Out in Right Field

Sometimes, it seems that the most similar cats at the Kitten Farm are Billy and Penwiper.  While different in appearance, both are athletic, self-assured, and seemly the most active hunters of the crew.   (Make no mistake, all are hunters, but Oscar and Whitey are quiet hunters).

And then there is hunting of the kitty treats we ritually pass out in the kitchen when we come home.

Whitey will go after the treats, but both he and Oscar often tend towards the Bob Uecker school of catching knuckleballs ("wait till it stops rolling and pick it up").   This is particularly embarrassing when a treat bounces off their nose to the floor.  ("Oh, that was for me?")

This leaves Penwiper as second only to Billy in fielding thrown kitty treats on the fly.  Billy always wants to catch treats on the fly in his mouth or paw.  The downside of his all-out effort is if he misses, he deflects it and the treat can end up in the next room.  Penwiper similarly extends real effort to not let a treat hit the floor, with a result he deflects even more than Billy.  At least they don't fly as far.

However, something has clicked: Penwiper is suddenly able catch some treats in his mouth.   I would not call his catches of what are effectively pop-ups highlight plays, but then again any catch by a cat is a highlight reel play.

Note: We tried to get video of this this morning and failed.   Was it timing (middle of the morning when we haven't left), location (upstairs), or karma (the boys don't do stupid pet tricks on demand), I don't know.  We'll try for video again during some more natural time.