Chicksicles Anyone? Sharing a Meal With Felines!

Often I am highly amused with some of the creative questions I discover while indulging in one of my favorite hobbies; answering questions about cats. A couple of weeks ago I discovered one concerning a common feline behavior that had me laughing uncontrollably and I finally "grokked" that common Internet expression, "rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, (generally abbreviated as ROTFLOL). I was very close to doing it myself. But the question brought back some fond memories, way back when I was totally naive about cats and their quest for a tasty snack.

Photo credit: Serena Bowles
The asker queried, "So you just got home from work, and you're starving....? You take a piece of chicken out of the freezer (yeah you forgot to defrost it last night) and place it on the counter to defrost at least a little before you toss it in the pan. You sit down to check your email, and when you walk back to the kitchen, you realize your cats have been licking the chicken for oh . . . about a good 5 minutes. The question is . . . do you still eat the chicken . . . ?" She later added, "Important announcement: I totally ate the chicken and it was delicious."

I responded while trying to contain my peals of laughter, "Bon Appetite! At least you were able to salvage your supper. I think it is purrfectly fine. While I am sure you washed it before you cooked it anyway because raw chicken can be loaded with bacteria which "come back to life "in the defrosting process. So your cats might have been at greater risk of bacterial contamination than you were, since it was still raw. I am aware of the plethora of cat treats on the market, but this is the first time I have heard of 'chicksicles'.

"Years ago, before I realized that cats were likely to be attracted to thawing meat, I left four frozen lamb chops on top of the kitchen counter to defrost. Off I went to work and was gone for several hours. I hastened home to cook them, mouth watering in anticipation of a delicious meal. To my dismay, all that remained of this very expensive dinner were four bones, completely stripped of meat, amply scattered around our house and , of course, three cats wearing a Cheshire cat grin. Fortunately my husband had a great sense of humor so we headed out to our favorite local restaurant. You were indeed a very lucky lady to have been able to salvage your chicken dinner."

Get ready to ROTFLOL when you watch this video uploaded to YouTube by RodsChevrand.

Leave a comment and share how you would have handled a similar situation.