We are we are we are the engineers

After feathers, pom poms, and other Things on Strings, Billy's favorite toy in the whole world is the filter for our cat fountain. We were reminded of this this weekend when, while cleaning the upstairs fountain, Drew discovered that it had been running without any filter at all for some indeterminate period. We think he must have grabbed it when one of the humans was filling the reservoir, but we aren't sure.

An even more dramatic reminder came this morning. I'm sitting in bed reading the paper when I hear a rattling noise in the hall. It's Billy, playing with the cap from the downstairs fountain. (This is a piece of molded plastic that covers the reservoir and the filter.) Hmmmm....... I head downstairs, where I find the filter, surrounded by wet spots, on the carpet in the front hall. Hmmmm..... Once I get to the fountain itself, I discover that it is unplugged, and pulled out from the wall a bit.

Putting the pieces together, I think this was a team effort. Whitey unplugged the fountain, which I've seen him do before. (Unplugging involves pulling the wire loose from the transformer, not pulling the transformer out of the wall.) This made the water stop cascading down. Billy then stuck his paw into the now dry space (Where'd the water go? Meow!) and popped off the cap, giving him access to the filter.

As a cat valet, I'm annoyed. As an engineer, I'm impressed, and profoundly grateful that they don't have thumbs. Then we'd really be in trouble.