This short story is basically true with a little poetic license. Written with kids in mind.
Note - sultanas and any grape products are poisonous to dogs, not sure about cats. Mine didn't eat as much of the cake as in the story and were fine.
This incident happened many, many years ago. I think it was in the 1970's. In those days, I had more time on my hands than I do now!
I used to do a lot of baking then and loved making fairy cakes and chocolate crispies for my children, they used to love them and I made a rich fruit cake at least once a week.
At the time we had a feisty Jack Russell dog, called Peter and two cats called Moppet and Honda. Moppet was a pretty, fluffy little tortoiseshell cat and Honda - well, she was named after a motorbike, by my eldest daughter! The two cats were sisters and partners-in-crime as we shall discover.
On one particular day, I decided to make the biggest, richest fruit cake ever. It took a while to mix and well over an hour to bake. When it was cooked, I proudly turned it out on the cooling rack on the kitchen worktop and stood and admired it for a few seconds. Then I went off to finish some household chores.
This is what happened in my absence...
"There's a lovely smell in the kitchen" piped up Peter, the Jack Russell, who had just trotted in from the garden and was feeling decidedly peckish!
"Yes, yummy isn't it" agreed Moppet and Honda in unison.
"It smells like fruit cake" observed the little dog, "Do you two fancy some?"
"We'd love some" replied the pair, "but we shouldn't, should we?"
"A little bit won't hurt" said Peter, confidently, "but I can't get up there to get it, but you two can" he added, encouragingly.
With that, Moppet and Honda leaped up on the worktop and clawed at the cake. They had to be careful, as it was still quite hot, but the aroma was so delicious, they didn't care! They pushed an enormous lump on the floor for Peter and he gobbled it up, greedily.
"More, more!" he barked. The cats jumped, they were a bit scared of Peter, who was rather bossy and inclined to nip them sometimes. Obediently they pushed another huge chunk of fruit cake on the floor. Peter wolfed it down, almost choking in the process!
Soon all the cake was eaten and only a few crumbs remained.
"Oh, I do feel a bit sick now" wailed Peter, who had expanded enormously round his middle! The cats felt somewhat queasy too, and slunk off in their basket to sleep it off.
When I returned and saw the cake gone, I wondered who could have scoffed it all, knowing my daughters were still at school. Then I took one look at my rather rotund Jack Russell and the bloated bellies of my cats and knew who the culprits were. They were all groaning with terrible tummy-ache!
"Serves you right for being so greedy!" I shouted at them.
The moral of this little tale is; - never leave your delicious, rich fruit cake unattended, if you have pets. They are very partial to it!
The End.
