Maurice goes feral!

Well, ok not exactly feral, but his behaviour was most out of character!

He is usually a very gentlemanly cat, with impeccable manners. Never flicks his food about (unlike the dear departed Clucky, who would dip an elegant paw into the bowl, extract a chunk of meat and nibble it daintily, completely oblivious to the specks of jelly or gravy that were now adorning the walls in sort of spatter pattern, slightly reminiscent of an early Jackson Pollock).

Admittedly, Maurice does sometimes overdo the chewing, putting his head to one side and chomping away with his back teeth as if he is tackling a haunch of wildebeest that he has managed to bring down single handed whilst it was drinking at the watering hole, but generally his "table" manners are beyond reproach.

However a short while ago I saw another side of him. I was browning some diced venison for a casserole and found a piece that was rather gristly. (I had bought it in Morrisons, cheaper than Lidl, but I think Lidl's is better quality). I took this piece out of the pan and put it on one side, remarking to Mr P that I would save it for Maurice, as he has never tried venison before.

This is not favouritism, by the way, Lily won't touch anything that isn't specifically labelled as cat food, and we have yet to find anything that Digby regards as a treat. Other than the air stone from the fish tank, but that's another story. Maurice on the other hand is known for his willingness to try anything, hence his love of Stilton, smoked salmon and (more recently) Toblerone He is also rather partial to bacon rind.

So, a few moments later Maurice popped into the kitchen to see what was happening. I put the browned, gristly piece of venison in his dish. He looked. He sniffed. He licked. Then, crouching low to the ground, he grabbed it and shot off to his lair, (well, under the hall table to be strictly accurate, but you know what I mean) where he proceeded to tuck in with gusto.

I was a tad surprised as he has always just eaten from his bowl, so I found another bit and again put it in his bowl. His reaction was just the same. I have given him the odd bit of various cooked meat before, and he has just eaten it without this sort of behaviour.

Now I know that venison is classed as game, and Maurice is a very bright chap, but I am at a complete loss as to why this particular meat should be treated so differently by him.

He sometimes leaves part of his "kill" on the doorstep for us, the odd vole, a disembowelled rat or a mouse's head.

We do occasionally get deer in the garden, do you think I should make some space in the freezer??