Karnak Street Kats

Betsy was a small, tortoiseshell, female cat that joined a household of more dogs than cats. Betsy liked the dogs better than the cats. She enjoyed their company and had no fear of them.

One Christmas we noticed that the glass ball ornaments if the Christmas tree were being destroyed one by one. We found them on the floor all over the den smashed to bits. We blamed a cat since the ornaments came from the middle of the tree, but didn't know which cat was the culprit. I found out one day when I returned from shopping to hear the crunch of an ornament breaking.

I tiptoed to the den door and peeked in. Betsy was sitting on the back of an overstuffed chair pulling an ornament off. She pulled the ornament onto the back of the chair, then looked at the dogs who were all grouped in front of the chair. Betsy looked at them, then gave the ornament a bat that sent it careening across the room. The glass ball did not break when it hit the floor but rolled along the rug toward the wall. The ornament never made it to the wall. The dogs were in hot pursuit. The first dog to reach the ball pounced with both feet and the ornament collapsed into a pile of glittering shards.

Betsy waited until the dogs had killed the ornament and returned to the chair before she selected another glittering ball. She followed exactly the same procedure, and the dogs happily destroyed another ornament. I decided that was enough. I shooed all of them out of the den and closed the doors. The mystery of the ornaments had been solved.