It’s not every day that your cat is on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”
My cat does something that most cats do not – he steals. To my family, his name is Dusty, but around the world, he is known as “Dusty the Klepto Kitty.” He has stolen more than 1,000 items from my neighbors since 2008. He has stolen many gloves, sponges and towels, as well as clothing including socks, underwear and a pair of pajama pants. He has brought back random items as well, such as umbrellas, frisbees and various types of toys.
Dusty was about two years old when he first began his stealing pattern. At first, my family and I didn’t realize he was the one bringing home all of these items onto our front lawn. He was a pretty normal cat beforehand, besides the fact that he liked corn and ham a lot. Occasionally, he would enjoy playing fetch with rubber bands.
Once we realized it was actually Dusty stealing these items, it became known throughout the neighborhood that if they were missing anything, we were the house to go to. We never thought this would turn into much more, but as the weeks and months went by, there was an increasing number of items that did not belong to us. Eventually, our house looked like a lost and found since my mom never got rid of anything that Dusty brought.
As the piles kept growing, my mom thought my cat could actually make it on People Magazine since she had seen a cat on there previously who was similar to Dusty. She contacted them and he ended up being featured in People Pets Magazine online. Afterwards, we were satisfied he made it and thought of doing nothing else. Later, my mom was contacted about having Dusty being on a new Animal Planet show called “Must Love Cats.” They came to my house to film him and it was very interesting to see behind the scenes.
As time went on, more offers came to have Dusty appear on their show, which eventually led up to my mom receiving a call from someone that they would like him and my parents to come be on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” They flew my whole family and Dusty out to New York to be on his show in February. My sister and I had to stay in the green room since we were both under 18 years old, but we did get a glimpse of Amy Poehler in a hallway backstage since she was the next guest and even mentioned Dusty!
Now that all of my neighbors know about Dusty, they keep the majority of their items inside their house, due to this, Dusty mostly brings back rubber bands and plastic bags. Overall, it was an unusual, yet very interesting experience that not anyone can have, so I’m very grateful.