Cat Affectionately Dubbed 'The Cheese Monster' After Making Off with Pack of String Cheese
He knows what he wants!
A sweet cat named Charm has a very interesting favorite food, and it's making the internet giggle.
On February 28, 2024, TikTok user Chris & Alyssa (@we_speak_dog) shared a video of their cat taking off with a treat that isn't actually theirs, but it might be now. Take a look!
In a 30-second video, we meet Charm, hilariously and appropriately nicknamed “Cheese Monster.”
The video starts with Charm walking across the room with something in her mouth. You can't tell what it is at first. It looks like it could be wooden dowels or a strange cat toy.
But when the person behind the camera gets closer to Charm, it becomes very clear that Charm has a pack of string cheese in her mouth. And Charm does not want to give it back.
As their human mom gets closer and asks Charm what they're doing because they're not supposed to have the string cheese, Charm picks up the pace, pops their ears back, and hides behind a chair.
Charm's mom tries to get the pack of cheese back, but Charm will not give it up without a fight. Holding tightly with their jaw and cute little whines, Charm is unwilling to part with their pack of string cheese. He practically climbs his mom's leg as she pulls the cheese away.
“This cat, I swear,” the video's caption reads. “Charm the Cheese Monster.”
In the comments, people giggle at this cat's unusual favorite.
“I love when cats get caught with something, and they get faster,” one person joked.
“He walked in so casually, too,” shared another.
“Same Charm, same,” wrote someone else.
“Give. Him. The. Cheese,” another TikTok viewer demanded.
“Give him a stick!” wrote another. “I've also never seen a cat play tug of war.”
Why Do Cats Carry Things in Their Mouth?
We've probably all seen a cat running around with something in their mouth, just like Charm. And while it's probably not common for cats to run around with a pack of string cheese in their mouth, carrying items in their mouth is common, and it's tied to a natural cat instinct.
According to Cattitude Daily, cats carrying things around in their mouth is likely a hunting instinct. “Domestic cats are still hunters, and we see evidence of that every time they swat at a house fly or pounce on a catnip mouse,” they explain.
They explain that carrying prey in their mouth is “part of a cat's hunting process,” and then they carry it to a safe place. Charm's prayer is string cheese, and their safe place is behind the chair. “They either move to an area where they can eat in peace, or they hide the meal so they can eat it later,” Cattitude Daily writes.
Your Cat says that if your cat is carrying something in their mouth while meowing, that's also likely a hunting instinct thing. Or if a cat is carrying a kitten in their mouth, that's how mommy cats carry their babies before they can walk.
“The two situations in which cats carry things around are when they are hunting and when they are moving kittens from one place to another. In the wild, when cats catch prey, they either take it back to a part of their core territory to eat it, or they find somewhere to hide it,” Your Cat says.
So, Charm isn't strange or weird, at least not because he's carrying something in his mouth. The string cheese obsession is a little weird, but we get it.