This morning, quite early, I went to the store to stock up on my monthly supply of cat food. It was on sale, so I bought my cans and brought them home.

When I feed the cats canned food, I have a method. I take a large mixing bowl and dump the cans into the bowl first so I can mix the supplements into the food and then I feed into their trays and plates.

So here I am, dumping the food into the bowl and the cats are milling around my legs getting excited every time they hear that magic “snap” of the can. I pick up another can and noticed it was dented, but popped it anyway and this horrible, nasty, vile smell fills the area and all this leaky, watery fluid comes out of the can getting all over me, leaking down into the good food and spilling over on the counter. I pull the top back and reveal the contents that are all discolored and nasty smelling.

Not even taking a chance of giving my cats tainted food. I dump everything (the equivalent of 7 cans of food) down the garbage disposal and then call the store to tell them what happened.

They assure me that I can come in and get 7 more cans at no charge, so off I go leaving behind some very confused kitties wondering where their morning meal went.

I get to the store and pick up the cans, then decide to get 20 more as they are on sale. I make my way to the cash register and explained the situation to the girl. The manager was nearby and she saw all the food cans on the belt and said “Tams, just give Mary Anne ALL of those at no charge!” I left that store with a big smile on my face. I thanked the manager before I left and she said “you know, you do such a great service for the cats, it is about time we can help you out!”

With 28 cats- 27 cans of food doesn’t last all that long- but be assured, I will be paying this blessing forward in the next few days.