How to Keep Your Cat Humble after Acquiring a Fortune of Packing Peanuts

No cats ingested or were given packing peanuts in the writing of this story

Early one morning I received a package from my mom. I brought it in from my rain-slicked porch and plopped down in front of it on the carpet to do a little unboxing with the cat. She jaunted over eagerly to her siren song: the sound of human fingers rustling around paper products.

After retrieving my gift, what was left over for my cat was a sizeable box filled with a heaping portion of packing peanuts — the equivalent of a pool filled with chocolate pudding drummed up in the mind’s eye of a human child. My cat had become part of the 1% in an instant from this windfall inheritance from grandma.

At first I didnt notice a significant transformation in her personality. But there were signs. It started with small behavioral changes, like swishing around in the box in the middle of the night keeping me awake, or not noticing me when I’d come home from work, traversing the perimeter of her cardboard spoils like a robber baron admiring his ill-gotten art collection.

But what started as tiny quirks, what I assumed was a temporary fixation with her newfound wealth, turned into some seriously concerning behavior.