For the Love of Schwartz

©E.A.T.s, Inc. 2025

Ok, maybe I should have given this more forethought, but sometimes, the only time is here and now. I've been having some fun with AI and preparing some social posts for the "Black Cat Appreciation Day" coming up on the 17th. And I decided to write some stories about my amazing cat Schwartz (which means black in German), because I was going to dedicate some of the posts to him...just in case anyone wants to know where some of the crazy ideas for the posts may come from, and yes, they are all true!

Ok, so I have a bunch of hilarious stories about this cat I'll love to share as I get time. Unfortunately my time is limited right now...heh!

So, first thing to know about Shwartz was that he was an incredibly skilled cat at opening just about ANYTHING, it was truly incredible...from boxes to doors, this cat was a genius, and a freak and a klepto and more all rolled into one beefy boy at 16-18 lbs of pure muscle.

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Kitchen Catastrophe

So, one night I come back to my apartment when Schwartz was a young boy, only to find my kitchen look like a gaze of raccoons or a passel of opossums had tore through with a vengeance. ALL the cupboards were open, and almost every box of food and cereal I had in the kitchen was either open or dumped upon the floor. The kitchen was an absolute, and I mean, ABSOLUTE disaster. Schwartz, not caring what I think or that anyone even walked in, was happily stuffed head first and shoulders deep in a box of fruit loops and happily munching away. He had discovered that not only he could open the cupboards, but also cereal and many other boxes by unlatching the top or pulling them open! By the time this cat was older, he had learned how to open LARGE interleaved moving boxes by putting his legs on the sides, and pulling out the center with his claws...and he had the strength and size and smarts enough to do it within about 10 seconds! To be honest, I was amazed that the child locks worked on the cupboards. Miss you Schwartz buddy! More stories when I have time. Next time....a truly SHOCKING story for a black cat with 9 lives! Maybe Halloween???! MUwahahah!

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Shocking Schwartz, and how he earned his nickname!

8/18/2025 - Ok, I couldn't wait, cause this one is kinda funny.

Back in college, I had this wild little black cat named Schwartz (German for “black”). Cute as could be, but also… let’s just say he had some interesting hobbies. Chief among them? Chewing electrical cords.

No matter how many we tucked away and how hard we tried, he would somehow find the one we forgot..or he would spend hours trying to dig them out.

One day, I came home and heard this low, strange growling sound. At first, I thought another cat had gotten in… but nope. There was Schwartz, happily gnawing on a 120-volt cord like it was the world’s tastiest spaghetti. I honestly thought this was his last time....maybe he had gotten 'stuck' on the cord, and maybe couldn't get off? Either that, or my genius cat was going to be vegetable.

And here’s where it gets surreal: his little head was… smoking.

My heart nearly stopped—visions flashing through my mind of cartoon cats getting struck by lightning, their fur all puffed out and eyes wide as saucers.

Then I realized it wasn’t smoke at all, but steam, rising off him because the apartment was cool and his furry noggin was HOT.

I panicked, gave him a soft nudge with my foot to break him free from the cord—and Schwartz just looked up at me, slightly annoyed. Not scared. Not frazzled. Just perturbed that I’d interrupted his “fun.”

From that day forward, his nickname was sealed in history: "Shocking" Schwartz the electric kitty⚡🐾

Although this was only one of his many crazy habits...more to come as time permits!