The Story of Artex and the Christmas Stocking

I thought since it's Christmas, I'd share a funny story about my cat Artex and his Christmas stocking.

Last year, Matthew found it hard to believe my cat understands Christmas. He really does though! When I decorated for the holidays last year, I placed our stockings on our dining room mantle. Early on, I had already got Artex an assortment of toys/treats and filled his stocking up. It was up for well over a week and he never bothered with it until early Christmas morning. Matthew and I woke to the sound of jingling bells from him poking at the stocking from a chair below. He wanted his toys because he knew he was allowed them now.

That was last year, now let's talk this year. A much more entertaining story. I was a little slow on getting his toys/treats this year so they have only been in his stocking for a few days. I filled his stocking on Friday night after getting all the items and instead of hanging them this year, we just left them under the tree.

Well Saturday morning, I almost crushed his stocking sitting beneath me on the bed. Somehow it managed to make it's way into the bedroom and I know it didn't grow legs and walk in there. At first, I thought Matthew was playing a trick on me because the stocking was rather large and a bit heavy for a small cat to drag around the house.

I put it back under the tree where it belonged and went about our day. Sunday morning, I woke up to the stocking in the dining room. Nothing out of it (it was stuffed rather well) but it still had made it's way from under the tree.

I put it back again, this time in a different spot. Matthew woke up a short time later and we eventually had a nice breakfast. While sitting in the living room watching tv, Artex started sniffing all the presents and eventually made his way back to his stocking again. He pawed at it for a while trying to get it down from where I had put it on top of other things and then suddenly he took off running with the stocking in his mouth! I couldn't believe it!!!

He stopped in the kitchen and continued trying to get things out of the stocking, but had no luck (There's a box of treats basically stuck in there). I picked up the stocking again and put it back higher under the tree hoping he'd leave it alone and for the most part he did.

The day went on as normal and then in the wee hours of the morning, Artex woke us up fighting with the stocking again!!! Matthew woke up and put the stocking on the mantle and went back to bed. When I woke up for work today, I was stared down from the moment I woke up until the minute I left. He's mad we took his stocking away! I kept telling him he could have it tomorrow though!

Currently, the stocking is on the mantle in our dining room. In theory, he shouldn't be able to reach it but he's a clever little cat. I can only imagine how hard he's trying to get it down!

The moral of today's story - If you buy your pet presents.... put them in a very high location until Christmas!!!!