So. I sleep in for almost two hours and wake up at about 7:30. Not bad. I get up, put on a kettle of water, contemplate bringing in the clean laundry from the machines, and head out to the backyard to check the doves' food and water. On my way, I wonder whether I ought to take Moon to see the vet, because he isn't showing any signs of appetite at all, and is pretty much ignoring me: very nearly one of the signs of the apocalypse, considering he's normally all over me pleading for breakfast the instant I wake up.

I open the door, step out, and see wing-feathers, tail-feathers, and a couple chunks of body-feathers. This is not a big deal; Moon's caught birds before. More power to him. It does, however, mean that I need to find the rest of the body before Heather wakes up and freaks out. So I walk out into the rest of the yard and pivot.

Bloody cat.

The door to the cage in the corner of the yard is hanging wide open. The cage is empty but for more feathers scattered inside it. There are feathers all over the yard, actually, in the trees and under bushes and half-buried in the gravel. And yes, the dove was in its cage the night before: I checked.

I go searching through the house for "presents" and find nothing. I search the backyard and find nothing. I take a peek over the side gate and find absolutely nothing. But with that many feathers gone there is no way Moon didn't get the dove.

Conclusion: he caught it, ate it, and that is why he does not want his breakfast.

Bloody cat.

Question: did he figure out how to open the cages? Siamese are known for being smart enough to figure these things out, and he does know how to open drawers, sliding doors, windows left open a crack, and boxes. Because the cage was shut and latched, and now it is open, and the cat is smug. And I have another cage of doves, and also Saiwe is used to going outside in a small cage to enjoy the sunlight and change of scene.

Did I mention that doves are Heather's favorite birds, and that she is going to notice awful quick that there's one fewer, and probably that there are locks on the present cages? Jen, too, for that matter.

Bloody cat.