Yes, my cat is named "Pinkie"

I adopted my current cat Pinkie as a rescue back in April 2004, and we made our first trip to the farm just a few months later. Well, that sentence sounds strange unless you know that my family has a small farm out in Shiner, Texas. It’s been in the family for close to 100 years now, and we like to use it as a retreat, although we tend to do much more working than relaxing while we are there.

Anyways, with Pinkie in tow, I called my mother to make sure that the house was cat proof. Members of my family would cringe to see me write this, but we’ve seen our share of mice in Shiner. They like to conduct chariot races from time to time, so we act accordingly. With an inquisitive cat on the prowl, however, our “equipment” needs to be put away. My mother promised me that all was in order.

The weekend started off great. I don’t remember what we did exactly, just that it was stress free. Pinkie was having a blast as she ran thru the house to sniff every nook and cranny. Then, while I was sitting in the living room watching the TV channel out of Victoria, I heard the wildest commotion erupt. It sounded like the farmhouse was under an aerial assault, but everything seemed to focus on this erratically moving object that was zipping thru the rooms. It took me a good minute before I realized that it was my cat. By the time I cornered her, she was hyperventilating with her eyes bulging out. One entire side of her body was stuck to a rat trap made of plastic and extremely sticky glue. Looks like mom missed something.

I was clueless on how to fix this situation. In a clinic setting, I could easily reach out for sedation and get her to calm down before she entered a metabolic crisis, but my drugs were hundreds of miles away. The most I could figure is to try applying firm pressure and slowly peel it off. Visions of a skinless Pinkie filled my mind. Just as I took a deep breath to pull it off, Pinkie bolted again.

As luck would have it, during this next episode of frantic sprinting, Pinkie plowed thru one of our decorative piles of extension cord – and the sticky trap stayed behind! She finally stopped underneath one of the beds, relieved to have the plastic off of her body. She looked so pitiful with patches of missing hair and steaks of golden glue running along her body. The worst of it over, I cradled my shaking feline and set to researching the remedy.

As it stands now, I now know what to so in such a situation. If fact, about a year ago, I actually had a phone call regarding this very problem. The glue comes out with vegetable oil! I always chuckle when I think back to that, and how Pinkie smelled like popcorn for weeks thereafter. She also didn’t leave my side for at least a month – some folks ask me how they can turn their cat into a lap cat – this method worked for me, but I don’t recommend it.