This strategy worked for a short time, but Cloud was determined to find another way to get the dog’s attention. That’s when he realized that all of Puddles’ love and devotion were going to his yellow rubber chicken. He was always playing with it.

One day, while Grandma and Puddles were playing fetch, she threw long, and the chicken accidentally landed in the bathtub. Cloud saw this as an opportunity to strike. He ran laster than Puddles and hopped into the tub before the dog even knew what was going on. Puddles began to sniff frantically for his toy. He knew it went that way. When he finally caught onto the scent, he realized where it had landed. As soon as he leaned his face over the side of the tub, WHAP! Cloud, who was sitting on the chicken, smacked him right in the face.

That began the Great Chicken War. Every opportunity unity after that, if Cloud noticed Puddles had left the chicken unattended. he would strike. Sometimes, the dog would run around the house for a ten minutes looking for his chicken.

But Cloud’s favorite time to attack was when Puddles was You see, the dog wasn’t allowed to take his toys outside because he would never bring them back in. He would just drop them in front of the door in order to be able to grab them easier on his way in. We had a fenced-in back yard and a door that led right to it from our house, so the dogs were allowed to run around for a while, and then they’d scratch at the door when they wanted in.

So, whenever Puddles was outside and staring in through the glass, Cloud would Come over and sit right next to the chicken, just letting Puddles know that he could touch it whenever he wanted to. He would stretch over it, slap at it, and even lie on top of it. Thinking back on it now, maybe it was also Cloud’s way of being spiteful because the dogs were allowed outside, and he wasn’t.

After peaceful negotiations — also known as the purchase of an additional chicken — the Great Chicken War came to an end. That wasn’t to say Puddles didn’t steal whichever chicken Cloud dared to sit by to add to his growing toy horde, but things were far less tense between the two. It was no longer the end of the world for Cloud to touch the chicken.

Eventually, lan and I moved away from Grandma’s house, and Cloud became an only child. He seemed nervous at first, but quickly became his crazy self again, only now we are the targets. He always knows how to make me feel better with his crazy antics. I may not have known it when I first saw him, but he was exactly what I needed. And he even outgrew his funny looks and became quite the handsome cat! I wouldn’t change him for the world.