The strongest hunter cat is defeated by a stink bug! My beloved cat has stopped hunting bugs.

When a bug appears in the room, as a cat owner, you naturally want to rely on your beloved cat and say, "It's your turn!" But it was only after living with my three beloved cats that I learned that cats aren't necessarily stronger than bugs.

Surely, there are other cats besides ours who are defeated by bugs, aren't there…?

[Midsummer Horror] A dead cockroach was found belly-up in the hallway…

If a bug appears, rely on your beloved cat. There was a time when I thought that. That’s because something happened that made me think my beloved cats might have defeated a cockroach (G).

In my late twenties, I returned home from a date, feeling excited. As I walked down the hallway, thinking, "I'll go to the toilet~," I saw a sight that instantly extinguished my excitement.

…There was a G in the middle of the hallway! It was quite a large one. Thinking, "What did it eat to grow so big…?" a completely irrelevant thought, I cautiously approached it, only to find the G flipped over and dead.

Please, no unnecessary surprises like a cat's belly-up pose where it turns out to be just sleeping…!! Wishing hard, I used a broom and dustpan to remove and dispose of the G. It was truly good that there was no belly-up surprise. Feeling relieved, I suddenly thought.

As expected, having a cat at home is the best! It's too wonderful not to have to confront a G directly. I kissed my sleeping cats in turn. (In hindsight, it might have been an indirect kiss with the G…) Just in case, after wiping their paws, I hugged them and expressed my gratitude, saying, "Thank you! I'm counting on you!"

A giant stink bug appeared! Leon, the ace, was unexpectedly defeated…

With cats around, no matter what kind of bug appears, it’ll be fine! Bring it on. After my indirect encounter with the G, I felt that way, as if I was sailing on a big ship.

But one day, an event occurred that shook my confident stance. After bathing, I pulled out a bath towel in the washroom and saw a green stain. Huh…? Did I really get this dirty here? Wondering, I put on my glasses, and there was a ridiculously huge stink bug.

"Wah! Are you serious?! Help! Kitty~!!" I screamed an SOS in a ridiculously loud voice that echoed through the room. Yet, not a single one of my beloved cats woke up; they continued to sleep soundly.

Thinking irrelevant thoughts like, "If this were a manga, the cats would definitely gather and help me…", I put on some clothes to prepare for a confrontation with the stink bug. I started preparing for battle. I felt like a pseudo-hero clad in rags.

While I was getting ready for battle, the stink bug made its way to the living room where the cats were. I grabbed the insect net I had bought just in case and dashed into the living room like a bug-catching boy.

At this point, the cats finally woke up and joined me in heading towards the stink bug. Maybe, just maybe, the cats could do something about it... With that hope, I was saying things like "Kotaro, use Thunderbolt!" or "Jiji, use Metronome!" when Leon suddenly used "Tackle" on the stink bug!

However, the stink bug reacted quickly, sprayed Leon with its foul-smelling liquid, and escaped.

Leon, having suffered an unexpected counterattack, was crestfallen. He suddenly lost all his energy, and his tail drooped. The other two, seeing Leon's failure, perhaps intimidated by the thought that "that guy (the stink bug) might actually be strong…?" retreated behind me.

Driven by anger, thinking, "How dare you do that to my Leon!", I somehow managed to capture the stink bug. After some trial and error, I succeeded in getting it outside.

My beloved cats quit being hunters and started studying bugs for a free research project

The stink bug's counterattack seemed to have been a huge shock for Leon. From that day on, his behavior when faced with bugs completely changed.

One day, when a large number of gnats came in through a wall opening where the air conditioner pipe passed, Leon, ignoring my cries of "Help! Someone, cat punch!", went near the gnats and just stared at them.

I once researched the ecology of pill bugs for a summer free study project, so I felt a nostalgic sense of "Ah, I used to observe bugs like that back then."

Before fighting the stink bug, Leon was the bravest among my beloved cats in getting rid of insects. Perhaps because of that, the other two, seeing Leon just watching the gnats, quickly retreated as if to say, "If even Leon can't handle it, then it's impossible for us."

Kotaro kept his distance from the cluster of gnats, watching my battle with them from a safe height. Jiji mimicked Leon, went near the gnats, and enjoyed his free research (observation) with him. It's a summer memory where I wished at least one of them had been a fighter.

I'm happy that my beloved cats abandoned their fight with insects, as it contributes to their health. However, the anxiety about what I'll do if a G appears in the house in the future hasn't disappeared.

I definitely don't have the courage to catch a G with an insect net, so for now, I've placed cockroach traps in the bedroom where the cats don't go, but I can't deny that it feels like a temporary measure. This Obon holiday, I plan to furiously search for ways to get rid of bugs without having to rely on my beloved cats.

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