An Animal Moment

A few minutes ago, I walked into our kitchen to finish making the cup of tea I’d left brewing there. This is, of course, something that I’ve done hundreds of times before.

But this time was different, on two counts:

First count: Mo’i (our older male field spaniel) was sitting on the floor, happily munching away — on a plastic food bowl. We’ve had that dog food bowl for a long time, and nobody had ever molested it before. This morning, for whatever reason, Mo’i went after it. Thoroughly. It’s dead; just barely recognizable. It’s a good thing the rest of our bowls are solid steel. At least, I think it’s a good thing!

Second count: Tippy (an adult shorthair cat) was up on the kitchen counter with a look of kitty ecstasy on his face. His eyes were half-closed with happiness, and I thought I heard a little moan of pleasure. He was lapping away at my tea just as fast as he could! And no, there was no milk or sugar in it.

There was a slightly odd flavor to the tea, but that may have been my imagination…