Kevin the cat, nearly 3 years old, is living in Cambridge and started stealing socks when he was about a year old. He has developed a liking for other clothes as well. Photo / Shawn Patterson
Kevin the cat, nearly 3 years old, is living in Cambridge and started stealing socks when he was about a year old. He has developed a liking for other clothes as well. Photo / Shawn Patterson
A feline felon with a weakness for gardening gloves and bathing suits is roaming the streets of a Cambridge neighbourhood.
The news comes after cat burglars also made headlines in Hamilton, Auckland and Christchurch this year.
In Cambridge, Kevin the cat, nearly 3 years old, started stealing socks when hewas about a year old, but has since developed a thing for other clothes as well.
“Things just started to appear on our doorstep... then inside the house, halfway through the cat flap, under the house - everywhere,” Kevin’s owner, Shawn Patterson, told the Waikato Herald.
Patterson said he and the family estimated Kevin had brought home close to 1000 items over the past two years.
“Socks were his fetish, now he is into gloves - gardening gloves and rubber gloves. But he is also bringing home T-shirts, togs, undies and balloons.”
Patterson says Kevin struck up to half a kilometre away from his home and often in the middle of the night, with the family regularly being woken between 2am and 3am by Kevin vocally announcing his return with a haul.
“He comes in and is doing this strange meow that’s almost like he is wanting to talk.”
Once the family came to check, Kevin immediately lost interest in whatever he brought home, Patterson said.
“He is certainly not your normal cat. He is mental, that’s all I can say.”
However, Patterson said the family loved Kevin despite his flaws.
Kevin’s stealing sprees meant they regularly had to do “the walk of shame” to neighbours to reunite the stolen items with their rightful owners.
“We have amassed a huge collection, a lot of things we were able to give back - I actually dropped off a shirt and some gloves today - but we’ve still got a ton of stuff we can’t find owners for.”
Kevin the cat, is loved by his Cambridge family despite his tendency to steal clothes. Photo / Shawn Patterson
He reached out to the Cambridge community via the social media Grapevine page.
“If anyone in the Arnold St-Southey St area has been wondering where the hell all their gardening gloves have been going, well I apologise because Kevin has been at it again,” he posted.
“He’s lost interest in socks, swimwear and hats and now likes gloves and cleaning cloths. Send me a pm and I’ll drop them back to you.”
Patterson said his post seemed to have brightened a lot of people’s days.
“Ninety-nine % of people think it’s hilarious, but we did get the odd comment saying Kevin needs a bullet and he shouldn’t be allowed out of the house.”
“[Bringing home clothes] may well be a similar motivation.”
Waran said while “stealing clothes” was “relatively harmless” behaviour, she understood it might be a nuisance to some people.
However, she also knew that once a cat learned “roaming behaviour” it was difficult to teach them not to.
She suggested creating new habits like keeping the cats inside at night and ensuring their “home range” was “nicely enriched” so the animal had no reason to leave the property.
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
