Bold and Voracious

Paros is overrun with stray cats!  Lauren adopted and brought home a kitten (actually, Len and I performed the actual transport, but whatever . . .) named Lucca (for both an Italian town and a sculptor). 

This cat is the crazy-hungriest I have EVER seen.  She attacks her bowl as if it's the first food she's seen in a week.  She loves eating more than a dog, and let me tell you, that's saying something.

Little Lucca still needs some training in the decorum department:

No, it's not good manners to have your kitty-self with your kitty-paws in the parents' fridge!

If she can get there first, Lucca will eat Dusty's food right out of his dish.

The crazy thing is that Dusty won't chase her away!  Poor puppy . . .

Once we rescue the bowl and present it to the dog, he will keep Lucca out of it.  In the picture below she is busy trying to consume a piece of stolen dog food.  It's too big, but she will keep at it until it's been pulverised and eaten.

Here's a bit of her passionate attempt.  Unfortunately, you can't hear Lucca's growling.  Yes, she sounds like a little lion when she thinks her food possession is being threatened.  Beware!

The latest trick of Lauren's little darling is retrieving choice bits from the trash can (she must get on the island first--yuck!) and dragging them back to her lair (the mudroom).  Last night she got blood all over the kitchen when she found the plastic that had wrapped a beef roast.  We're starting to lock Lucca up at night (mudroom or girls' room), but she's up to her antics even during the day.  Tonight I caught her pawing through the garbage while I was working in the kitchen!

The other night she knocked the lid off the cake keeper and nibbled on pound cake.

Last week she dragged a package of Afghan bread around, opened numerous holes in the bag, and chewed up various edges.

Before that she chewed her way into two foil-lined bags of doggy treats (now kept in plastic containers, thank you very much), consuming nearly everything inside.

I've wielded the water spritzer several times today, so I'm definitely not on Lucca's favorite person list (if growling and hissing are any indicator).  On the other hand, she can be affectionate and entertaining.  Maybe I'll be able to capture some video of her squawking while she watches the birds at the feeder--uniquely silly!

Now that our home is relatively calm, with our youngest child a mature six years old (!), I suppose it's time to have a new creature to train.  This bold, amusing, incorrigible, voracious, and affectionate kitten is presenting an interesting challenge.  Wish us luck!