ENGLAND – If you have ever lost a sock or two, a draught excluder or toy fluffy elephant then Milly, Exeter’s hoarding cat, might just be able to help.
Milly is the ten-year-old pet of Angie Hannaford, who is 53, of Ivy Close Wonford who has been left flummoxed by the weird collection of treasure her pet is bringing home.
Angie has six cats in total – Garfield, Patch, Harry , Roxy and Willow being the others – but Milly is the only one who brings home the everything from the weird to the wonderful.
Milly takes a break between collections
Angie stated: “I have had her since she was a kitten and she has always been a bit of a collector, the odd glove or sock, but for some reason it has suddenly become a lot worse.
“One of the most recent things was the strangest – a long draught excluder.
“How she managed to get it up the street I just don’t know and I would think anyone who saw her pulling a draught excluder along must have wondered what was going on.
“She just brought it home and dropped it at the front door.
“I have asked to stop doing it but she can’t. She is a funny cat and we love her to bits
“Recently she dropped a little pink piggy at the front door and a small fluffy duck at the back door.
“She likes dusters and she loves ducks. I have three of them which she has collected along with two fluffy parrots, three elephants, somebody’s cap, one slipper and a pair of socks.
“Oddly she brought one sock one day and came back with the matching sock the next.
“I even had a new ball of knitting wool which still had the label on.”
“I have no idea where it is all coming from and have tried Facebook in an effort to reunite them with their owners – but although people laugh there has been no response.
“I have given some to charity shops.
The two elephants
Angie who also owns two dogs; Misty and Shadow, said that Misty was quite happy with Milly’s work.
“He has adopted one or two of the fluffy toys that have arrived.
Toys galore brought home by Milly
There are various theories as to just why cats hoard items
One suggests that cats truly do think and believe they are the superior species. By default, this would surely suggest that we humans are inferior and need tending to. This concept just might be further developed when cats see people cleaning their litter boxes and never hunting. If this is indeed true, the gift is the cat’s way of saying they will take care of their humans, even if their humans don’t appreciate it.
Some of Milly’s toy collection
Yet another theory suggests that these gifts are given in appreciation for everything the human does for the cat.
Milly’s draught excluder
And then there is the idea that cats just simply enjoy collecting things showing off their “prey” as if to remind humans that we aren’t really a necessity in the feline world.
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