Cat Brings His Humans "Presents" Every Day to Show His Love
Gonzo the cat has turned everyday backyard wandering into a full-time gift delivery service. What started as a simple routine of going outside and coming back when called slowly turned into something much more entertaining, and a little chaotic, for his family.
After one memorable bird incident, Gonzo’s humans realized his idea of affection was less about cuddles and more about bringing home whatever he could find. Most of the time, that meant random objects, trash, and the occasional odd treasure from a nearby storage area.
Now his daily returns are part mystery, part comedy, and entirely Gonzo. Read on.
Gonzo became more creative after the bird incident. Essentially, this means that he brought back everything he could find during his adventures. Of course, this would almost always be someone else’s trash, but never mind-it’s the thought that counts. After some time spent investigating, Gonzo found an abandoned storage area nearby, and it quickly became his favorite place for treasure hunts.
Most days that he goes outside, he'll bring us one or two trash gifts at some point," Derek says. "Some days he doesn't bring any, and some days he brings us a lot. His current record is nine in one day… He brought us the centerfold from an old Playboy magazine and an old lightbulb in a box from [the storage area].
One time, he brought back some brand-new plumbing parts still in the plastic from a construction site. I returned those to the workers, who were a little confused when I explained how they came into my possession."
That’s when Gonzo’s gift-giving started getting a lot more unpredictable.
Gonzo is so creative with his gifts that he made his family wonder about his routes and favorite stops. So, they came up with the idea of strapping him with a small camera.
"My wife and I talked about it and felt it would be a good idea to educate ourselves about what he was up to," Derek says. "Even though he clearly loved being outside, if he had been harming wildlife or finding himself in dangerous situations or eating strange things, we would have considered making him an indoor-only cat."
I'm a documentary filmmaker by trade, so it was also kind of a natural extension of my day-to-day routine. I searched for cat camera collars online and could only find one at that time, which I didn't like the design of. So I ordered a cheap, tiny spy camera and built my own rig by attaching it to a breakaway collar using a plastic 3D doodle pen."
See the video here:
Gonzo isn’t wearing the camera all the time; his parents wanted to give him some privacy. However, the footage they have is still sufficient to make us love this adventurous cat even more.
"The majority of the footage he gathers is of him sleeping in the bushes," Derek says. "But on the second day, he brought back footage of his encounter with some baby possums. When reviewing that for the first time… we watched it very nervously. But then he just hung out with them peacefully. It was super cute and interesting, and we loved learning that about him."
The family’s favorite part of the videos is Gonzo’s gift selection process. It’s interesting to see how he chooses them.
However, Derek doesn’t recommend strapping a camera to a cat in general. You have to find a way to secure it safely and in such a manner that it doesn’t impede the cat’s normal movement.
A quick look at the footage made the whole thing even funnier.
"Gonzo is a large, strong cat and is unusually intelligent, but the results are not going to be cute or safe for all cats," Derek says. "We don't let our other cat, Fish, run around the apartment complex because she would definitely kill wildlife and is prone to panicking, which could lead her to run into traffic.
And we wouldn't put a collar on her because she's small, and if the collar got caught, even if it's a breakaway, it might not release. Gonzo's never snagged his collar on anything in two years, and he's heavy and strong, so we're not too worried about that with him. But if enough people try this on enough cats, eventually, it's not going to go well."
This camera worked out great for Gonzo, though. And we can’t wait to see the footage of his new adventures.
After Gonzo’s “trash gifts,” see how an owner got even, then admitted defeat to his cat, too. Tonight, he brought me a spider.
Share this article:
