It’s really funny, the things that give our kittens the crazies.

I’ve written about the lotion, and the mouthwash, and Oneal’s sweat. Each time I’ve bought new lotion, I’ve tried going into the cattery after using it, to see how the kittens react. But so far they’ve been only normal crazy, not ridiculous crazy.

Until Monday.

I worked from home, catching up with chores and writing. Because of the recent rains, mosquitoes were fluttering around the house. I got a mosquito patch and stuck it onto my shorts.

In the evening, after dinner, Oneal and I went into the cattery to feed the cats. As usual I sat in my chair, and Furriosa and Blondie jumped onto my lap.

As usual they started sniffing me. I expected Furriosa would settle down, while Blondie would stay for a few minutes before running off to play. Instead, they went for the mosquito patch, trying to paw at it and sniff it and bury their faces in it! They got quite frantic, their claws digging into my clothes and my skin! They started writhing on my lap, the way cats do when they’re in heat. It was funny and a little alarming!

Oneal pried them off me, and I hurried out of the cattery before they could follow. As I stood outside the door, the two kittens sat before me, looking up expectantly. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”

We checked, and it seems citronella oil, an active ingredient in the patch, isn’t harmful to cats. In fact, it’s used as a repellent, like other citrus scents. So why did it drive them crazy? Even funnier, Samwise paid the patch absolutely no attention!

These kittens are strange.