen and darts under the fridge. Both cats peer under the fridge and then decide it is too much trouble. At this point, I'm deciding if I want to move the fridge to get to it when it scurries back to the dining room. Dexter sees it first, then Lucy. They corner it and I think for sure that it is now dead but nope. I kid you not, they were both patting it on its head. Not smashing it but really gently patting with no claws just like I pat them.

Dexter sees me reach for my shoe so he picks the darned thing up and before I can stop him, he carries it to my bedroom and sets it free in there. Thankfully, by this point, the poor bug is not running as fast and I am able to put it out of its misery before it can reach the sanctuary of my messy walk-in closet.

I feel like my cats aren't living up to their end of the bargain. They are both rescues and I live up to my end of the deal. I feed them and give them shelter but they should handle the bugs that wander into my place. (preferably without breaking my kitchen cabinets and introducing the creepy crawleys to my boudoir)

Moved from GOLO