It's a sock. My wife enjoys torturing the cats in minor ways. (of course, when that picture was taken, she was "just" my g/f. Or fiance.) Either way, the cat was 8 pounds then and is about 14 now. I'm going to have to dig up a better picture, but that's the only picture I had handy of one of the cats that looked good (or at least like a cat) at that size.

I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!