Mochi, an inquisitive cat, has prying paws and is obsessed with computer and television screens. This combination ended up causing a very happy accident for his human, Jessica Schleider.
From the start, Mochi liked to put himself between Schleider and his work.
The cat was found stray, living inside a UPS truck with two of her kittens. She was adopted by Jessica Schleider and her partner while the couple were still in college.
“From the start, she was fascinated by my laptop,” Ms. Schleider recounted. “I think she visited several websites during that particular nap.”
Now that Schleider is an assistant professor of psychology at Stony Brook University, where she’s dedicated to mental health research, a big part of her job is fundraising to make sure she can do the research. what she needs.
And that’s exactly what Ms. Schleider was doing recently when she decided to take a break. The grant she was applying for was particularly large – it was for $100,000 – so she wanted to make sure she had dotted all the “i’s” before submitting her application.
“I was working from home and decided to go out and walk our dog, Penny, before taking the plunge,” she explains.
Mochi loves the soothing warmth of laptops – so decides to sleep on them. | Jessica SchleiderIt so happened that Mochi, during Schleider’s absence, decided to insert herself into the latter’s work in a whole new way.
When Schleider returned, she looked at the screen and realized something had happened.
I found out she hit the ‘send’ button on the grant application,” she said. “I had a little panic attack”.
Jessica SchleiderBut Schleider couldn’t do anything but wait for the results of the request.
Mochi didn’t seem to care – and it turns out the cat was right not to be concerned.
“This week I found out I got the grant,” Ms. Schleider said. “His obsession with the screen has finally paid off!”
