Cats and Hearing Aids

Does anyone else have this problem?

I have two cats. Both males and both between 2-3 years old. The older one is laid back and the younger one is a troublemaker. The troublemaker's name is Chupa.

Chupa is a tiger tabby - gold colored. He is very sweet but mischievous. For some reason, he just loves my hearing aid... or more specifically, the hearing aid mold. I don't know if its the smell, the taste or the texture.

Last year my hearing aid disappeared.
I KNOW I had it on my dresser in the location I always put it at night with my glasses. The next morning it was gone. I turned my house upside down looking for it for months but never did find it. I gave up and for months I was totally deaf. Finally with the help of Michigan Vocational Rehabilitation, I was able to get a new aid last December. With the aid on, I could hear stuff.

All went fine.
I had a case and I faithfully put my aid in the case every night as I did not want a repeat of a disappearing hearing aid. But, one night I didn't. I don't remember why. Maybe I was very tired or not feeling well or something but instead of putting it in the case, I just put in ON the dresser. The next morning, I was walking to the kitchen and I STEPPED on my hearing aid...

Ummm... what is this doing out here? Why is it on the floor? Chupa is the only cat that jumps up on the dresser. The other cat had a leg injury and is not able to jump that high so I knew immediately that Chupa had taken the aid off the dresser and both the cats probably played soccer with it during the night. I also noticed that the mold was broken as if one of them had taken a bite out of it.

Oh bummer.... I vowed I would do better and put the aid IN THE CASE every night. Well... it didn't happen. One night my husband had gone to bed and it was dark and I couldn't find/feel the case on the dresser so I HID my hearing aid under other stuff on the dresser figuring it would be safe and I would find the case in the morning.

Bad idea.
The next morning the first thing I did was look for that hearing aid as I was very curious if Chupa found it. It was gone! That darn cat had found it!

I got on my hands and knees and looked all over my house. I went downstairs and checked the basement.. nothing. Where could it have gone? I went upstairs again and decided to make a cup of coffee and I stepped on my aid for the second time! Yeah... but... the mold was missing. Had it come disconnected during the soccer play? So, back on my hands and knees, I'm looking for the mold now which is hard to see as its almost clear.

Found it, I did.
but... this time it was in two pieces. the cats had taken another bite out of the mold and now there was no upper part. It was only the part that goes inside the ear. It still worked so it wasn't a total loss.

I did check to see how much it cost to make a new mold... ready for this? $100!!! oh geez. I will do without if its that high. So far, my mini mold is doing its job but I do not need to learn this lesson again. From now on, the hearing aid goes into my sock drawer which gets closed.

That darn cat can't get it there!