The cat ate my science experiment...
By TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85135)
Shingle Springs, California
March 20, 2010 11:01am CST
Dearra is doing a science experiment, the effects of microwaving on seedlings. She kind of left it until late (forgot about it with everything else that's going on) so we had to buy seeds for plants that grow quickly, ie tomatoes and chard. She put them between some wet paper towels last Saturday and by Thursday there was enough growth that she could start the experiment. She microwaved them in 15 second intervals and then planted them in egg cartons. There was a control group also.
This morning there was a loud scream. Some how Jason got up on the shelf where the plants were - he was after something else - and knocked the plants down. Fortunately it appears that enough of them were salvageable. Her science grade is the one that's in the most trouble because of the school she's missed due to her ulcer, so she really needs the grade from this. Anyway, I don't think she'll be allowed to do a science experiment on whether dirt, when knocked down onto your bed, makes a mess or not.
The cat really did do it. Did you ever really have a pet or a family member destroy YOUR homework?
8 people like this
25 responses
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
20 Mar 10
Your Dearra sounds like my son, leaving everything until late. Wherein there is always cramming involved in terms of school projects.
No pets for us, but my 9-year old does have a kid brother who is lately fond of writing stuff on pieces of paper. And guess what? Older brother has lots of papers inside his school bag. So, often his school work would have lots of scribbles on it. He's already gotten a note from a teacher about it.
2 people like this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
She mentioned it at least a month ago, but with all the fuss about her stomach and anxiety and everything I've forgotten to remind her. And she forgot all about it too...
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
3 Apr 10
Hi Dawn
I hope that the test went all well for her anyway
Not my Homework, but my Daughters, she was at the table doing her Homework when one of our Cats at the time decided to jump and see her but also knocked the drink Mel had at the time all over her Homework, I shall not tell you what a lecture this poor Cat got I kept out of it 
I bet the cat was really careful after that! 
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
20 Mar 10
hi dawnald Poor Dearra, and shame on Jason the kitty. hope she still
gets a decent grade though. I was just thinking, I went back to school at age 56 to get my Ba. well I was working on a paper, got it all done and handed it in, got an A on it but I was supposed to also show the preliminary paperwork on it.So at the U I had to phone home and got my son, do you know where those papers are I left on the dining room table?
He gulped, I could hear him, then said," oh boy I just chucked them in the waste basket in the kitchen. You have to have them? " I said, "Yes as my grade here depends on it" So he brushed off the kitchen leavings
from my handwritten work,caught a bus to my U and I met him outside the English room. My professor was a very understanding young woman who shared a couple of laughs with us as she read my sprawling hand writing and gave me the pending A. Not many teachers would accept work with scraps of tomato s auce still clinging to the edge of the papers. he he.
from my handwritten work,caught a bus to my U and I met him outside the English room. My professor was a very understanding young woman who shared a couple of laughs with us as she read my sprawling hand writing and gave me the pending A. Not many teachers would accept work with scraps of tomato s auce still clinging to the edge of the papers. he he.2 people like this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
20 Mar 10
At least it was still there and not in the garbage can that just got hauled away!
@jewels49 (1776)
• United States
20 Mar 10
We have! Our Saint Bernard stepped in the middle of a volcano that the kids were working on for a geography class, thankfully the kids had time to start over. My nephew called me in a panic a couple of years ago because their cat had eaten the seedlings my great nephew was growing hydroponically for his science class, they needed a new experiment that was fast as he only 4 days to replace the experiment..I told him to make some jello and have all the kids spit on it and wait a couple of days..sure enough it is still tried and true..he got an A for the mold and bacteriea he grew.
2 people like this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
20 Mar 10
I'll keep that in mind in case the seedlings aren't salvageable. lol
@besthope44 (12123)
• India
20 Mar 10
Well, it my CHAMP!!! naughtiest one in the whole world!!!!. I write this with such a pain 
. He is 3 months old pup, but he makes us run behind him always. So far, he has spoiled my sons record note into pieces 2 weeks back. He broke the mobile charger last week, rather he bit the wire into 3 pieces last week. And yesterday, he pulled the dining cover and broke the bottle of sugar. But i love him a lot, he always wants us to play, if we say no..this is wat happens at home! Well its a sweet pain, he is our cute naughty kid rather
. He is 3 months old pup, but he makes us run behind him always. So far, he has spoiled my sons record note into pieces 2 weeks back. He broke the mobile charger last week, rather he bit the wire into 3 pieces last week. And yesterday, he pulled the dining cover and broke the bottle of sugar. But i love him a lot, he always wants us to play, if we say no..this is wat happens at home! Well its a sweet pain, he is our cute naughty kid rather@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
20 Mar 10
Ah well, puppies and kittens are mischievous.... It's to be expected!
@SViswan (12051)
• India
23 Mar 10
Oh poor Dearra! We don't have pets at home that can destroy homework...but my little one is disruptive enough when my older son had to do his projects. So, we were always very careful with his stuff and made sure the little one never went near any of his things. But I've caught him once or twice trying to get to his brothr's homework and trying to destroy. He has this drive to try and get to something he is not supposed to touch! He once tore the first sheet of my older son's school almanac just as he had finished keeping his books. It was all so sudden that we didn't realize what happened till it was done. Fortunately, the main information was intact and I could paste it back on. I also wrote a note to the teacher saying that it wasn't the older one's fault (lest he get a scolding at school). But we've been very careful since then...and the two boys do not share a room.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
23 Mar 10
the little ones can be really hard on the older ones things!
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
20 Mar 10
Well, no, but after my surgery in 2005, I was given a lucky bamboo (I really think they are cool) and I was keeping it alive fine until the day we rearranged the rooms and I put the bamboo out of a safe room for a couple of hours and the cats ate it...
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
lol maybe I'll try and train the cat to microwave seedlings and see what I get!
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
22 Mar 10
nope.they usually aimed for the comic books.
i could leave the homework out all night,and they wouldn't touch it.*sigh*
i could leave the homework out all night,and they wouldn't touch it.*sigh*1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
26 Mar 10
I guess we'll find out today what her grade was. No award though...
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
23 Mar 10
Neither of our cats has eaten any homework...Yet...But they might later on, you never know...
Problem is the teacher will probably not believe the excuse, darn these pussycats, they get into everything My Hewy broke a vase I had for fifteen years the first day he came to our house and he is in the middle of killing my favourite bamboo plant as we speak, excuse me...
Okay, I’ve just scolded him yet again; hope some of Dearra’s seedlings can be saved!
Problem is the teacher will probably not believe the excuse, darn these pussycats, they get into everything My Hewy broke a vase I had for fifteen years the first day he came to our house and he is in the middle of killing my favourite bamboo plant as we speak, excuse me...
Okay, I’ve just scolded him yet again; hope some of Dearra’s seedlings can be saved!
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
6 Oct 10
I think there were plenty of times that my pets could have destroyed my homework when I was a young woman if I would have let them, but I never did. That said, when my father was a child he had to use the excuse that there was a time that his little sister destroyed her homework. What happened was that his little sister was ten years younger than him and she actually pooped on his homework that he had been working on in the floor when he had walked away from it.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (98786)
• India
21 Mar 10
Hi Dawn, I was always at hostels (at or in?) - so I didnt have that experience. You describe everything so well. I feel like reading! :) Hopefully, I will improve my language by reading what you all write. :) I would've tried sprouts. :) Dont you get sprouts out there in vegetable shops? :) You could buy some from supermarket, and try once more. :) Hope Dearra gets good grades. It will be difficult to explain :(
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
Believe me, if this hadn't worked out, we would have gone and bought something!
A hostel? Instead of a school? (confused look)
@GardenGerty (157546)
• United States
21 Mar 10
I do not recall the cats ever destroying my homework, but they frequently destroy my housework, by spilling things or eating things or pooping on things, peeing on things or gacking on things. I sure hope she can salvage enough for a good grade.
1 person likes this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
21 Mar 10
No, Dawn, I've never had a cat or dog destroy my homework or my sons' homework, but I had an incident with a cat last night - or I should say this morning.
My husband woke me at 2.00am. I sleep very soundly, but he managed to wake me to tell me there was a child crying on our front patio. I told him he was dreaming and to go back to sleep but he insisted so I got up to investigate (why couldn't he?).
Yes, you guessed it. It was a cat! I'm prepared to admit I've never heard such noises coming from a cat before, but it certainly didn't sound like a child crying either.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
Strange that it sounded like a child to him. But I've known people who hear unfamiliar names and tend to hear them like familiar names (Noor = Nora, Geeta =
Greta, etc.), so maybe it works like that with unfamiliar sounds for some people.
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
21 Mar 10
It may not exactly have been homework but I used to do a lot of sewing and I was working on a velvet skirt. I left the fabric with a paper pattern pinned to it on the table and when I got back, my old cat Gipsy, had jumped onto the table, ripped the paper pattern with her claws, and made a nest on the fabric, ripping some of it to pieces in the process. Much as I loved Gipsy, she was a very destructive little feline.
1 person likes this
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
20 Mar 10
Hey, D!
I've heard such things from my students over the years so many times, I never even considered that it could be true!
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
Honest cross my heart, it was really the cat!
@jb78000 (15139)
•
20 Mar 10
yes, although not when i was a child. at the moment i am studying for a career change and a few months ago in my previous flat the ratties were out for their run, then i heard this strange rustling noise coming from a desk drawer. a desk drawer filled with important notes. i pulled it open to discover a happy and rather smug lookng rat busy making a cosy little nest of shredded paper.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
Rats!
Sorry, couldn't resist. Well I hope you were able to salvage it...
@kaylachan (57558)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
20 Mar 10
If I were a student right now with my current cat, and I tried to use the excuse "the cat ate my homeworik." it saddly would be true. Growing up my pets left me alone for the most part. My cats would try to sleep on my books, but that was about it. Now my current cat, Chinnia loves to eat paper. Heaven forbid I leave her alone with lose paper or cardboard materials. She'd shred them. Good thing for me I have no use for what I have.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Mar 10
a paper eater, huh? My cats are more into plastic and curling ribbon. :-)
