Pepsi Challenge

The other night, using the throw from our bed draped over one of our armchairs and with a cushion to prop up an opening, Michelle created a tent for Fudge. We left her to purr and sleep peacefully there for quite a while in there, at least 10 -15 minutes before we felt the urge to lunge our attention on her.

Michelle was the instigator, as she is more often than not of the attention giving/torment and commentated that within a few seconds of her hand blindly probing the inside of the makeshift tent that she felt a sharp and all too familiar nip on her hand. Fudge had bitten her hand.

Now this may seem a terrible thing and some of you may be imagining that this story has taken a turn to one of blood and tetanus shots, however you would thankfully be mistaken. A ‘bite’ from Fudge is not for want of causing harm or tasting blood but rather a simple warning born out of irritation. Her mouth and the teeth within will simply grab your hand sharply and never remotely threaten to break skin or even leave a trace that there had even been a bite at all. To put it simply Fudge’s bites exist purely due to the lack of opposable hands with which to grab (though she does slap at times), and the ‘grab’ is what Michelle’s hand was on the reviving end of underneath that tent.

After withdrawing her hand with pouted lip I then proceeded to enter my hand into the tent for reasons of pure curiosity as to whether Fudge had indeed launched her attack unprovoked as Michelle had claimed or whether it was the result of some loving jabs at the baby kittens sleeping person. My hand ventured in and just as Michelle had said I quickly felt a shift as Fudge’s head moved towards the intruder in her makeshift sanctuary. I felt the quick teeth on hand only for a second before they quickly loosened and were replaced by a cold nose and then the familiar sand paper tongue. Michelle surmised that she must have startled Fudge and that the sleepy cat had been to disoriented to recognise what had awoke her and attacked on instinct. Again our hand swapped places and sure enough the now undeniably awake Fudge sniffed Michelle’s hand and promptly bit it again. We followed this routine a few more times and met with the same results, even placing my hand on top of Michelle’s and vice versa.

It was like the Pepsi challenge and I was Pepsi. Coca-Cola was gutted.