Look at this photo of Grendel.

Yes, I realize it’s terrible quality.  Keep in mind it was taken almost 10 years ago with a disposable camera.  Oh, and that roll of film got lost for two years due to a relocation.  So let’s move on.

Do you notice anything odd about what the photo shows?  No, I don’t mean all the toys.  I had just finished vacuuming and dumped the toys back on the floor when Grendel plopped down in the middle of the mess.  I snapped the picture before getting down there with him and putting in some serious fun time.

Seriously, do you notice anything odd?  Like a Starbucks drink carrier lying behind him?

Now look at this photo taken two days ago.

Like the one before it, the photo isn’t a very good image.  That’s my fault.  Can we just get over that already?

Notice anything odd in that picture?  Like a Starbucks drink carrier under Loki?

Those who have or have had cats know full well that the best feline toys often are not those purchased as playthings for the cats.  Truth be told, the best feline playthings often wind up being items never considered for the cats.  You know, like straws, bottle caps, and packing straps.

For some reason I’ve yet to fathom, cats are prone to seek out and find enjoyment from what really doesn’t belong to them, including garbage, and they do so with more fun in their hearts and mischief on their minds than is often the case with their own baubles.  These drink carriers represent just such a case.

Shortly after Loki and Grendel were first adopted, I happened to come home from Starbucks with coffee for Derek and me.  I took the coffee from the carrier before placing the recycled paper tray on the bar where I would later retrieve it and put it in the trash.  That was never going to happen.

Loki found it first and knocked it to the ground.  Then both he and Grendel proceeded to shred the tarnation out of it with predatory abandon normally reserved for the biggest kills, which in their cases tend to be palmetto bugs or Daddy.

That was 10 years ago.

They haven’t given up the habit since.

It’s rather odd with the two of them (the other cats neither like nor dislike the trays).  Grendel and Loki can demolish those things in a single sitting the first day it arrives, so I’ve often been forced to bring them home each day to keep a fresh supply rotating through the house.

Both cats like using it as a scratching post, a bed, a toy under which other toys can be hidden before being hunted, a toy to be batted about like the best catnip balls, and generally whatever other games they can come up with for them.  It’s strange.  Very strange.

But honestly, it’s not that bizarre for cats.  It’s in their personality.  One man’s garbage is a feline’s treasure…sometimes.