The Ice Cube Bandit

Before you even begin to question, this is about the cat… again. I know. It’s probably a pitiful life I lead, but it amuses me. So there.


Ever since I got married, my cat has been reacquainted with indoor living. Long ago when I first brought her home from the Humane Society, she was an inside kitty, but my Shoubi has always thought of herself as more of a barn cat. So after several years, we let her have her way, and she began living outside 24/7.


However when I got married, the house we moved into was not suitable for an outdoor pet, so she moved back inside. On the whole, she’s been quite happy with the new digs. She scratches the carpet, sheds on the furniture, and has someone to clean up her bathroom habits. What’s not to love?


As I stated in previous articles, Shoubi is also a tad on the not-well-adjusted side of life. Things strike her fancy in a very queer way, and its made living with her to be a very interesting learning experience. I’ve already told you the story of her attempt to rescue dishes from the plight that is my sink. Now I’m going to tell you another story.


And it begins inside my fridge.


Whenever we open the door to the refrigerator at our house, it sends out a summons and calls the cat from whatever room she is sleeping in and demands that she stand inside the bottom  to prevent us from closing the door. Apparently, the food is afraid of the dark, but the little man inside the fridge refuses to keep the light on unless the door is open.


Go figure.


Maybe he worries about my power bill as much as I do.


Shoubi doesn’t care how much it could cost me. She just wants us to leave the dang door open!


Needless to say, my husband and I have come up with several methods to either prevent her from getting inside the fridge at all or to back her out slowly once she’s already gotten inside.


The first measure is preventative, and its absolutely ridiculous. It consists of knowing exactly what you need and opening and closing the door so quickly that her keen kitty senses don’t have time to register the fact that there is a viable chance of intruding.


The second is used after the cat has already gotten into the coop, and it goes as follows: close the door. We simply close the refrigerator door and hope that she gets the message to back away. (Let me also note that this doesn’t really work. She will actually stay in there even with the door closed.)


And… that’s pretty much the only options we’ve come up with so far.


Well all that aside, I’ve always really wondered why she was so fascinated by the refrigerator, and tonight - I am proud to say - I figured it out.


I kind of feel stupid for not noticing it before.


She wants a piece of ice.


I kid you not, and I will repeat it for all the disbelievers out there. The cat wants a piece of ice, and she knows that they come from the general vicinity of the refrigerator. I discovered this because I noticed tonight when I was getting my own ice fix from the freezer that she was licking the small ice flurries that missed my cup and hit the tile.


A light switch turned on inside my head. It couldn’t possibly be this easy.


So, I waited twenty minutes and tried it again. Sure enough, her attention was diverted from the refrigerator by the ice cube.


I have now done this more than four times, and I’m beginning to think the cat may have another real problem.


Apparently, she’s addicted to ice cubes.


Who would’ve thought?!