Rescue Kitten Is Obsessed With His New Mom's Roomba

“I don’t even know if he realized he was actually moving across the floor.”

Vicki Mayo knew Bailey was the feisty one in the group of kittens she rescued from a shelter in Texas this year.

tiny tabby kitten
Vicki Mayo

“Bailey has always been very curious,” Mayo told The Dodo. “He was the one in the litter that would always find a way to get out of the bed when all of the others were sleeping. He has absolutely no fear. He will get right in the middle of all of my big dogs, like he is one of them.”

kitten in sandal
Vicki Mayo

When it came time to put the kittens up for adoption, Mayo’s family decided they could not part with Bailey. They were about to become what rescue groups so fondly call a foster fail.

kittens in a pink basket
Bailey (hanging off the side) and the rest of his litter | Vicki Mayo

“It was actually my husband who became attached. Bailey would follow him around like he was his buddy.” Mayo said. “Then, slowly but surely, he moved into our room and started sleeping with us. The rest is history.”

kitten in costume
Vicki Mayo

As Bailey got more used to the Mayo household — and various Halloween costumes — he started exploring, and that is exactly how he met: the robotic vacuum.

cat on a roomba
Vicki Mayo

The vacuum has little side-spinning brushes that help collect dust and dirt. Bailey became obsessed with them, in that way only a little kitten could. “He was trying to catch them with his paw,” Mayo said.

cat on roomba
Vicki Mayo

Bailey was so motivated to try to get those brushes, one day he fearlessly jumped on top of the robotic vacuum, and just started riding along. “I don’t even know if he realized he was actually moving across the floor, he was so obsessed with catching those brushes,” Mayo said.

cat on roomba
Vicki Mayo

Each time Mayo ran the robotic vacuum from that day forward, Bailey was lurking, hopping on the vacuum, hoping today would be the day he would catch those “evil side brushes,” she said.

cat on roomba
Vicki Mayo

And that’s when the situation started getting frustrating, not only for Bailey, who could never get the brushes to stop moving, but also for Mayo.

cat on roomba
Vicki Mayo

“He kept sitting on the power button and turning the vacuum off,” Mayo said. “I actually have to run the vacuum when Bailey is in our room. If I run it when he is out, my house would never get vacuumed.”

cat in costume
Vicki Mayo

Mayo said she does still let Bailey ride along on the vacuum occasionally. It’s kind of win-win: The kitten gets tired and the floor gets cleaned. The process is just a little slower than normal.