Central Coast ‘klepto cat’ has nabbed more than 700 items — from Astro Turf to toys

The photograph shows a black-and-white tuxedo domestic shorthair cat surrounded by dozens of gloves.

Gardening gloves and disposable gloves hang behind the proud feline.

These things are just a snippet of the items from her collection.

Juno, a 5-year-old cat who lives with her owner, Connie Geston, in Carpinteria, has nabbed all sorts of things from outside and brings the objects back to her house.

Her collection includes gloves, rags, socks, a leather knife holder, a half-eaten apple, AstroTurf, a safety vest, combs, toys, children’s clothing and more.

As of April 1, Juno had brought home more than 700 items in less than two years, Geston said.

“She’s not a hoarder, but she is a collector and an environmentalist, because she is collecting things and she is helping the environment,” Geston said.

In 2015, when Juno was about 5 weeks old, she found her fur-ever home at Geston’s Carpinteria residence after she was fostered in Los Angeles from a feral litter of five kittens.

“We drove to L.A., and they all were adorable, but Juno was a little bit different,” Geston said. “She was very adventurous. We fell in love with her.”

Juno’s foster parents originally named her Indiana (Jones) for her sense of curiosity.

She was renamed Juno because Geston got her in June.

Her nickname is “Juno, The Klepto Kat,” and spelling “kat” instead of “cat” would make her not the norm since “Klepto Kitty” or “Klepto Cat” is most commonly used, Geston said.

Juno was a feisty and small kitten, and keeping her as an inside pet was challenging, Geston said.

At first, Juno was allowed to go outdoors on small adventures under the supervision of family.

She started to become calmer and more independent over the years, Geston said.

“As she got older, she wasn’t as wild and she wasn’t scratching,” Geston said. “I think she needed the outdoors to be able to be the cat that she is now.”

Geston started noticing items showing up in her yard less than two years ago.

Juno sometimes will bring home two or three items in a day.

“I did not expect my cat to be bringing stuff like this home,” Geston said. “I thought it was maybe neighbor kids throwing stuff over the fence.”

Thursday is Juno’s favorite day of the week. It’s trash day.

Juno’s home is on a cul-de-sac, and she likes to cruise the neighborhood in the early morning and also enjoys going out in the evening.

Her favorite time to collect items is between 6 and 7:30 a.m. before people go to work and between 5 and 7 p.m. after they come home, Geston said.

“If it fits what her mood is for the moment, she grabs it and brings it home,” Geston said.

When she isn’t collecting, Juno is sleeping outside or inside her home during the day.

Juno loves succulents, and she has her own garden with more than 50 clippings that she has dragged home.

Geston will put Juno’s collections into a spreadsheet.

The cat owner will update a daily log by category of what the indoor-outdoor cat brought home, and she is working to see if Juno can secure a place in the Guinness World Records.

“When she brings things home, you will hear her meow,” Geston said. “She will drop it, sniff it and flop next to it.”

Juno has also ran for honorary mayor of Carpinteria in 2020, and she is active on a number of social media accounts.

Juno’s adventures and collections are documented in Instagram photos and videos, as well as posts on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

The cat is described as “the finder and keeper of things in my hood.”

Juno hopes to bring smiles and laughs after a challenging year brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“She’s making you laugh,” Geston told Noozhawk. “That’s what she’s here for.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 9:25 AM.