Crazed Crochez: Good Cat Gone Bad

Dear Ellen,
I wanted to let you know of a situation that has occurred since I was at your February 29th show. You see, this is the sad story (with a happy ending) of a really good cat gone (temporarily)bad. It is a difficult tale to tell because for the first five years of Misty's life, she has been no trouble at all. She doesn't talk back, she cleans up after herself, she contributes around the house by putting her toys in the just the right place. She has always been a pretty finicky eater....no people food, no wet cat food, no kitty treats; strictly a kitty kibble kind of kitty girl. All that was changed by visit to your show.

It started out well enough. We danced, we saw Stryker, we listened to your monologue, we danced some more, and then it happened. You announced your partnership in Halo and that we were all going home with an assortment of Halo products. It was exciting because gifts are a good thing, especially gifts for a best friend like my little Misty. We watched the rest of the taping; the guy who won a million dollars on the Price is Right, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Janet Jackson. It was great. As we piled out of the studio, we innocently picked up our bags of pet products, Janet Jackson's new CD, Dr. Wayne Dyers book and went on our way. There were cans of cat food, bags of cat food, bags of dog food and kitty treats. I was excited to bring them home because if they were from you, they were bound to be great. Little did I know that I was carrying home illicit, extremely addicting drugs to my sweet innocent Kitty Girl Misty.

In the bag were some freeze dried chicken treats that are certainly innocent looking enough. I mean they look like actual pieces of chicken. Like I said, Misty isn't a cat that eats much of anything other than her normal Kibbles. Misty was a little hesitant and tentative about eating the treats. She was interested and she wanted to try it but in her heart of hearts she knew it was not in her best interest to try it. The other cat in the house, Whiskers, an older cat that was already tainted by eating people food, wet food and kitty treats for her 16 years, just went ahead and gobbled the freeze dried chicken treats down. Unfortunately, things deteriorated quickly. Misty tried little bits of the "Funky Chicken" (I believe that's their street name) and it soon became all she could think about. She had become a Funky Chicken junkie. She spent her days guarding the container of Funky Chicken preventing Whiskers from getting close to it at all. In fact, after a day or two, the only place Misty would hang out is in the kitchen. Gang wars ensued...there was much hissing, growling and swatting. No way was Misty going to let Whiskers steal her drugs. I'm telling you, Ellen, it was getting ugly. My sweet, innocent Misty had turned into a thug. She would do anything for a Funky Chicken fix. After a few days, I knew if I didn't do something, I was going to lose my sweety girl to the darker side of kitty life. I decided that it was time to stage an intervention. It was a tough couple of days. Misty was mad, she wouldn't eat, she was in pretty rough shape. All I could do was support her through the tough times. We wouldn't even let Whisker's have any Funky Chicken, after all, Misty needs EVERYONES support. Misty is better now. She knows she can't have any Funky Chicken for a while(and let me tell you, Whiskers is pissed) although she does hold out hope when I open the cupboard where it is stored.

Things are back to normal, finally and I think she's found the next best thing in Spot Stew. Misty and Whiskers give it two paws up! I just thought you'd like to know what a hit your Halo pet food has been around the house.